Features Landscaping
Abbotsford lawn care business earns top honour

Chris and Juanita Draaistra, owners of The Grounds Guys of Abbotsford – a Neighbourly company – recently were awarded the franchisee-of-the-year, recruiter-of-the-year, and Top Gun awards from The Grounds Guys corporate office at the annual Neighborly International Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The franchisee-of-the-year award is the company’s highest. The award is presented to the franchisee recognized for consistently growing through proper training and management of their organization and having had a consistently high level of sales through quality, professional service.

“The Grounds Guys team is thrilled Chris and Juanita won the franchisee-of-the-year award,” Joshua Sevick, president of The Grounds Guys, said. “They have high standards and achieve a level of excellence that sets the standard for The Grounds Guys franchises.”

The recruiter-of-the-year award is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a franchisee for efforts in building a multi-truck operation. This award is presented to the franchisee demonstrating superior recruiting skills by attracting quality people to the franchise, providing an effective training program for their people, and having created opportunities within the franchise to which people can grow.

The Top Gun Award goes to franchise owners who achieve top sales and reach operation benchmarks. The Top Gun recipients represent the top 10 per cent of The Grounds Guys franchise owners across North America.

“The idea of Top Gun was established by the Navy in the 1960s as a way to give training and credit to elite fighter pilots,” Sevick said. “Taking a page from the Naval Top Gun program, each year we recognize our franchise leaders for their accomplishments and dedication to the trade. It takes dedication, hard work, expertise and commitment to reach the Top Gun goal, and we are honoured to have these winners on our team.”

“We are honoured to receive these awards,” Chris Draaistra said. “We are committed to working hard every day to provide timely, courteous and professional lawn care and landscape solutions to commercial and residential clients that meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”

The Grounds Guys, a Neighbourly company, is a full-service grounds care company offering commercial and residential landscape management services. Founded in 1987 under the name Sunshine Grounds Care, The Grounds Guys currently operates more than 200 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Acquired by Neighbourly in 2010, The Grounds Guys is part of Neighbourly, a community of home experts, leveraging nearly 3,700 professional home service experts worldwide with a unique direct service function that provides consumers assistance with nearly all aspects of their home care needs.