Tim Eldredge started his landscaping business, EarthScapes Lawn and Land Service, in 1996 with one truck, a trailer and the hope that it would not only grow, but that his sons would one day take it over.
The proud patriarch saw his aspirations become a reality. More than a decade later, Josh and Matt Eldredge, 39-year-old identical twins, stepped up as the owners of the Norfolk-based business that brought in more than $2.5 million in revenue last year.
On April 1, EarthScapes merged with Lawn-Aid, another locally owned lawn and landscape company based in Virginia Beach.
Today, EarthScapes has 45 employees including Josh Eldredge as president, Matt Eldredge as vice president, Ben Hewlett as chief operating officer, and Trey White as chief financial officer.
When the twins were 14, their father delved into the side business to supplement his work as a Virginia Beach earth science teacher, in-school suspension coordinator and football coach.
“We had like six, eight, 10 yards a week to mow,” Josh Eldredge said.
After graduation from high school in 2000 — Josh from Ocean Lakes and Matt from Kellam — they started full-time with EarthScapes.
Working in the heat by day, the twins attended night classes side-by-side to earn their landscape design maintenance degrees from Tidewater Community College in 2004. The Eldredge boys’ older brother, Ryan, a sergeant major in the Marines, worked for EarthScapes, too, until he joined the military right after 9/11.
Years later, Matt moved to Northern Virginia to accompany his wife, Stephanie, for a job opportunity. He worked for another landscaping business, and within a short time, was running the operation.
“That was definitely a big learning curve for me as far as multiple crews, logistics and everything that comes along with it,” Matt Eldredge said. “It was probably a pivotal moment in seeing what businesses are capable of doing.”
Anxious to get back to Hampton Roads, Matt returned in 2012 and the two partnered up again for EarthScapes’ day-to-day operations — Josh on the maintenance side and Matt overseeing the landscaping. Josh’s wife, Michelle, has worked as the office administrator and comptroller for 10 years.
While the Eldredge brothers were settling into their family business, Hewlett and White were busy founding Lawn-Aid as a side business to their naval careers. The fighter pilots — longtime friends whose first meeting dates back to flight school in the early 1990s — retired in 2017 as captains.
Both Hewlett and White, armed with their MBAs, decided to start an entrepreneurial “experiment” with a single lawn maintenance crew. With persistence, good work ethic, friendly faces and hard work, Lawn-Aid quickly grew to both commercial and residential maintenance and landscape installations, White said. It had six employees on board at the time of the merger.
“We had hopes of growing it through good business practices and setting some serious goals year after year — and we did that,” Hewlett said, noting they often managed the business from a distance while on active-duty deployments.
The merger was the next logical step in their business plans.
And it was the next big move for the Eldredge brothers who searched for strategic small business acquisitions and reached out to Hewlett and White.
“These are two really good guys who really know their trade,” White said. “And we’re good guys and we know business.”
The company provides lawn maintenance for both residential and commercial companies including homeowner associations in South Hampton Roads. It also installs paver patios, fire pits and other backyard living spaces. Its turf management division is quickly growing.
Well-poised in the Hampton Roads community, White anticipates significant growth over the next three to five years. And Hewlett said their five-year plan includes a satellite service on the Peninsula.
“We’re looking to be a major force in the landscaping industry in this area,” White said.
“It’s a great area to call home if you’re a business owner,” Matt Eldredge said. “It’s a fruitful community to work in, that’s for sure.”
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com