• by Andrew Pelkey
    February 2024

    Winter finally showed up! Like most of you in the Green Industry, you are also involved in snow operations in the winter months. We are coming off our fourth service area-wide plowing event, and its already the end of January.

    One of the areas NHLA has yet to cover from an educational standpoint, at least during my involvement, is the snow side of our industry. I will bring this to the attention of our Board for further review!

    In the spirit of getting the ball rolling, let’s talk about both commercial and residential plowing services and their associated contracts for a moment.

    Not too long ago, I can remember seasons in which we would be on our fourteenth weather event! I won’t spark a debate regarding global warming, but I will say, we must be prepared for different winters during different time periods.

    Whether you are pricing and contracting commercial or residential work, you need to make sure your pricing reflects capturing your carry costs of equipment and general overhead. With varying weather cycles, you need to consider covering the cost of plowing and de-icing services. On a year when average temps are on the warmer side (last 5) you will see a higher need for de-icing services with the freeze thaw. Or like we saw in 2015, 2016, 2017: 100″+ of snow. Clauses in your contracts such as inch caps, additional charges over caps, referred to as price ceilings, will help you mitigate the anomalies that occur outside of the average. With this said, pricing for average and covering the outliers is the goal. The snow can be a guessing game. But your pricing doesn’t have to be.

    Last month, we had a wonderful event with a few of the states industry titans to discuss growing and scaling your business, as part of NHLA’s two track program to provide education for owners and for team members. Check on the write-up in this Newsletter (page 14) for a recap of what was a fantastic night spent with over 70 of our members!

    We are making moves on what will be our biggest year yet of educational offerings! The current Board of Directors is fired up and excited to bring as much value to you and your team as we can!