• Burt Sperber
• Eric Rood

Featured Presentations

Preparing For Your Future

Featuring Green Industry Visionary Burt Sperber

Preparing for retirement is more than checking out the local golf courses or fishing holes.

What do I do with my stuff and employees? How do I value my company? How do I transfer power to a key employee? Do I want to sell my company — or acquire a company whose owner is retiring? Do you have questions about the day when you don't have to go to the office? Green Industry visionary Burt Sperber has answers, and can help you prepare you and your business for that eventful day.

During a special presentation at CLCA's Summer Family Extravaganza, Burt will field your questions and share his expertise and vision.

It would be an understatement to say that landscape contracting is in Burt Sperber's blood; he is the blood of the industry. This Los Angeles native — who started ValleyCrest Landscape Companies 62 years ago — has made it his life's mission taking care of and building new gardens for his, literally, thousands of clients.

With 115 offices across the country, and anywhere from 8,500 to 10,000 full-time employees, ValleyCrest is the largest privately owned landscape services company in the U.S., with approximately $1 billion in annual revenues.

Sperber, who, at nearly 82, is chairman of the company and still works a 40-hour week at his office in Calabasas. “I oversee the acquisition department and am advisor to all of our divisions.”

It has been quite a journey from his very humble beginnings when Sperber purchased a little landscape nursery in 1949 for $700 from Mossimo Gianulli, who taught him about horticulture, tree moving and growing, landscape construction and landscape maintenance.

“The office was a shack that the previous owner had built out of masonry blocks,” Sperber recalls. “Mr. Gianulli wasn't very tall-under five feet-so consequently the building wasn't very tall. You had to duck your head to walk into the front door. The office was built for wine and cheese because he was an old Italian who made his own wine and cheese.”

While he doesn't think it is any more difficult today to start a landscape company than it was then, the changes to the industry have been dramatic.

While the company has experienced stratospheric growth over the years — it has never had a year that grew over 15 percent — it has also weathered its share of up and downs, with the current recession being the worst.

“I went through four terrible downturns,” Sperber recalls. “But this, all by itself, is equal to all four put together. The early '80s and '90s were horrible, but it was more regional. This is all over the world and California and Florida are being hit harder than some of the other states.”

In next three years, he is not sure where service companies like ValleyCrest will be. “What has happened is that there is 10 percent of the work available for 100 percent of the people in business. So consequently, the pricing structure went down. More of the companies will vanish within the next few years, which will allow the existing ones to become stronger.”

Ask Burt!

Do you have a question for Burt? Email your question to askburt@clca.org. He'll review all submissions and pick the best for his presentation at the Summer Family Extravaganza.

The Underground Construction Economy and Labor Law Enforcement

In his feature presentation, “Labor Law Enforcement and California's Underground Construction Economy,” it is Eric Rood's aim at the CLCA Summer Fun Extravaganza, to educate landscaping contractors about state labor laws and provide them with an avenue to report those who may be participating in the underground economy.

“I have listened to construction industry stakeholders in a variety of forums and a common theme is that underground economy participation is growing in commercial, residential and public works construction,” says Rood, assistant chief at the California Labor Commissioners Office. “Stakeholders commonly share that contract bids are 30 to 40 percent below architect/engineers projected project costs.”

He cites the main costs to contractors as being materials and labor. Labor costs appear ripe for dishonest contractors to exploit, causing “a negative playing field for law-abiding contractors who are struggling to compete against these unscrupulous contractors.”

As a result, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) places high priority in enforcing labor laws within the construction industry. The labor commissioner files a report annually with the California Legislature providing enforcement results in industries that have had historical noncompliance rates, such as construction. Workers' compensation and deduction citations are the most frequent violations found with contractors.

There are six units within the Labor Commissioner's office: Wage Claim Adjudication (WCA), Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE), Public Works, Retaliation, Licensing/Registration and the Legal unit. All units enforce the minimum standards, with the exception of Licensing/Registration unit, Rood says, which license employers for farm labor contractors, talent agents, film studio teachers, garment businesses and car wash establishments.

The WCA handles individual wage claims from workers and ensures employers have complied with the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Orders. Meanwhile, BOFE handles field compliance inspections — usually from public complaints — but may conduct random inspections as well. BOFE deputies may work independently or with partners from other agencies such as the Employment Development Department (EDD), the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), and local law enforcement.

Tough Challenges

In today's economy, it would be an understatement to say that the DLSE has a difficult task. Like many state agencies, challenges include staff attrition due to furloughs and the inability to hire to backfill staff vacancies.

“DLSE's strategy is to use stakeholders, like CLCA, to vet the more egregious complaints for investigation,” says Rood. “[While] DLSE does not enforce OSHA standards, it works closely with CAL-OSHA, a sister division within the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), and provides leads to CAL-OSHA as it relates with fall protection, heat illness and other OSHA issues.”

In his upcoming session on July 15, Rood will discuss the importance of CLCA members reporting labor law violations. But, he notes, DLSE will need to witness the contractor engaged in the landscaping activities.

“Therefore, time is of the essence,” he stresses. “It is important for the reports (complaints) to be timely, with as much detail as possible. These leads turn into field investigations, which could result in both civil and/or criminal actions against an unscrupulous contractor.”

DLSE and State Agencies

The DLSE also works closely with the EDD, CSLB, Department of Insurance, Board of Equalization, Franchise Tax Board, Department of Labor, local district attorneys, law enforcement and other agencies and participates in two task forces: the Joint Enforcement Task Force-now called the Employment Enforcement Task Force-and the Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition, which is comprised of several state and federal agencies. It conducts statewide sweeps in several industries, including the construction industry.

To ensure that landscape contractors do not run afoul of the DIR and the EEEC, Rood suggests that contractors attend the free seminars often offered by many state and federal agencies.

“In addition, employer associations like CLCA offer valuable resources to its members,” adds Rood. “DLSE/EDD has partnered to provide monthly statewide seminars for employers to learn more about labor laws and payroll tax law. These seminars are free to the public, but are limited to the seating capacity at the various locations.”

By Lisa Kopochinski

Special thanks to Landscape Contractors Insurance Services, Inc. for sponsoring keynote presenters Eric Rood and Burt Sperber.