Article

The people at Signature Landscapes never miss a change to have a little fun. When
they honor the employee of the month, owners Lebo Newman and Rick Clark literally
kiss the feet of the honoree. Newman gives new employees piggyback rides to make
them feel part of the team. And ever popular at the company picnic is the west sponge
booth, where workers throw soaked sponges at the managers.

But the good times have a serious side. Signature Landscapes wants to be the best
landscaping company in northern Nevada, and the owners figure that making work fun
and treating employees like royalty will help the company reach its goal.

The strategy is paying off. The 2-year old company is growing like a lush garden. Now
with 70 employees and 30 trucks, it's one of the largest landscaping contractors in
northern Nevada, and has already won a bumper crop of honors. Making their debut,
Signature swept the state's professional landscaping awards in the maintenance
categories, winning first place in residential, small commercial and large commercial
maintenance and small commercial renovation. Signature Landscapes large installation
for Foothill Industrial Park Buildings I and III earned the 2002 President's Award for
best entry overall.

"Our goal is a benchmark in the industry, to set high quality standards." Newman says.
The owners--Lebo, his wife, Merrill Newman and Rick Clark--each bring more than 25
years of landscape industry experience to the business. The Newmans and Clark
previously owned large landscaping companies in northern California. Between them,
they earned more than 250 awards, twice winning the Ben Slade Award, the highest
honor for landscape management in California, among the country's most competitive
markets.

As it sets roots in Reno, Signature is introducing cutting-edge techniques and new
quality standards to northern Nevada. Those include better water management, new
irrigation techniques and a focus on year-round care, Clark says. On the state level,
the company helped develop landscape technician certification program.

With a focus on commercial, industrial and multi-family residential sites, Signature has
contracts with such clients and properties as Double Diamond Management, Tanamera
Development, Toscana D'Andrea, Eugene Burger management, Gaston and Wilkerson,
Premier Properties, The Ribeiro Co., Sentinel Properties and Double Diamond
Professional Center.

Meanwhile, it does all this by treating employees like partners, not tools. The company
pays above the average scale, provides health insurance, days off for holidays and
personal time and perks for exceptional work. Besides kisses on the feet, employees of
the month get shirts and bonus checks.

"A happy workforce make for a quality job", Lebo Newman says. And, adds Merrill
Newman. "Our employees work hard-they deserve the royal treatment."