Turner Tree & Landscape Celebrates 30 Years In Manatee

Darrell Turner swirled his straw around his iced tea and made a casual gesture toward the trees that line the length of downtown Sarasota’s Main Street.

“About eight years ago, we planted those trees,” he said nonchalantly. “All of them. And then a couple years later we did the landscaping for the Ritz Carlton. That was when business was really good.”

Turner, president of Turner Tree & Landscape, has been in the construction and earth moving business for more than 30 years now, and the scope of his company’s work can be seen all around the greater area of Manatee and Sarasota counties — as well as in Tampa, Orlando, Naples, Miami and other locations throughout Florida.

The company, which started out as a one-man operation consisting of none other than Darrell Turner himself, currently has offices in both Naples and Miami, as well as in Bradenton, where it originally took root in 1981. Turner Tree & Landscape’s tree farms currently stretch an impressive 2 ½ miles down the length of the interstate between Ellenton and Myakka.

Despite its humble beginnings, today the company is one of Florida’s biggest landscaping businesses, and has been the recipient of numerous awards. Just this week the Florida Gulf Coast chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. presented Turner Tree & Landscape with the prestigious Excellence in Construction Award for its work at Mosaic Corporate Headquarters in Brandon. This is the third consecutive time the company has been recognized at the bi-annual awards banquet.

Darrell Turner relocated from Virginia to Tampa in 1977 to work on the development of the very interstate highway that his company’s tree farm now runs alongside. In 1979, he moved to Bradenton, where he began moving large trees in 1980. Turner Tree & Landscape landed its first large-scale project in 1981 when it took on the then-fledgling Orlando amusement park, EPCOT, as its first client. Following its involvement with EPCOT, Turner was hired by Disney World and then Universal Movie Studios, both of which still utilize its landscaping services.

Eighteen years ago, Turner Tree & Landscape was also involved in the developmental stages of what is now a sprawling, master-planned community, Lakewood Ranch. The company has played an influential role in the development of various communities throughout the state.

Now celebrating its 30^th year in business, Turner Tree & Landscape, which grossed $200,000 in its first year, currently runs at a sales rate estimated between $9 and $10 million per year and employs more than 100 individuals. While these numbers are impressive, what truly makes Turner Tree & Landscape a local success story has been its ability to endure and bounce back from the construction recession that plagued the industry in recent years.

“2007 through 2009 were the toughest years I’ve ever had in my career,” said Turner. “We had to take some serious cost-cutting measures just to survive.”

One of these cost-cutting measures included laying off 100 employees. Before the recession hit, Turner Tree & Landscape had more than 200 employees. As of last year, fewer than 90 people were employed with the company. Since then, business has begun to pick up, and Turner has hired back 30 people. The majority of Turner Tree & Landscape’s workers have been with the company for between eight and 20 years.

Turner, whose company was only working on as few as five projects in the challenging economic climate of 2009, said “Currently we’re back up to 65 jobs in progress. Our employees are actually getting overtime again — which, you can imagine, they haven’t seen in quite some time.”

Darrell Turner attributes his company’s ability to bounce back from financial hard times to a number of factors.

“First we had to expand the scope of our services,” he said. “We didn’t want to do much earth work in the past, but now we do — lots of fountains, retaining walls, concrete planters, that kind of thing.”

Turner Tree & Landscape’s continued commitment to exemplary customer service is another element that has led to its longevity, Turner explained. “If you have a pickup truck and a shovel, you can be a landscaper — anyone can do it,” he said. “But ‘service after the sale’ is our big thing. It’s what sets us apart.”

The factor that Turner truly credits with his company’s success, though, is continued, active involvement within the community.

“I’m a firm believer in giving back to the community at whatever level you can,” he said. “Anyone who comes to work for our company and doesn’t possess that characteristic — they don’t last long. You have to be willing to really be a part of this community in order to be part of our company.”

Among numerous other accolades, Turner received the John A. Clarke Humanitarian of the Year award in 2009 from the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation. The company has been recognized for its heavy involvement with Big Cat Habitat as a contributor and sponsor, as well as for the landscaping services it has lent to the chimpanzee habitat.

Darrell Turner has been involved with Meals on Wheels for 15 years, serving as the chairman of the board for the organization from 2006–10. Despite his busy schedule, he and his wife deliver meals to needy families in Manatee County every Tuesday. He is also a board member at the Chamber of Commerce, Keep Manatee Beautiful, the Suncoast Blood Bank and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance. Furthermore, Turner is the incoming chairman of the Gulf Coast Business exchange.

When asked when he ever finds the time to sleep, Turner did not skip a beat.

“Never,” he joked — sort of. “We’re blessed to be as busy as we are. When things are going well, no, I don’t have time to sleep. I like it that way. Things are going well now.”