The Future is Bright For BrightView Landscape Services

Keeping customers satisfied and ensuring employee safety made for a great 2023 for BrightView. 

“Our Polk County team has had a fantastic year in 2023. In addition to growing our business by over 40%, we have had zero lost time accidents while maintaining 100% customer retention,” said Eric Mizen, Business Developer for BrightView Landscape Services. 

BrightView describes itself as “the nation’s leading commercial landscape company. We take pride in delivering consistently excellent results for clients across the country, throughout the lifecycle of their landscapes,” according to its website.  

LEGOLAND in Winter Haven is one well-known Polk County project that BrightView has accomplished. The landscape architect created the layout pulling on inspiration from the former Cypress Gardens attraction.  

Mizen said new business includes two other big projects:  

• “We’ve been excited to partner with Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green. We are responsible for resort maintenance and have had the opportunity to help with the development of the new Chains golf course.  
• “Our development team has also been hard at work on the new South Florida Baptist Hospital on Park Road.” 

“Both properties are looking fantastic,” he said. 

Growing in Central Florida

Brightview moved into Polk County about four years ago, working out of its offices at the Bartow Airport. The Bartow location continues to employ eight crews — about 40 people – that service almost 35 clients.  

“As a result of our growth we have been able to keep all eight crews throughout the slower growing months of winter and will be adding additional crews as the season picks back up in the spring.” 

According to Mizen, a majority of their employees have been with BrightView for more than five years- a large portion for more than 10. The employees are what set BrightView apart from its competitors. 

“Our biggest asset is our people. We are a company of over 22,000 employees worldwide. We attract the highest levels of talent and offer a full suite of products, including an in-house Arbor division, an enhancement department for smaller projects and BrightView Development for full large-scale new commercial projects. We have our own Golf division that maintains the best golf courses anywhere as well as an aquatics team that can maintain retention ponds and lakes.” 

-Eric Mizen, Business Developer

Finding the right people isn’t always easy, Mizen said. “Hiring new employees is always a challenge in this economy, but we offer stability, benefits, training and even relocation assistance if an employee desires to move to another part of the country.” 

Much-Needed Services

BrightView Landscape Services operates in more than 30 states across the U.S. They offer many different services, from design and maintenance to water management and tree care, and more. In addition to the Bartow location, they also have offices in East Tampa, Four Corners and South Orlando – all of which Mizen said had a very good numbers in 2023.

Services like those BrightView provides are very needed in Polk County, Mizen explained. “Polk County has been growing exponentially over the last decade. With the addition of new places to work and play, we need places to live. Keeping beautifully maintained landscapes at home, work and play has become the norm for people as they move here to enjoy the Florida lifestyle.” 

BrightView Landscape Services Giving Back

In 2022, BrightView partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 300,000 trees across the U.S. in the coming year. BrightView loves trees, Mizen said, which is one reason it donates to the foundation. “We’ve been planting free Arbor Day trees for our key clients in their honor for years. We always follow the University of Florida IFAS guidelines for landscape maintenance and only follow ‘best practices’ when disposing of clippings and plant waste.” 

Despite everything it does, from giving back to the community to the services it offers, the company remains affordable, Mizen said. “Being a premium service provider doesn’t mean we are prohibitively expensive; in fact, we are a fantastic value. We come to customers with consistency of service, great communication, highly trained, safe crews, and we leave fantastic results. Our local account managers are the conduit between our clients’ expectations and the quality of the services we provide.”