Scott says, “Irene works there, along with three office employees. She serves as of- fice director and fills the CFO role, con- centrating mainly on tax planning and long term planning. The others handle the day-to-day details and coordinate production and shipments.”
All Seasons also has a pickup facility where customers can get anything from a slab of sod to a full truckload. Many landscape contractors pick up a pallet or two of sod several days a week. “All of our grass is cut to order,” says Scott. “That’s one of our biggest selling points. Call at least one day ahead and the sod will go from our fields in the morning to your project in the afternoon. We always have people on hand to load. Irene is a great fork lift driver and she’ll tackle the loading if she needs to.”
Growing the Business The Harmony Brands central office co- ordinates sales and deliveries across the national network of sod producers. Scott says, “Horizon has an office with several employees who spend 80 percent of their time coordinating those shipments on our end.”
Most of Horizon’s shipments go out through a network of independent truck- ing companies they have developed over their many years of business. Scott reports All Seasons works with some of those companies, as well as a group of truckers they use on a regular basis.
In addition, Irene has created her own All Seasons trucking company, a fleet of three green and yellow trucks equipped with trailers with the roll down side for greater flexibility. With this set-up, they can better handle deliveries from full truckloads for the golf course and large project markets to the pallets of several different grasses that are destined for multiple stops at retail garden centers and landscape contractor job sites. Scott says, “It’s especially beneficial on the projects such as the Tiger Woods course, where we’re timing deliveries to match their installation schedule. And it allows us to more closely control costs.”
All Seasons Turf Grass trucks act as traveling billboards delivering the message: You Call— We Deliver.
Scott notes there aren’t many layers within the business operations and that works well. “We don’t hold anything as formal as a monthly meeting. Production is tracked so closely through the coordinat- ed shipping, if any of the 3,500 acres are not harvested within a year, or any variety at any of the farms needs to be moved, we’re made aware of it. We came real close to harvesting every blade of grass we grew in 2014, and some sections were harvested twice. And, as of late November, we’re on track to do the same in 2015.”
All Seasons Turf Grass is equipped to harvest and handle big roll sod for golf courses, sports fields and other large area projects.
The winter months are prime time for the leadership team to review upcoming projects and plot any strategy changes in their marketing plans. The Horizon (
www.horizongrass.com) and All Seasons (
www.allseasonsturf.com) websites are well- designed to serve both commercial and residential customers shopping for sod.
The roll down side on the All Seasons Turf Grass trucks provides greater flexibility for loading and unloading.
The family’s greater focus is continu- ing to build relationships through their strong support of, and participation in, industry-related associations. Willie has been a member of TPI, the Turfgrass Producers of Texas (TPT), and the Texas Turfgrass Association (TTA) since the early 80s. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Sod Producers Association from 1998 to 2000. William served as a director and secretary/trea- surer of TPT from 2002 to 2004. Irene served on the TPT board in 2008 and was elected TPT President in 2009, the first woman to receive that honor. Irene and Scott have extended All Seasons’ as- sociation involvement to the South Texas Chapter of the Golf Course Superinten- dents Association of America (GCSAA), the Texas Sports Turf Managers Associa- tion (TXSTMA) and the Texas Nursery & Landscape Association (TNLA).
The big roll harvest is underway in this All Seasons Turf Grass field.
Always exploring the opportunities to grow the family business ventures, Irene added a grain trailer to her trucking operations. Scott reports she owns some rock hauling equipment, too. “The abili- ty to serve dual roles maximizes trucking productivity.” And it provides a reliable, readily available delivery resource during the harvest season of the row crops.
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
Scott says, “I’m very fortunate to be part of a family business that not only grows a phenomenal product, but also focuses on customer service.” It’s a family business that works hard to keep their customers happy—because that’s what the Gavranovic family does.
Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News.
All photos courtesy of All Seasons Turf Grass.
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