The Sanford Herald, January 2003
By Chris Bernhardt

Tucked away quite literally underneath the SR 46 overpass, Girard Environmental Services goes about its business. So hidden are these full-service landscaping contractors, the average person might not even know they exist; unless of course they ride by in one of the trains that passes over the tracks right next to it. Yet many major businesses know the Girard name. One of the fastest growing privately held companies in the landscaping industry, the business generates more than $10 million in annual revenue through its contracts with national companies such as Target, Saturn, Hampton Inn, Walgreen’s and Chili’s. "It’s excellent quality. They are the Cadillac of this kind of business,’’ said Tina Morbitzer of Morbitzer Group in Maitland, a customer of Girard since 1999. Indeed brothers Rick and Randy currently run an extremely successful business. But a little over seven years earlier, things didn’t seem nearly so great. It was then, in October, 1995 that the Girard’s began authoring a story of perseverance and pride, with moments of both outstanding success and extreme failure.

Rick Girard got into the landscaping business in the 1980s. He spent his senior year of high school working for a small, South Florida lawn maintenance company owned by his girlfriends Uncle. A few years later, with some financial backing by his father Leo, Rick set out to start his own lawn service company: Girard’s Landscaping and General Maintenance, Inc. The venture proved moderately successful, gathering approximately $135,000 in annual revenue during the first two years. But in the winter of 1990, Leo who at the time worked for a large Life insurance company, got promoted and transferred to Orlando.

At that point Rick decided to pick up his business and follow his father to Central Florida. They quickly picked up new customers and started growing, and Brother Randy joined the business after graduating from Lake Howell High School in 1991. Two years later, Leo became part of the business. Yet slowly things began to unravel, and inexperienced decisions by Rick came back to haunt him. This all came to head when he was forced to file for Bankruptcy protection in October 1995. "I’ve never passed the buck with the bankruptcy’. Girard said. "I’ve always taken full responsibility for it. (It was a) lack of financial ability, financial knowledge and not having the balls to make the changes that needed to happen to save the business’’. Stung deeply by the feeling of failure and needing to get back on their feet financially, the three Girard’s each found separate jobs to get them by. Leo went to work for a local time share resort, while the two brothers stayed within the landscaping business. Rick worked for Environmental Care while Randy attempted to start his own small lawn service. But working for someone else just didn’t sit well with Rick.

In January 1996, he decided to make a truly bold move; again starting his own landscaping business in the same town he had previously failed in. Desperate to prove himself once again, he borrowed $1,000 from his father-in-law and stared a Company called Outdoor Concepts. "I was scared’, said Leo Girard now Vice President of Business Development for his son’s company, "I was worried (whether) he could handle the stress because I’d seen what he had gone through. And I had times that I thought I’d like to see Rick take his talents and work for another company. However that wasn’t what Rick wanted. Rick wanted to strike out to build to the company he’s built today.’’

Rebuilding his reputation and starting a new took a grass roots effort from Rick. Getting a first opportunity with clients proved difficult, though once he did his company produced results. Slowly it began to pick up steam over the next two years, and in December 1997 Rick took on a partner and formed Florida Contract Management. This ill-fated partnership didn’t last through the year, dissolving in October 1998, and that moment Rick made another risky decision, but one he felt necessary. "The partner tried to take my business away from me, "Rick said. "He came in with some money and tried to basically beat me out of the company. At that point, I realized you know what, I’m a Girard and I want my name back on the door"

Right away he teamed up with Randy and Girard Environmental Services was born. Having learned from his previous mistakes, the Girard’s changed the way they not only ran their business but the way they did it. They carefully select both employees and customers, wanting to maintain a both strong, dependable workforce and a solid collection of clients. "There’s much more drive for success, every thing is taken seriously now" said Brian Weatherby, service manager who worked with the Girard’s during their previous business venture. "Before they were always nice, they were always willing to help people out and do different things even if they weren’t making money. But now it’s more of a business, its run the way a business should run. Before it just seemed like we were all just younger. They’ve learned from their mistakes"

These new methods worked almost immediately, as the company brought in $1.7 million in revenue in its first full year and has grown 10,156 percent since. They now operate a fleet of more than 42 vehicles and employ 120 people. And they have done work all over Central Florida, at car dealerships, churches, educational facilities, hotels, convention centers, office buildings, restaurants, banks, business centers and residential developments.

A father couldn’t be any more proud of his two sons and what they’ve been through than I am. Leo Girard said "I sit back now and I beam with pride seeing the things that they’ve been able to accomplish. They’ll work 12 hours, 13 hours every day. Saturdays and Sundays included a lot of times”. They’ve also long since erased the previous debt and made safeguards to prevent it from happening again, gotten back old customers, repaired their relationship with vendors and gone a long way in rebuilding their reputation.

Now other downtrodden business call the Girard’s to discover the lessons the brothers learned through the school of Hard Knocks. The Girard’s recently began using a new company slogan: "When It Matters" According to Rick, it means when it matters, call Girard Environmental Services and if it doesn’t call somebody else. Appropriate, considering the how Rick found a way to succeed when it matter most. "All I ever really wanted in February of 1996 was for my wife to be able to go grocery shopping and not worry about the credit card Bouncing”, Rick said. "Just the basic necessities of life, I just wanted them to be there. And now you look back at what we’ve done and what we’ve got and what our potential is, it’s just over whelming.