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Benchmark
Landscape, Inc- As is the case so often, inspiration started at a young age for many. While most of us were trying to dream up a way to skip classes and keep our parents from finding out about it, others were securely fashioning the foundation of what would be their future passions. As a teenager, mowing your own lawn was torture enough, but for the Mohns brothers, John and Craig, the idea of mowing their own grass and the grass on their neighbor's lawns was a foreshadowing of the future. Growing up as budding entrepreneurs in Altadena, John and Craig Mohns spent their fair share of free time mowing and cleaning up their neighbors' lawns, but an unexpected side affect ensued. Neither of them expected to make a career out of horticulturally based applications, but that is exactly what they did. John ended up attending and graduating from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a degree in horticulture. His brother Craig received a two-year degree in horticulture at Mesa Community College, where he met Robert Oldfield who would eventually graduate from Cal Poly as well and join the Benchmark team. Craig followed up his two-year education with a degree in business at San Diego State University.
The three of them went to work for a contractor in their related field, learning the trade, gaining experience as well as promoted status within the ranks of the company, but all was not well. The company began to lose their ability to function and began to rapidly take on water. John, spotting an opportunity to build his own vessel, partnered with a friend and created Benchmark Landscape, Inc. in 1984. Not long after, his brother Craig and friend Robert came on board to assist in the operations. Coordinating their early work from a household kitchen, the company prospered and soon moved to an office in the Mission Valley area, later opening a satellite office in Temecula. The office in Mission Valley relocated to Miramar in the early to mid 90's remaining there until they were able to purchase land in Poway in the late 1990's. The satellite office was proposed and opened in the Temecula area and was manned by John's partner. In time, the partnership dissolved and Craig and Robert became part owners in the venture. Today, their main offices are located in Poway on a little over an acre and a half of land. Their present maintenance, service, and administrative offices are housed in an 18,000 sq. ft. building built on the grounds, which also keeps a number of pieces of equipment for their maintenance fleet, while their Bobcat and Kubota machines jump from job site to job site. Since the creation of the company, many changes within the walls of the daily operations have occurred as well as outside the walls, in the midst of the industry. According to Craig Mohns, much of their labor force has improved as a direct result of training and certification programs offered by organizations such as the CLCA. "More is expected out of them and there is much more of an emphasis placed upon training today," said Mohns. "The organizations out there are really trying to raise the bar of quality when it comes to skilled labor." Regulations have also become a considered factor in everything that is done. "There are no more good ole' boys out there in the field in a t-shirt and shorts with a shovel, rake and a pickup. The industry is becoming more professional in it's approach to business," said Mohns.
Within the organization at Benchmark, many of their employees have college degrees and a large number of them are in horticulture or related fields of expertise. The company has certainly grown from the first $238 lawn renovation job provided for a friend. Mohns feels that the company is not a corporate driven juggernaut, but instead places emphasis upon being a tight-knit group of highly skilled individuals providing a quality of work unmatched by other companies of their size in the industry. Benchmark's greatest assets are found in its people, numbering roughly 200, according to Mohns. "The people we have and the level of education they have are our greatest strengths." They have managers and core personnel who have been with them for 15 years or more. "We work well as a team because we have had time to work out the quirks on a daily basis." Mohns attributes their lack of turnover to the fact that,"people either love this industry and type of work or they don't." They are apparently very good at finding those individuals who love the work and are able to keep people for a very long time. "The company takes care of everyone as well," said Mohns. "Some of our people have even been with us since the beginning." The principal owners and management team are made up of several very experienced and qualified individuals, starting with John Mohns who functions as the President and majority owner. Robert Oldfield serves as the Vice President of Operations and Craig Mohns is Vice President of Business Development. There are very key and skilled individuals in the sales and estimating departments, as well as their project managers in installation, maintenance, and the custom residential department. Apart from the company, when the operations are shut down or the time clock is lonely, the outdoorsmen in many of the individuals at Benchmark emerge. Whether the activity is fishing or hiking, riding a bike or a Harley, the great expanses beckon without fail. John and Craig Mohns as well as Robert Oldfield set out on a yearly fishing expedition to Mexico. Oldfield is an avid road cyclist and mountain biker as well as golfer, and John Mohns will take a spin on his Harley-Davidson any chance he gets, but most of the folks at Benchmark spend the majority of their off time with their young families, tending to home matters.
It is the desire of those involved at Benchmark to provide the best quality service and value. "We aren't the cheapest, but you will be happy with what you receive," said Mohns. "We want to do a customers job well and be asked back to do their next job, and their next, etc." Mohns believes strongly that the saying, "you get what you pay for," is very applicable in this industry. "It says something about a company who maintains their clients and keeps them happy and they come back for more," said Mohns. The future holds great things for Benchmark Landscape, Inc. Mohns feels that they are in direct control of their destiny within the industry. "What we have to do is get everyone here to agree that our reputation and work we do is the best around," he said. " Clients know that we are passionate about our work." As the weeks roll on into the next year, the decision makers at Benchmark are hoping to see more of a push toward the maintenance market. Although the surge of housing and predictions of growth in the San Diego area look promising for residential projects, Mohns is confident that their strongest market will remain in maintenance. "We want to do a good job daily so that we can sleep well at night. We don't cut corners and we stand upon our ability to deliver expertise in quality and service. When a client chooses us to complete a project for them, we want to show them our appreciation."
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