Dawson Hodgson was named president of Sodco, Inc. in September of 2018.
that acreage grew, Winfield partnered with two others in the sod business under the name Tuckahoe Turf. When that partnership ended, one of the other partners put in the bid for that name. Winfield owned the land but had a non- compete clause with his former partners. In 1981, Linda Tucker, Winfield’s daughter, and her husband Richard (Dick) Hodgson, who
had been the farm manager for Tuckahoe Turf, rented some farmland near Winfield’s site to start their own sod production under the Sodco name.
Dawson Hodgson, son of Dick and Linda, was named president of Sodco in September of 2018, when Linda retired. Dick had retired in 2001. Dawson reports, “We acquired this property through the foresight of my Grandfather. Access to this land gave my parents a real advantage, but more important to their success was my Mom’s business acumen as a CPA and MBA and the daughter of a very successful businessman, and my Father’s incredible work ethic. I’ve not seen anyone as dedicated to his business and his crop in such a powerful way. I’ve had the very good fortune to have grown up on the sod farm as our family home was on the farm property.
“I started as a paid employee in 1986, when I was 8-years- old. I worked summers all the way through law school and lived here on the property throughout my career in law and government. Sodco would not be anything without the vision and sacrifice of my parents and their team-building approach based on their understanding that they could never do it alone. My role, and my privilege, is building on the strong foundation they’ve established.”
One member of the Sodco team, Pat Hogan, sales manager, first connected with the farm in 1980 when he was an owner/operator trucker. He hauled some loads for Tuckahoe and then some for Sodco. When his truck motor blew up in 1981, Dick and Linda hired him to drive the truck they’d just bought. Soon he was mowing fields, too, and then installing sod and interacting with customers. He says, “When the previous sales manager retired in 1995, they asked me to step into that position. Tat type of team-building was typical of how Dick and Linda operated their business.”
TPI Turf News January/February 2019
Pat Hogan, Sodco sales manager, began working for the company in 1981.
Growing the Business Te housing market was growing rapidly in the 1980s and the sod business and Sodco were growing along with it. Bluegrass was the only sod crop and frequently demand outpaced production. Hogan reports, “From the beginning, Dick and Linda continually looked at how to do better, whether it was managing their land use through crop rotation or their operations through new technology. Linda even helped develop a computer software program to manage the sod inventory and billing back in the ‘80s when few others were tying computer technology to turf.”
On July 27-29, 1994, the TPI Summer Convention was held in Newport, Rhode Island, and Sodco, Inc. hosted the Field Day. Hogan says, “Along with the 526 acres in production, the property includes several wooded areas, the Hodgson family home and my home, as well as the company buildings. It’s a beautiful setting. When people drive down the driveway, it looks like they are entering a huge private estate. We still have TPI members tell us they remember that field day as being so special because it showed how Dick and Linda used the beauty of the site to enhance the impression of the company. We’ve continued to use that in our marketing, originally with photos, now on our website (
www.sodco.net) and since 2014, with overhead photos and action videos I’ve been able to capture with drone shots.”
2008 Decisions All Sodco’s turfgrass production was bluegrass in 2008 when the economic downturn hit. Hogan says, “Linda was a CPA. Tat fall, she made the sales team pull the housing permit numbers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Tey were down by 65 percent. She said, ‘Tat 70 acres of grass you planted in September, plow it under.’ All winter we debated how to make the land profitable, even talking about community gardens or renting it out. Heating oil was priced at $4 a gallon
35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
