References and Testimonials

Southwest Landscape Management

As a landscape management contractor our snow division has been relatively small for the size of our company. I met with Rich & his staff for a full day of consultation and I have to say I leaned more about snow & ice management in that one day than I ever could have on my own. Rich tells it like it is, and helped me create some bidding systems that I literally put to use the next day! We also put together a three year plan for growth and I am confident that with Rich’s help I can achieve my goals!

Thank You!

Steve Rak II
Vice President
Southwest Landscape Management
Columbia Station, Ohio

Schmidt Lawn Care

We have been using Rich Arlington & Associates for over two months for snow removal consulting work. He has provided us with a wealth of information from his years of experience. He has helped us reword our contacts to reduce liability and has also showed us how to present ourselves to be more professional and more equipped to handle larger projects. Rich has been available at all times, evenings, weekends anytime that you want to bounce an idea off of him he is there, he gave us his personal cell phone
number and we can contact him when a question comes up instead of waiting for him to get the message and then return it at later time. We are only part way into our consulting program and say that we are very happy that we have decided to use Rich Arlington and Associates.

Jason Schmidt
Manager
Schmidt Lawn Care
Southington, CT

Knotts Land Care, LLC

Rich Arlington is a long-time active member of SIMA who has promoted continuing contractor education. The Build-A-Bid program that he helped create and is an active presenter of is such an example of his commitment…Rich is committed to helping contractors succeed. This commitment is reflected in his interest in educating contractors on how to run a successful snow and ice management and landscape company. Rich integrates that into his training program.

Doug Knotts
Knotts Land Care, LLC

Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA)

This letter has been written in regards to my experiences working with Rich Arlington, CSP of Arlington Lawncare.

Rich has been a member of SIMA for many years, and has always been a helpful, positive influence on the members he interacts with through our organization. Rich is a volunteer leader, and has been instrumental in driving key projects through various committees to improve the educational and networking opportunities that we offer.

As a speaker at our national symposium and for our regional training sessions, Rich has proven that he can speak directly to the audience, providing examples tied to real life that help drive home the main topics of his sessions. He is laid back and is very approachable for people who have questions or would like to know more.

Finally, Rich has shown strong commitment to the industry by helping mentor many new members of SIMA, answering their questions related to bidding and other snow & ice management topics. For the above reasons, Rich was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award at the 2007 SIMA Awards Banquet.

Brian K. Birch
Assistant Executive Director
Snow and Ice Management Association

Landscape Ontario

Rich, here are the survey results from your Build-A-Bid presentation to Landscape Ontario. As you can see, 76% of those who attended gave you a perfect score and 24% gave you a 4 out of. Our Ottawa Chapter is interested in hosting a symposium in their area and I recommended the Build-A-Bid seminar and you for the speaker.

Kathleen Pugliese
Executive Assistant
Landscape Ontario

Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA)

Richard, on behalf of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) and the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation (MTF), I thank you for your presenting participation in the 2010 Great Lakes Trade Exposition (GLTE). Judging by the comments and evaluations we've received, you were instrumental in making this a very informative and successful event...I enjoyed working with you."

Beth Hooley
Education Director
Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA)":http://www.mnla.org

American Snow Professionals

I am Scott Kennard the snow manager for American Snow Professional, a large plowing contractor in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Myself, and Charmaine House, who runs our sidewlk operation visited Arlington Lawncare Inc, to see if we could get any ideas' on how to run our operations more efficiently. We wanted to meet with Richard Arlington CSP (Certified Snow Professional) because he runs a large plowing operation in Erie, Pennsylvania which has one of the largest snowfall averages in the country. Arlington Lawncare and American Snow Professional are members of SIMA ( Snow and Ice Management Association) which is how we met owner, Richard Arlington.

Some of the things we learned and implemented immediately was ways to use our sidewalk equipment more efficiently and also customize it to make it more durable as well as more efficient. Some of the information they record on their paperwork make it easier for the office to decipher from a billing standpoint. Last of all he told me a way to help prevent our employees' from over salting which has been an on going problem for years.

Arlington's multi-layers of supervision make it possible for them to efficiently manage the amount of snow work they do. They do more than three times the snow work we do, and if we grow to their size perhaps we will structure our supervision similar to theirs'.

Scott Kennard
"American Snow Professionals"

Erie County Technical School

WOW! Your talk was great today. I really enjoyed listening to you and I can't believe the 90 minutes flew by so fast. You covered the topics of business ownership, hiring and firing far better than I could have imagined. You weren't kidding when you said that you were a professional speaker!

As I looked around the room, I noticed that you had the attention of the entire class all the time. Your points were well emphasized. And you really drew the students in by being so expressive and entertaining. I liked the way you included them in the conversation by asking them about first impressions and interviewing. Then, you continued the discussion by responding and relating to their comments. Noticing the nametags and addressing the students by name and their company really made them feel that they were part of the conversation.

You were really observant to notice characteristics before class started, and use what you noticed in the presentation to make points about attendance, notebooks and loopholes. And your business experience really is unique. I can't think of another person in this area who could say that he started 23 businesses. What a wealth of information you have!

My sincere "thank you" for taking the time out of your busy day to help our students understand the importance of being a conscientious employee, being positive and developing good work ethics. Your concern for the development of young people is much appreciated.

Elaine Shaffer
Business Partnerships Coordinator
e-mail: eshaffer@ects.org

Erie County Technical School
8500 Oliver Road
Erie, Pa 16509

Michigan Green Industry Association

On behalf of the Michigan Green Industry Association (MGIA), I would like to thank you for speaking at the MGIA 4th Annual Snow Management Conference & Expo. We had numerous compliments on your presentation, both content and delivery.

I apologize for the mix-up with the agenda. It was my intention to have you speak for an hour. I know that Crystal spent a lot of time on your power point and had to go back and make some adjustments. As for the LCD, somehow it came unplugged at the podium during speaker changes. I work with more than 200 speakers per year and every once in-a-while things go wrong, and I sincerely appreciate your ability to make the adjustment at the last minute.

We appreciate your time and look forward to working with you again in the future.

Sincerely,

Karla Trosen
Director of Education and Membership

Southwest Landscape Management

November 9th, 2008 (e-mail thank you)

Hi Rich,
Just wanted to Thank You for sharing your valuable knowledge with us today. I learn many new things in the snow business industry each time I see you. Your expertise in the snow & ice management industry will definately benefit our company.
I look forward to seeing you again

Thanks Again
Eddie
Southwest Landscape Management

Arboretum University of Rochester

You are often not a prophet in your own town, sometimes not even with your own staff! Rich Arlington brings a style that provides necessary information in a efficient ( and sometimes humorous) style, that front line staff are receptive to and unintimidated by.

Dan Schied, CNLP
Manager, Horticulture and Grounds