Today we’d like to introduce you to John Harris.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Earth Advisors to be an expert company providing advice and project management to both Green Industry contractors and property owners for improving values of landscapes, trees, and palms. My business plan was written as part of my MBA in Organizational Management at Syracuse University, and South Florida was in the top 2 locations in the country for me to locate this business. My experience in the Green Industry comes from having owned landscape maintenance and tree service businesses since I was 11 years old. By being active as a resource for information and technical advice for the media, political leaders, municipalities, agencies, and Green Industry businesses, we continue to grow our reputation and reach to the community. We also provide public education and industry training for urban forestry, landscape design, landscape maintenance, and arboriculture (tree care) regularly. Being a successful educator builds trust and understanding for our work with clients. Being available to anyone who calls or emails with landscape or three questions, is part of our mission to be a trusted resource for the urban forest and urban landscapes in our community.
Has it been a smooth road?
The Green Industry is greatly impacted by changes in the construction and real estate markets because most of the sales are made for new construction, redevelopment, and property improvement projects; both for private and public properties. Our business grows and contracts similar to others in the Green Industry, and that affects our cash flow, our employee retention, and our leadership development. We also do expert witnessing for contractor negligence, landscape damage claims, and injury cases involving Green Industry trades. Having multiple areas of business, with some that increase when others decrease, helps us maintain our business for long-term growth and success. Another struggle is growing older and having generational changes in family and friends take priority over running our business (deaths of grandparents and then parents, as well as friends). We do prioritize to take care of family and friends, and there are years where those needs take away substantial time from managing and leading our businesses. So, we have to regroup, adjust our plans, and when we are given more time back, focus on leading and managing the businesses again. Overcoming challenges, and being able to adjust our goals and our lifestyles year by year to be successful, is how we can smile during each day and be a positive influence for those we interact with in our work and our lives.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Earth Advisors – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Earth Advisors’ Consultants have been in Forestry, Arboriculture, Landscape, Horticulture, Biology, Ecology, Geography, and Education fields for over 30 years. From our Main Office in south Florida, Earth Advisors’ Consultants have provided reputable consulting, education and project management services for a wide variety of projects across the United States and internationally; in both temperate and tropical ecosystems.
These include:
• Environmental consulting – environmental assessments for land use planning issues, wildlife and vegetation surveys, habitat evaluation, mitigation planning, exotic plant control, protected species preservation, wetlands delineations, Mangrove permitting and management, environmental permitting with mitigation negotiations
• Urban forest management – Landscape designs, project management, quality assurance inspections for arboricultural work, urban tree inventories, GIS/GPS mapping, Urban Forest Management Plans and budgeting
• Landscape consulting – Landscape evaluations, landscape designs, project budgeting, natural areas restoration and preservation planning and contracting, tree health and condition evaluations, damage appraisals, landscape and tree ordinance development, and Landscape Maintenance Specifications development.
• Appraisal, Expert Witnessing, Affidavits and Court Litigation– tree and landscape value appraisals, damage appraisals, Eminent Domain landscape appraisals, development turn-over landscape audits, damage assessments with remediation costs and recommendations, personal injury and wrongful death cases involving tree and landscape industry practices.
• Education and Training – design, plan and implement landscape, arboricultural, and urban forestry practices classes for technical training or public education; also, provide curriculum development and training programs to educational facilities and agencies.
We are known for our depth of knowledge in our service areas, and being able to work with clients in planning and implementing the improvements for their landscapes, natural areas, and properties, while working with budget limits that exist. Earth Advisors provides the expertise in landscapes and trees that increase the health and long-term values from greenspaces that can benefit properties in south Florida and across the United States.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Being in south Florida is living where others come to vacation, so we enjoy the subtropical climate, the all year growing season of our landscapes, and the variety of plant species that can be grown and maintained in our region. As more people come to live and work in south Florida, it does take longer to drive to all our client properties, which is a challenge for scheduling and impacts our quality of life (longer drives can add stress to daily living). We try to do more projects using multimedia communication channels and accomplish more during our on-site times to reduce the hours needed to drive in each day. Miami is a world city with continuing growth, continuing increasing diversity in population, and expansion of cultures and cultural based activities and programs to participate in. Never a dull moment in a city like Miami.
Contact Info:
- Address: Main Office
4600 Sheridan Street, Suite 403
Hollywood, FL 33021 - Website: www.earthadvisors.com
- Phone: 954 987 1885
- Email: eai@earthadvisors.com
Image Credit:
Darlene Harris, John Harris, John LePage
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