LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – WKYT Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey says central Kentucky is below its seasonal snow average. That can be bad for business as landscape companies turn the white snow into green dollars.
“In Lexington, you’re on average of five to six inches below normal so far,” said Bailey.
If you’re in the business of snow removal, it’s not the news you want to hear.
Chris Trower is the president of Diamond Landscapes. he can have up to 250 employees working a big snow event and has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into equipment. They just need the snow to fall.
“Our guys are bored. We’d like to have it,” said Trower. “I bought a bunch of new trucks this year.”
Trower has 54 trucks outfitted with plows and salters. He also has 1,200 tons of salt.
“We’re the company that never runs out,” said Trower. “I’ve never run out.”
Trower has learned not to totally depend on big snowfalls for winter income.
“2011 was one of those years. It snowed once, and our budgets were set on it, so we were hurting,” said Trower. “We do set our budgets up for a nominal amount just because you guarantee on it its something that’s not guaranteeable.”
Trower manages and clears 200 plus commercial parking lots. However, if snow doesn’t come, there will be an impact down the line.
“It affects us. We want to upgrade a few mowers, upgrade a couple more trucks, and we don’t get to do that if it doesn’t snow,” Trower said.
The good news: he says the extreme cold and snow event we had last month really helped out.
“That three-day event, we recouped our investment,” said Trower. “so we’re a little bit better than level.”
Right now, all they can do is sit back and wait. Winter isn’t over yet.
“At the end of the day, God does what he’s going to do, and we are going to respond to it,” Trower said.
Trower says right now, his team is prepping for the spring landscape season, and they are recruiting new team members.
Copyright 2023 WKYT. All rights reserved.
Comments are closed.