Pictured left to right: Craig Ruppert, Shamik Patel, Phil Key and David Coghlan representing Ruppert Landscape and Knox Lane are pictured here at our corporate campus following one of three annual local board meetings.
By Craig Ruppert, Founder and Chairman of the Board
I frequently get asked how things are going with Knox Lane since partnering with them a year and a half ago. My answer is this: we’re feeling fortunate. As you’ve probably heard me say, the selection process was one of careful valuation on both sides. Knox appreciated our leadership team, supported our operating approach, and recognized the role that our unique culture plays in our success. We saw an opportunity to partner with an eager and bright team at Knox that we could learn from and would help us to grow in a more dynamic way. I believe that what makes this relationship work is that we respect each other and have clarity on the role that each of us plays. Knox continues to enable us to do what we do best, but in a more enhanced way—providing exceptional service for our customers and opportunity for our team. Their added financial resources, strategic influence and sharing of best practices is helping us achieve our growth goals and opportunities for our team to reach their full potential.
With their support and influence, we’ve added several key positions at the corporate level including Eric Scheinerman as CFO, Jeff Mullen as Director of Mergers & acquisitions, and Matt Everts as Chief Information Officer. These key additions to our management team will help ensure our continued success.
We also added the three new partner companies to our team, and those original owners and their management teams are all now fully committed partners in the Ruppert team. Through these key additions, we’ve grown our team by 500 members, nine branches and 20% in revenue. And this is all in addition to our solid organic growth, enabling us to open three new branches in Apex, NC, Bowie, MD, and Elkridge, MD.
We are on a solid path with wise partnerships and well-thought-out strategic decisions, but we can’t take our eye off our culture. Our unique people and customer-focused culture is the heartbeat of our organization. It helps to foster collaboration, innovation, and a strong sense of belonging. Our culture has always changed and evolved over time. It’s influenced by new people and new ideas. Change has made it stronger. That evolution is happening even faster right now, making it important that we remain attuned to our shared values and consistent in our approach in critical areas like maintaining our image, communicating with our teams and customers, operating safely and efficiently, and treating everyone with respect.
Reflecting on the past 18 months, I’m grateful for how much we’ve learned through our collaboration with Knox Lane and the wealth of knowledge and ideas introduced by our new partner companies and their leadership teams. I can confidently say, on behalf of our entire management team, that we are genuinely excited about the future of our company and culture with this infusion of talent, innovation, and fresh perspectives. Keep up the great work and thank you for everything you do!