February 24-26, 2025
Columbus, OH

The ultimate learning experience for landscape professionals,
by landscape professionals.

Join landscape pros from around the country for this one-of-a-kind conference led by award-winning entrepreneur Marty Grunder and The Grow Group, along with some of the most successful leaders in the green industry. You’ll enjoy three days of innovative sessions focused on real-world solutions to the challenges owners and their teams face; a behind-the-scenes tour of Hidden Creek Landscaping; and a truly inspiring line-up of speakers.

This event for landscapers will help companies achieve their goals and prepare for the coming year. We hope to see you there!

Want free tips and tactics for growing your business, along with updates on GROW! 2025, delivered to your inbox every week? Sign up here.

 

sponsors

 

speakers

Agenda

The agenda is still subject to change as we finalize breakout sessions. More breakout sessions will be added as they're confirmed! There will be 6+ breakout sessions to choose from in each grouping. 

Monday, February 24, 2025  
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Name Badge Pick Up
1:00-1:45 p.m. Opening Keynote
1:45-2:00 p.m. Break
2:00-2:45 p.m.

Breakout Session I

Cultivating Connections: The Networking and Business Development Basics That Lead to Landscaping Sales
Grunder Landscaping Co.'s rapid $200%+ growth in the past three years has been fueled by success in business development activities. In fact 1 lunch, which cost less than $70, led to nearly $2M in work in 2024 alone. It's all about identifying people to network with, being in the right place to make connections, and then being professionally pushy when it comes to asking for business. In this session, Marty Grunder will share what's working for the GLC team and what they plan to do in 2025 to continue winning.

From Leads to Landscapes: Effective Marketing Strategies for Commercial Maintenance Growth
As Landscape Workshop expands rapidly and sets impressive growth goals in their existing branches, marketing to the decision maker for commercial landscaping has been key. In this session, Taylor Langley will share the tactics that have been most effective for them at generating leads for commercial maintenance work across the country.

Crew Leadership in 2025: 10 Must Have Operational Skills for Construction and Maintenance
With Jason New and Tommy Cole. Description Coming Soon!

Stop the Madness! Managing Up for Success
Successful careers are built upon being able to work well with others, and managing up is as important as managing down for yours, and the company's, success. In this session, Vince Torchia of The Grow Group will share his strategies for team members to structure their relationship with their manager so that everyone succeeds.

Phantom Stock: What to Know Before you Ghost your Team
With Jennifer Murray. Description Coming Soon!

2:45-3:00 p.m. Break
3:00-3:45 p.m.

Breakout Session II

Selling the Vision: How Grunder Landscaping Co. Gets Their Team Bought in On Growth
Clarity of vision and mission has driven decision-making for the Grunder Landscaping team for years, and it's allowed for scalable growth because ALL leaders are capable of making decisions consistent with what the top brass would do. In this session, Seth Pflum, President & COO at Grunder Landscaping Co., will share how they use information sharing, monthly meetings, and ongoing communication to clarify their vision so their team understands and is onboard with doing what it takes to grow.

Every Day I'm Hustlin': How to Generate Sales Daily
With Chris Psencik. Description Coming Soon!

Strategies for Visuals, Copywriting, and Targeting Social Media Ads
As Grunder Landscaping Co. expands into a new market, the marketing tactics they're relying on have expanded. Using social media ads as a way to reach new prospects and create brand awareness has been important as the company has grown. In this session, Emily Lindley of The Grow Group and Grunder Landscaping Co. will share how she selects ad images and videos, what strategies she uses for writing ad copy, and how she sets up targeting for maximum impact.

Case Study: What You Can Learn from an Award-Winning Facility
With Tommy Cole. Description coming soon!

3:45-4:00 p.m. Break
4:00-4:25 p.m. What You'll See Tomorrow on our Hidden Creek Landscaping Tour
4:25-4:28 p.m. Sponsor Spotlight
4:30-5:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception
Tuesday, February 25, 2025  
7:00-7:45 a.m. Breakfast
7:45 a.m.-3:10 p.m.

Split Schedule
Groups will rotate between sessions at The Hilton and traveling out to tour Hidden Creek Landscaping and learn from their team onsite. The timing will vary by assigned group, but this time will include:

An Onsite Tour of Hidden Creek Landscaping

Hidden Creek Landscaping Tour, Continued at The Hilton

Breakout Session III

Building an Onboarding Program for New Team Members
With Barrett Chow. Description Coming Soon!

10 Hour Work Week: Build a Business, Not A Job
With Michael Bosco. Description Coming Soon!

Mastering Client Communication: Easy Strategies to Stand Out and Delight Your Clients
Communicating well with clients can be a differentiator when they're deciding who to do business with, and here's a secret: this doesn't have to be hard. In this session, Emily Lindley of The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co. will share what they've done to make communicating with clients an easy, and often automated, part of their process.

 

Keynote Address

Lunch

3:10-3:25 p.m. Break
3:25-3:55 p.m. Stop, Start, Keep
3:55-4:05 p.m. The Mary Ellen Graham Award Presentation
4:05-4:13 p.m. It's a Surprise!
4:13-5:00 p.m. Keynote Address
5:00-5:10 p.m. Where We're Headed: GROW! 2026
5:10-5:13 p.m. Sponsor Spotlight
5:13-6:15 p.m. Cocktail Reception
7:00-9:00 p.m. VIP Event
Wednesday, February 26, 2025  
7:00-7:45 a.m. Breakfast
7:45-7:50 a.m. Welcome Back
7:50-7:56 a.m. Sponsor Spotlight
7:56-8:10 a.m. Break
8:10-8:55 a.m.

Breakout Session IV

Q&A with the Hidden Creek Landscaping Team
Join Tommy Cole of McFarlin Stanford to ask the Hidden Creek Landscaping team any additional questions you had after learning from their team on Tuesday. 

Marketing Agency Red Flags: How to Avoid Costly Mistakes
With John Dalton. Description Coming Soon!

Exit Strategies: What Owners Who've Sold Learned in the Process
With Jennifer Murray. Description Coming Soon!

How to set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
With Barrett Chow. Description Coming Soon!

Finding the Funny in Winning: How to lead with Confidence and a Swagger
With Michael Bosco and Kevin Keim. Description Coming Soon!

8:55-9:10 a.m. Break
9:10-9:55 a.m.

Breakout Session V

Closing the Big Fish: How Hidden Creek Landscaping Finds and Sells to Clients with Big Budgets
Hidden Creek Landscaping excels at big residential landscaping work, but where do they find the leads and how do they close these sales? In this session, owner Jason Cromley will share the strategies, tips, and tactics that work for him and his sales team to find the right prospects and close these sales.

How to Lead and Manage with a One on One Meeting
With James Cali. Description Coming Soon!

Working Better Across Generations: Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z
With Vince Torchia, Tommy Cole, Barrett Chow, and Paul Myers. Description Coming Soon!

9:55-10:05 a.m. Break
10:05-10:15 a.m. Sponsor Raffles
10:15-11:00 Closing Keynote

 

Registration

Registration includes

All registration types include all educational sessions, the company tour, breakfast and lunch on Day 2, and breakfast on Day 3. Hotel, travel, and other meals are not included in the registration fee.

 

available discounts

ACEs and their team members receive a special rate. Please e-mail lindsey@growgroupinc.com for details.

Teams of three or more receive 15% off. Use code GROW3ORMORE

Teams of ten or more receive 20% off. Use code GROW10ORMORE



vip tickets

GROW! VIPs get special treatment the entire time we're in Columbus! As usual, GROW! VIPs will get reserved front-of-the-room seating, a special gift, and a ticket to the exclusive VIP event on night two with fellow VIPs, our host company team, and The Grow Group team. We are finalizing details on the VIP experience and will announce any other benefits as they're confirmed. 

VIP tickets are limited and will sell out!

 
Payment Plans

If you need to pay for your registration in installments, please email lindsey@growgroupinc.com and we’ll try to accommodate you. You’ll need to provide a credit card number that we can process automatically on agreed-upon dates, and you must pay the entire balance before the event.

 

cancellation policy

All cancellations must be received by e-mail at grow@growgroupinc.com, we cannot process cancellations over the phone. If you cancel your registration before September 1, 2024, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel after September 1, but more than 30 days before GROW! 2025, we will refund your money minus a processing fee of $125 per registration; alternatively, you may opt to have your registration fee credited to your account and redeem it for another Grow Group offering. No refunds or credits will be issued for registrations canceled within 30 days of the event. You may transfer registrations to a substitute participant up until 5 business days of the event. No refunds, credits, or additional transfers for a transferred registration. Credits must be used within 18 months of their issue date.

❄️Worried about snow at home changing your plans for GROW? We get it. If you buy your tickets now, we will transfer your tickets to GROW! 2026 if a snowstorm rolls in back home and your team needs to stay back. You'll just need to email grow@growgroupinc.com to let us know.

Hotel rooms canceled 48+ hours before check-in will not result in any charges for you, and most flights can be canceled for airline credit. 

 

Non-solicitation policy

The GROW! Annual Conference is a community event for the landscaping industry, and we carefully select and limit event sponsors to maintain this environment. Companies who sell products to the landscaping industry and attend the event as individuals, not as sponsors, may not use this event to solicit business. We reserve the right to cancel ticket purchases for any non-landscaping company at any time for any reason and will ask any individuals found violating this policy to leave the event. If you have questions about this policy or would like to learn more about sponsoring the event, e-mail us at grow@growgroupinc.com.

Travel

Hotel
Event sessions will be held at The Hilton Columbus Downtown. Our discounted hotel room rate of $189 per night is available until February 3 or when rooms sell out, whichever comes first. Make your hotel reservation here. 
 
Air Travel
The nearest airport is the John Glenn Columbus Airport. Rideshares are readily available between the airport and downtown. 
 
 

Questions?

Let us know at grow@growgroupinc.com

 

sponsors