Team Spotlight: Chris Prowse

Welcome to our first Team Terracare Employee Spotlight feature series. In this series we will showcase our amazing team members and highlight their work, achievements and what get’s them excited to come to work every day.

 

Last month, TCA won the NALP Award of Excellence for the City of Carlsbad.  One of many outstanding team members working on this property is Chris Prowse.  We kick off the Spotlight series featuring Chris.

 

Baseball diamonds are the center pieces of many city parks.  As a part-time team member from San Diego, California branch, Chris Prowse takes ownership in his work and helps maintain all of the baseball fields and diamonds for the City of Carlsbad parks system. Baseball diamonds are a specialty of Carlsbad Park’s upkeep. As a crew member, he maintains all the city’s baseballs fields by cutting the grass, grading the infield dirt so water runs off instead of forming puddles, raking and dragging the infield after use to keep it level, safe and playable.

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Chris is a part-time employee. He uses this job as his retirement project, a way of spending time outdoors and staying active. His goal is to train others to learn his trade since there is a skill and a method around the upkeep of baseball fields. 

 

We asked Chris’ manager, Amanda Haas, about him. Here is what she had to say: “Chris is a team player and extremely knowledgeable. He is easy to work with and is thorough in his work. It’s a pleasure having him on the crew.”

 

Want to work with Chris? We’re hiring in San Diego.

Snow season is coming, we’re preparing

At Terracare Associates, we like to prepare. As fall weather settles in and gives way to cooler temperatures, we are preparing our company, teams and equipment to handle colder, nastier weather conditions including freezing rain, blizzards and ice storms in the communities we operate in. Preparation now is essential; it allows us to perform timely, accurate and thorough work when winter conditions and weather hits quickly. Here is what we are currently doing to prepare our teams and clients for the upcoming winter season:

 

  • Hiring Staff. These team members are essential to keeping the communities we operate in safe and their roads clear. Staff is typically on-call from October through mid-May. While you stay warm at home, these dedicated team members are in trucks, on ATVs, even out shoveling so the community has access to as safe of conditions as possible. (Looking for extra work? Check out our careers page and apply!)
  • Training. Training is an on-going process at Terracare Associates. Once staff is hired on, we do conduct an “All Staff” orientation in early October which includes video training, necessary paperwork, equipment training and a driving test with a snow plow. Depending on our contracts with clients, we create curriculum and training around individual routes so our drivers are familiar with the routes before they are deployed to these routes during bad weather conditions.
  • Setting expectations. Our managers have thorough discussions with property managers and owners, and municipality staff to clarify the expectations of service delivery expected for each snow event. We work with property managers to plan and prepare for a variety of conditions and weather including managing tree and property damage from early season storms, huge storms that may disable an area for a while and more.
  • Preparing vehicles. Currently, our full-time personnel have started the process of changing over our vehicles from summer work to the winter outfitting of snow plows and sanders. They are running through safety and equipment checklists that include examining and checking tires and conducting preventive maintenance.
  • De-icing materials. Our team is in the process of gathering, cataloging and preparing materials to combat snowy and icy conditions on the roads. We’ve placed orders on ice melt material orders for most of our municipal contracts and will soon be ordering those same materials for the properties we currently partner with and serve.

 

If you have not made arrangements for snow removal this season, give us a call or send us a request for proposal and a manager will be in touch to address your needs.

Drive safely and stay warm.

We’re in the winner’s circle!

Terracare Associates captures four prestigious National Awards of Excellence for Landscape Maintenance Services

 

Our Terracare team is proud to announce we’ve won four 2016 Awards of Excellence by the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). This tribute recognizes us for outstanding landscape maintenance services honoring the following properties: Ceronix, Inc. and The City of Carlsbad, in California and The City of Grapevine, and CVS Health Tower, in Texas.  We have built a strong partnership with our clients and are thrilled to share this award with each of them. Our crew teams work diligently each day to bring out the best in every property. We want everyone to enjoy the outdoors!

 

Here is our nationally recognized work for 2016:

Ceronix, Inc.; Auburn California

We’ve become the partner service provider that can handle Ceronix’s complex landscaping for their corporate headquarters. Our team helps manage the 21-acre property that doubles as a licensed wildlife sanctuary. Our work has included managing and maintaining ongoing maintenance landscaping, enhancement landscape projects, and irrigation systems.

 

The City of Carlsbad; Carlsbad, California

We’ve built a strong private public partnership with the city to meet the city’s high expectations for landscape maintenance and enhancements for their park system. We manage and maintain almost 940,000 square feet of turf, including 5 synthetic and 10 natural athletic fields, dog parks, basketball courts, recreational picnic areas, play structures, skates parks, a pool complex and a wide array of landscaping.

 

The City of Grapevine; Grapevine, Texas

This historical tourist destination is home to more than 50,000 residents and welcomes more than 20 million visitors annually. With so many people living and visiting, the City of Grapevine turned to us to help maintain their beautiful landscapes and functioning infrastructure throughout the 24/7/365, especially during harsh weather like floods and droughts.

 

CVS Health Tower; Irving, Texas

The client’s goal was to make the challenging landscape around the existing building more sustainable, water conscious and employee-friendly to create a campus park-like setting. They looked to us to bring the expertise, knowledge, experience and manpower to help plan, budget and execute this project seamlessly and to continue the maintenance associated with the building and the landscaping.

 

NALP strives to recognize professionalism and enhance public perceptions of our industry and its professionals through its awards programs. Our Awards of Excellence showcases superior projects in the areas landscape, lawn care, and interior maintenance, design/build as well as installation, container plantings, and erosion control.

 

How to Find the Best Commercial Landscape Contractor for You

 

The pressure to control costs, while maintaining the value and beauty of your property, is a constant balancing act for many commercial property managers. Maintaining the outside areas of your commercial property is much like maintaining curb appeal for your home. In a recent survey of Society of Real Estate Appraisers, 95 percent of the respondents said professional landscape maintenance adds dollar value and can improve attraction to tenants. The property’s overall landscape, well maintained turf areas, floral beds and trees are the first things a potential tenant will see when evaluating property options. Is your property making an impression?

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Think about this when you prepare your annual budgets or when you are vetting bids; your landscape should be a priority, not an afterthought. Consideration should be taken for a variety of landscape projects; curb appeal is important to attract tenants, while water-conservation efforts can reduce costs and meet mandated reductions. Significant landscape projects may be needed, so carefully review projects like turf conversion, enhancement projects, or irrigation repairs before you select your landscape contractor. As a property manager, where do you start in determining what landscape services you need, and what is important?

 

What a Commercial Landscaping Company Can do for Your Property

Commercial landscaping refers to the management and healthcare of the plants, flowers, turf mowing, trees and shrubs. It also includes necessary maintenance services such as irrigation inspection, storm management, plant health care and water conservation improvements. Because of the inherent differences between residential and commercial property, it is often recommended to seek a contractor that specializes in commercial and public landscape services. As a property manager, having a basic understanding of landscaping services may be critically important when you develop your annual budget. It is also very important when you compare landscapers, as not all provide the same breadth and depth of services.

 

Key Questions to Ask your Current or Potential Landscape Provider

We have developed a qualifier form to help to evaluate and select a landscape contractor. A sampling of questions are:

  • What size property can the landscape provider or contractor adequately service?
  • How long has the company been in business?
  • Does the contractor have the required liability insurance?
  • Are they licensed to apply pesticides and work irrigation systems?

 

Knowing what you want in a landscape contractor is essential, properly forecasting and budgeting for your needs is the key to a beautifully well-kept property. Terracare Associates – TCA offers a free service to help you assess your property for landscape services and get what you need.

 

Contact us for more information about how we can provide the kind of landscape maintenance services your property deserves.

Working Together to Keep our Roads Safe

 

Safety on the roads starts with you. Road maintenance companies go to great lengths to make sure the road is safe for you during construction. Car and truck construction crashes are often times caused by auto drivers not paying attention or are too impatient to slow down. Sharing the road with large vehicles can be dangerous if you are not aware of their limitations. Many trucks are GPS tracked requiring truck and plow drivers to stay within in the speed limit, and possibly slower during inclement weather. As a company, Terracare Associates spends a lot of time and resources educating employees on how to work safer to prevent on the job accidents and to keep the public safe. Every new team member is given full safety training so they are up to “speed” on keeping safe on the roads (no pun intended).

 

Keeping employees and the public safe on roadways can be challenging because the worksite includes drivers that don’t see the inherent risks. Here are a few guidelines for you to follow when driving around work zones or near trucks on the road:

  1. Mind the Gap – How close should you follow behind that truck? Some signs advise to stay back 200 feet to prevent damage. If you ride too close, the driver can’t see you in rearview mirrors and hence doesn’t know you are there. A good rule to follow is keep one dashed lane marker between you and the truck for every 10 mph you are driving. This distance will allow the driver to see you and will reduce damage to your vehicle by road debris. Don’t pass trucks during inclement weather, patience pays off and reduces accidents. This is especially important when following a snow plow.
  2. Mirror, Mirror – If you can’t see a drivers mirrors, he likely can’t see you. Always position your vehicle so you can see one or both side mirrors and avoid blind spots when possible.
  3. Mobile Disasters – Trucks entering and exiting works zones can create unexpected changes in traffic patterns. Taking your eyes off the road for a few seconds to check your phone can spell disaster. Put the phone away or pullover to take care of business when it can’t wait.
  4. Marked for Success – Work zones are marked to protect you and the road construction project. When you cross a work zone you put your passengers and the workers in danger and a position where damage could happen to your vehicle. Fresh tar, asphalt or paint can damage your paint job or cause your tires to wear prematurely. Pay attention to signs and seek alternate routes when possible.

 

Safety is most readily achieved when everyone on the job understands the rules for a safe work zone. Terracare believes safety is for your family. Learn more by watching our safety video or reading about our Safety Rodeo.

Keeping it Safe! Our Annual Safety Rodeo Kicks Off Today

Today, we’re conducting our annual Safety Rodeo for new Terracare Associates employees! Our Vice President of Public Infrastructure, Justin Stewart, is leading the all-day safety training in the Denver metro area of all Colorado-based employees. Approximately 100 new employees have joined us this spring and are being trained through eight different stations. Each training station teaches and reviews equipment safety and industry safety standards for landscape and infrastructure maintenance. Employees are learning how to operate and use maintenance and landscape equipment including mowers, trimmers, trucks and trailers, and more. This training ensures that employees are keeping themselves, teammates and the community safe while also providing quality service to our clients.

 

Similar ‘rodeo’ trainings will be held over the next few weeks for employees in California, Texas, and Utah.

 

Watch the video on our Facebook page!

Terracare Associates Acquires Landscape Management Services

Terracare Associates, LLC (“TCA”), a leading outdoor maintenance company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Landscape Management Services (“LMS”), based in San Jose, CA. The transaction closed on April 30, 2016 and is a strategic extension of current TCA operations in Northern CA.

 

“This transaction is a terrific opportunity for our organization to grow along the peninsula and we couldn’t be more pleased to partner with the strong ownership and management team currently in place at LMS”, said Dean Murphy, President of TCA. “The team at LMS has built a portfolio of quality-minded clients and we will certainly work together with the LMS staff to meet and exceed their expectations going forward.”

 

George Kaiser, owner and founder of LMS, added “I feel fortunate to have found a partner like TCA who will continue to support the growth of LMS and its employees well into the future. The process was straight forward and I’m pleased to partner with TCA and our shared values for operating with respect, integrity, and with concern for our communities and the environment.”

 

TCA is based in Littleton, CO and has approximately 850 employees in four states. TCA is a leader in outdoor maintenance, providing services to both commercial and municipal clients, including landscape, asphalt and concrete maintenance, street sweeping, snow removal, lake maintenance and other related outdoor services.

 

TCA currently operates in multiple CA locations including Sacramento, Martinez, Brentwood, Livermore, Milpitas and San Diego. In addition, the company has operations in Salt Lake City, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Denver. For more information about TCA, please go to www.MyTerracare.com

 

For further information please contact:

Cristin Tarr, Director Marketing

Terracare Associates

Office: 720-587-2522

Thank you for helping us support Project C.U.R.E. relief efforts!

 

Thank you for your support! Our Project C.U.R.E fundraiser was a success.

 

We want to sincerely thank all of our generous neighbors, partners, and local businesses who showed up on Earth Day to support our 2nd Annual Earth Day Plant Sale to benefit Project C.U.R.E. in Centennial, Colorado. In partnership with CH2M and City of Centennial, our Project C.U.R.E fundraiser raised almost $2,000 through plant sales to send life-saving and much needed medical supplies to Project C.U.R.E.’s relief assistance efforts in Ecuador. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit in mid-April, devastating, injuring and displacing thousands of people, and toppling and destroying homes, businesses, and public infrastructure.

 

The proceeds from this fundraiser helps enable Project C.U.R.E. to work with strategically selected partners who are on the front lines in the affected areas of Ecuador and are administering care to the several thousands in need.

Terracare at Project C.U.R.E. fundraiser
The team poising for a picture at the Project C.U.R.E. fundraiser. With the help of partners and the community, we raised almost $2,000!

Terracare Associates strives to actively invest in our communities by finding ways to partner with local organizations, and giving back to the communities we live and operate in. We are thankful to find partners in amazing organizations – CH2M and City of Centennial – to help us spread the word and provide a larger positive impact on our communities.

 

Thank you again to all who stopped by and purchased a plant to benefit Project C.U.R.E. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

Terracare Gives Back During Community Service Month

At Terracare Associates, we are deeply committed to going above and beyond for the communities and cities we support. Throughout the year, we volunteer our expertise, time and skills through giving back to local nonprofits and community events. This month, as we celebrate Community Service Month as well as Earth Day (April 20) and Arbor Day (April 30), we’ll be donating our time, energy, and resources for several events and communities in California, Colorado, and Texas.

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Continue reading “Terracare Gives Back During Community Service Month”

Companies scramble as feds freeze visas for employees

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security abruptly stopped issuing temporary worker visas under its H-2B program. At Terracare Associates, these employees are a crucial part of our team and community. We greatly value these employees.  Our President, Dean Murphy, spoke directly with The Denver Post on the subject of employment and the H-2B program.

“‘We are really in a spot. Do our guys go from working eight hours to 12 hours a day?’ asked Dean Murphy, president of Terracare Associates, a landscaping firm based in Arapahoe County. Terracare had applied for about 50 visas to use in Colorado and another 100 in Texas to help meet demand from more than 1,000 clients during the peak season of mowing lawns and maintaining irrigation systems.”

Read Dean’s full interview with The Denver Post here.