Rebirth of the LA/SGV Chapter of CLCA

It all started with putting together a dedicated group of unselfish contractors to form a board. The board is comprised not only of strong business owners, but one is also a past state president and another is president-elect for the state. We also have a great mix of newer, energetic CLCA members. Our board of directors includes:

• Eric Watanabe, Treasurer
• Elizabeth Burns, Secretary/VP of Programs
• Alex Salazar, VP of Communications
• Brandy Williams, VP of Education
• Brendan Beirne, VP of Membership

With the board in place, we set forth with a modest schedule of events on a very limited budget and kept to a monthly schedule of board meetings.

When planning, we knew we wanted to involve some of the long-term and very supportive associate members. With that in mind, we organized an event at Kellogg Garden Products earlier this year. We had great attendance and the event served to reunite a group of folks who had been missing the involvement and camaraderie of the association. From that point, we were on our way.

The board put a lot of thought and discussion into holding a Beautification Awards Banquet this year. We had a limited budget, but a willing board. We knew we needed to do some out-of-the-box thinking on how to include more of the green industry and add some new award categories. We opted to add tree trimming categories and will continue to seek out additional new categories in the future.

To promote the event, we used a mixture of social media and traditional communication methods. This allowed us to obtain sponsorships and helped to get the word out. We negotiated favorable rates at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, this year’s awards venue, and for the awards presentation, managed by Eyescapes. We secured two past state presidents, Chuck Carr and Javier Lesaca, to serve as our landscaping judges. We also had a certified arborist, Mike Gallagher, to ratify their decisions in the tree trimming categories.

In the end, we had 67 entries in the competition, submitted by 18 different contractors, and we secured sponsors for every category. With all these efforts put forth by the entire board, we had a very successful event. The energy in the room was immensely rewarding, and the projects entered were amazing. I have participated in many award programs over the past 12 years, and I have been the driver for three chapters and for the state – and I believe this year was some of the finest work I have seen and the competition was fierce. My expectations are that next year‘s awards could easily double in size.

I would like to personally thank all of our sponsors – without their sponsorship, none of this would’ve been possible. Thank you to Ko Endo Landscaping for sponsoring the transportation that got our judging team around. Thank you to CLCA Insurance Solutions for sponsoring the beautiful centerpieces and to Brandy Williams with Garden Butterfly for designing and assembling them. Thank you to BrightView Tree Company for their sweepstakes sponsorship and to Hayward Pool Products and CLCA Insurance Solutions for their generous financial contributions beyond their major award sponsorships. Our other major awards sponsors included: Cadre Landscape, Kellogg Garden Products, and Thompson Building Materials. Our category sponsors included: A-G Sod Farms, Baba’s Lawn Mower Shop, CLCA Orange County Chapter, CLCA Pacific Coast Chapter, CLCA San Fernando Valley Chapter, Ewing Irrigation, Eyescapes, Lightcraft Outdoor, MB Landscaping & Nursery, Southland Sod Farms, SPJ Lighting, Steve Hartman, and Trrimstone.

The benefits to the membership of holding an awards program are difficult to calculate. At this early stage, the chapter has gained at least two new board members and we have several potential active board members. I expect we will see additional benefits and participation for the following year.

With this momentum, we have one more large event planned for 2018: a workshop set for October 29-30 in the City of Industry. Landscape Management Network (LMN) will teach us about creating company budgets and how to set the right price for every job, every time, based on costs and profit goals. They’ll explain how their software makes it so much easier to run day-to-day operations with CRM and employee performance tracking.

We also have a chapter project planned for late October or early November where we picked up two new partners to assist us in the project.

The board’s efforts have far exceeded my expectations as president for the 2018 year and I look forward to where we’re headed. We are now putting together the election for the 2019 board, and it looks to be a really strong group. Next year is set to be a promising year for the LA/SGV chapter. The only thing we’re missing is you – please get involved in your chapter! Thank you very much!

Dan Dvorak
2018 President, CLCA LA/SGV Chapter