Lawn Perks Inc.

nd Dad had divorced and Dad needed the money, so he just kept on mowing the cemetery. The Perko Family mowed Buckhart Cemetery for 22 years, until one of the Directors took it over to help pay for his daughter's college education. After high school I went to work for Ace Sign Co. in Springfield. (I graduated from high school on Friday and started work on Monday morning, talk about a shock to a 17 year old kid - No Summer Break!) I worked at Ace for about 18 months until I joined the Navy in order to get my education paid for. Four years in The Worlds Finest Navy taught me a lot and helped me to grow-up. Married my high school sweetheart in 1988 while stationed in Washington DC. Attended U of I for four years and completed both Bachelors and Master's degree programs in that amount of time. (First semester on campus I took 22 credit hours and made the Dean's List. Took summer classes every summer. Was very burned out by the end of it.) Following graduation, accepted a position with a small manufacturing company in Springfield. Learned a lot in that position that helped prepare me to run my own business. Ater 5 years, that company was in a bit of a slump, the President and I agreed that he and I were redundant and it was financially necessary that I move on. While I was looking for a new position with a larger company, my Dad was ready to retire from mowing grass. During the previous 15 years Dad had slowly grown his part time/extra money job into a respectable little business. Family and friends and people in the community would learn of something someone needed done in their yard and they'd say, "Call Larry, he can do that." Based on his good work and reputation he had grown "Mariel's Lawn Care" to about 40 customers and was making as much doing that as he was working at the factory. In the Spring of 2000 I started working for/with Dad, while I continued looking for a new career position. Well, during the course of that year I figured out that God had already put me in my new career. In February 2001, Susan and I bought out Dad and Mariel (my step-Mom). [The things my Dad gave his kids were tough love, respect, discipline, and a work ethic.]

I hired my first employee in March 2001. He is still with me. [He did leave for a year-and-a-half, but then he came back.] The first few years I was on almost every job, almost every day. I did the work, paid the bills, worked on the equipment, changed blades, met with every customer, bid new work, dealt with taxes, insurance and marketing. We've grown beyond that now. We incorporated in 2008. I can't be on every job, every day. has 8 full time employees. [11 during peak season last summer.] All of them have been with us for more than 2 years. It takes dedicated, trained, reliable employees to take care of all our customer's properties. We don't get it all done right, all of the time. No one does. But I can say one thing for certain, we try.