Contractor Stories

HNA – The best education opportunity of the year

Contractor Glenn Switzer goes out of his way to attend HNA to educate himself and his employees.

By Tom Hatlen

Which classes would you want to take at Hardscape North America? Glenn Switzer tries to take all of them and he tries to attend every year. He's been to 4 HNAs.

"We're a professional design/build hardscape company, and this is the number 1 show for us. Other shows don't have the heavy hardscape presence. Area landscape shows are a fraction of the size and have a different focus. There are few hardscape classes. It's not like HNA where you get several full days of how to build hardscape."

If all goes as planned, Glenn will arrive at HNA 2 days early his year so he and 2 employees can take ICPI certification courses. Once certification is done, he'll spend the next 2 days packing in as many other business management classes and hardscape classes and demos as he can.

He starts his days at PLANET's 7:30am contractor roundtable breakfasts except for the day he will attend the HNA Awards breakfast. After spending the day in class, he'll spend his nights networking and learning from contractors he's met in the past.

Glenn Switzer
Switzer’s Nursery & Landscaping, Inc.
Northfield, MN

With luck, he'll have a little time left over to take in the trade show and enjoy some of the entertainment.

He says, "It will be a fast 4 days!"

Glenn's note on this photo from Pave Tech's outdoor booth: "I want 1 of each."

Grow employees

Probably the biggest thing for Glenn at HNA this year is bringing his 2 key employees who he hopes will play critical roles in growing his company. He plans to groom them into his future company leaders.

For his employees, Glenn sees the show as more than a means to educate them. "It's a way to show my appreciation. They know that when they're traveling 700 miles to take a class that it's important.

"Someone might view their job as a summer job or something temporary they can do until they can find something else. But when they go to a national convention and see that many people and that many vendors engaged in this industry, they start to realize it can be a career."

Get to class

Glenn's employees are taking the ICPI basic installer certification course while he takes the ICPI advanced residential course. "I want to take level 2 because I want to do things like more raised beds in paver installations and more outdoor kitchens. I'm interested in the different ways to do those things."

Presenter Jerry Gaeta with Glenn
after Jerry's HNA seminar.

"The business-type classes at HNA have been excellent. I've really embraced the new marketing and social media in the last few years. Being at HNA has been great in getting me going in that direction. I've taken a number of social media classes that provide insight as to what websites clients are visiting and how I can use those sites to reach them."

Though Glenn has done permeable paver work in the past and has even won an HNA project award for it, he still likes to attend permeable classes and demos. "It's still new and the specs for installing them are changing. That's really important."

Go for the instructors

Glenn says HNA consistently has the highest caliber instructors. "They'll give you the nuts and bolts about something, then they'll go into their real life stories that get others to tell their stories.

"A lot of times I'll go up afterwards and thank them, and they're always happy to answer my questions. I've seen a number of presenters multiple years. Every year they're doing something new so it's always fresh, good information."

Is your work award worthy?

While the classes are Glenn's focal point, it was the HNA project awards that first caught his attention. He thought he did good work, but wondered how he would stack up against other contractors nationally. He has since won 3 HNA project awards.

Applying for awards gets him out and taking photos he can use in his portfolio, website and social media. Writing up the design goals and construction challenges pushes him to document those things for future projects.

Attending the awards breakfast presentation lets Glenn see what other contractors are doing. And, just like the classes he attends, he'll go up and talk to some of the winners after the ceremony. "I'll ask how they did different things. People are always willing to share when they're down there."

Not your competitors

People are willing to share at HNA because it's highly unlikely they're competing in your market. Glenn says there's also a much higher percentage of business owners among HNA attendees than at local shows.

"You can tell them about issues you're having and they'll tell you how they deal with it. I can ask them how they are getting certain kinds of projects. What's your business mix and why? How do you work with subcontractors? All those business questions ..."

Glenn finds PLANET's Breakfast with Champions roundtables a great place to network, especially if you don't know people. Each morning there are something like 80 tables to choose from, each with a topic directly related to day-to-day business operations. Each table has 8 to 10 contractors and a discussion leader with expertise in the topic.

Past HNA Project Award winners, sponsors and presenters. Glenn is in the front row, second to the left in the blue shirt.

Huge trade show

The trade show is so big Glenn says it can seem overwhelming. He always makes a point to check out the tools and equipment. He stops by to see his vendors, and to talk to his mentor, Tony Bass, at the Super Contractor Trucks booth.

This year Glenn's looking at buying some new equipment as he expands his business, so he'll be spending more time outside demoing new products in the massive demo area. "Just about anything you could want for a skid loader or mini excavator is out there. I'm still a kid at heart. It's a big sandbox and a lot of fun."

When it comes to picking a hotel, Glenn prefers to stay downtown at the ICPI hotel in the "4th Street Live!" area because all the restaurants and entertainment are right there. Glenn says it's a fun bonus, but the most important thing for them is to use HNA to learn as much as they can, so they can go back home and improve his business.

Hardscape North America & GIE+EXPO

With over 750 exhibits and 19 acres of outdoor demo space, Hardscape North America co-located with GIE+EXPO ranks as the 9th largest tradeshow in the U.S.

Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY
Dealer Day – Oct. 22
All Attendees – Oct. 23-24

Note: Some classes start Oct. 21 (prior to the show).
Visit HardscapeNA.com or call (800) 558-8767