For Jay Rotonnelli, landscaping isn’t just a business, it is his passion. In his younger years, he worked on the family farm and apple orchard in the scenic Lakes Region of New Hampshire. As the enterprise grew, his father added a fruit stand and a garden center. Today, as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Rotonnelli looks back on 36 years in the industry, nine of them with Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service (PLTS).
“People wanted plants installed and lawns mowed, and that’s how it got started,” he says of his family’s company. PLTS, which started off small under founder Booth Hemingway in 1979, shared similar philosophies. Growing strategically over the decades, Piscataqua recently entered into another partnership in the Portland, Maine market. Now at five locations and around 300 employees, Piscataqua has emerged as the largest full-service landscaping business in New Hampshire and the seacoast area of Maine.
Partnering with Seabreeze Property Services
Property care is an ever-growing industry, and no company realizes this more than Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service. Working with many longtime high-end residential, retail, and commercial property owners, Piscataqua’s services encompass all client needs, including landscape construction, tree and plant health care, irrigation, landscape lighting, and even snow services.
Piscataqua recently announced its partnership with Seabreeze Property Services, Inc., a well-known and widely respected landscaping industry leader in Portland and Topsham, Maine for over 30 years. “This collaboration marks a significant step forward for enhanced service offerings and expanded capabilities for clients throughout Maine,” stated the company on its website, adding: “This strategic move will provide comprehensive residential landscape construction and maintenance services, as well as additional training and resources for the team.” Seabreeze was primarily owned by Chenmark, a private equity firm in Portland, Maine.
“We merged forces to give them more resources, not only from a people, personnel, and equipment standpoint, but from a marketing and branding standpoint as well,” Rotonnelli explains. Not an acquisition but a partnership, the union of Seabreeze and Piscataqua will provide clients with an even more complete range of property care and landscaping services than ever before. “It’s been a great fit. We are only a few months into it, but things are really working out well. Our brand is recognizable in the Northeast, and that’s been really good for us.”
Building the brand
Since the ’70s, Piscataqua has grown organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions, Design & Landscapes by Labrie Associates and CBH Landscape Contractors among them. These recent acquisitions have enabled Piscataqua to provide clients with a broader range of services in other areas, performed by highly experienced staff.
“We are always looking to expand,” explains Rotonnelli. “Today, a lot of small businesses are looking for an exit strategy. Sometimes they are getting older, and family members aren’t interested, and they’re looking for someone to come in and carry on the tradition of all they’ve done.” One example is legendary hand-crafted furniture manufacturer, Thos. Moser. Founded in 1972, this high-end wood furniture company was owned by the Moser family until last year, when it was purchased by holding company Chenmark.
“We are deeply honored to be entrusted as stewards of the Thos. Moser legacy and brand,” said Chenmark founding partner James Higgins to Furniture Today in January. “Our mission is to care for and build on the traditions that make this company so special. Thos. Moser’s commitment to excellence and sustainability aligns perfectly with our company’s values, and we are excited by the opportunity to help shape the company’s future.” Known worldwide for its fine craftsmanship, the Moser family was looking for someone to not only purchase the Maine-based business, but to honor its values and carry on its traditions.
Other reasons some companies are looking for larger companies to take over include workforce challenges and the costs of operating a small business today. Operating a small business is expensive, and often, these companies cannot provide the same benefits as larger entities, like health insurance, 401(k) plans, and leaves of absence. In his role as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Rotonnelli sees smaller companies opting to get out of the landscaping business while still wanting to see all their hard work carried on into the future.
“They feel there is value in the brands they built,” he says. “It’s really twofold; folks are looking to us and in turn, we are looking to them.” Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service is, in fact, in discussions with several smaller companies poised for acquisition, which makes sense from a geographic and service offering standpoint. “Part of my role at Piscataqua is to look out and see what might fit for us.”
The post-pandemic shift
Piscataqua has seen its share of highs and lows over the decades. One of the biggest was the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave the landscaping industry a false sense of security. “I’m glad to see we are coming out of that,” says Rotonnelli. “COVID provided a false pretense for a lot of folks and businesses.”
This is because, during the pandemic, many people were forced to stay home. This saw an increase in disposable income and more homeowners taking on household projects in the $5,000 to $20,000 range, with some even taking out equity loans on their homes to finance projects such as landscaping. Now that the pandemic has subsided, the company is seeing less of that type of work and more high-end projects from a residential standpoint.
“It’s interesting that, through my career, I’ve seen the highs and lows, and different trajectories,” says Rotonnelli. “One year it’s a really big residential market, and the next it’s apartment buildings, strip malls, and chain stores. So we’ve seen those dynamics change a bit, and that’s really where we flourish. We are not a firm that goes out there and does quick stuff without really thinking things through. We really take pride in what we do and align ourselves with other partners that do great work.”
Along with larger residential jobs, Portland, Maine itself is seeing considerable activity in the commercial sector, with restoration projects and new learning institutions like The Roux Institute at Northeastern University. A new $500 million multi-building campus being built on the site of the former B&M Baked Beans factory on Portland’s waterfront, the work was awarded to Massachusetts-based Consigli Construction. Piscataqua is aiming to work on projects such as this with great firms like Consigli and Wright-Ryan. “We are seeing more of those high-end projects happening and fewer strip malls, standalone small box stores, or things of that nature,” adds Rotonnelli.
One of the company’s latest large-scale works includes landscaping for a multi-million-dollar high-end residential project. Piscataqua is entering the final stages of the job, which will be handed over to new homeowners this June. “We are proud to have worked on the project, and now that it’s come to fruition, to see what it looks like,” says Rotonnelli. “Mixed-use residential and commercial is a big market for us as well; those projects are happening for us right now.”
Next steps
Last year saw Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service mark its 45th anniversary, and celebrations are carrying on this year. Along with additional branding and marketing, the company is planning a party this summer with vendors and clients. There are some customers whom Piscataqua has worked with for generations, and, Rotonnelli says, “it’s interesting to hear the stories of those long-term relationships and how far the business has come over the years.”
Much of the company’s success comes from remaining true to its core values: family, integrity, excellence and fun. “Our goals and objectives are to continue to grow, if and how it makes sense to align with great businesses that are doing great work and fit within our geography,” says Rotonnelli.
“When people come into work, it’s more than just a job for us. It’s saying, ‘Hey, this is who we are—do you want to be a part of this? You will be a contributor, and we are going to empower you.’ That’s really what’s been helping us, and other companies are finding and recognizing our brand because we are living and breathing what we say we are going to do, and who we are. There’s a lot to be said for that.”
