We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Classic Landscaping, a grounds management company headquartered in Frederick, Maryland with a second location in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Classic has been doing business in central Maryland since 1979 and was founded by Scott Hall. When Scott passed away unexpectedly a little over a year ago, his widow, Sandie, continued to manage the business with the support of friends and family. Her goal became to transition the business to new ownership in a manner that honors Scott’s legacy by ensuring the continuation of their commitment to their employees, the community, the customers and partners they have done business with over the past four decades.
Similar to Ruppert in many respects, Classic is a local, family-owned landscaping business that prioritizes the treatment of their team, customers, and community over any short-term objectives. They have built an excellent reputation and provided top-notch delivery of service over the past 40 years in the Frederick and Cumberland County markets. Also similar to Ruppert, and somewhat unique in our industry, Classic is focused on owning and maintaining first-class facilities from which to operate their business. The alignment of values and operational focus between the two organizations has given us confidence that this will be a good fit.
The transaction includes the purchase of both Classic facilities, all commercial landscape management contracts, vehicles and equipment, and the hiring of over 50 employees. We are committed to retaining Classic’s entire team and all of their commercial landscape maintenance contracts. This will allow us to strengthen our Frederick team to better serve our customers and expand our service coverage in Pennsylvania. Our Frederick team has relocated from their previous rented facility to join Classic’s team in their owned facility. DaveRoles will remain branch manager overseeing the combined Frederick team.
The Classic and local Ruppert teams met for a town hall meeting on February 14th at Classic’s owned facility in Frederick, which now houses the combined Frederick team.
To provide continuity in leadership and service and to ensure a smooth transition for customers, the Camp Hill operation will continue to be managed by PJ Walters, a former Classic employee who chose to join the Ruppert team following the acquisition. The Camp Hill team has been providing landscape management services to the greater Harrisburg area for over ten years, including Cumberland, Dauphin, York, Lancaster, and Adams Counties. They serve over 70 customers in this market—many of which are also Ruppert customers in other markets—including Triple Crown Corp, The Apartment Gallery, Property Management Inc. (PMI), Morgan Properties, Carlisle Construction Materials, and First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.
The addition of the Camp Hill branch places us in a healthy market that values quality landscapes and provides our people with an opportunity for growth. In ten years, the branch has grown from one crew to 10 crews, and they are consistently signing major property clients to their portfolio. With PJ’s continued guidance and leadership, we are excited for the team’s future under the Ruppert name.