BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BV) , the leading commercial landscaping services company in the United States, today posted details of the Company’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A presentation outlining the measures BrightView has taken to protect the health and safety of its team members and customers as well as real and potential business impacts resulting from COVID-19, can be found on the Company’s investor website. The presentation includes landscaping’s designation as an essential service as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The safety and well-being of team members, customers and the communities in which we operate is BrightView’s highest priority.

This past holiday season, the BrightView Northern Virginia regional team participated in a Toys for Tots toy drive. This is the 10th consecutive year that the Northern Virginia region has supported the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program. This year’s drive had full participation from all five branches including Alexandria, Chantilly, Dulles, Fredericksburg, and Lorton. The region has provided more than 500 gifts to the charity over the last ten years.

The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community. In 2018, the local Virginia region distributed 106,947 toys to 89,755 children.

Thank you to all the Northern Virginia branches for their continued charitable efforts.

BrightView’s trucks are typically filled with landscaping equipment – but during the holiday season, some are stuffed with something else: canned food. The food is being collected and donated to benefit needy residents of the Southern Arizona city of Tucson.

BrightView Tucson West and Tucson East are collaborating to collect canned goods to “Stuff the BrightView Truck.” The program aims to pack as many non-perishable goods into BrightView trucks as possible to give back to the community. The branch is working together to collect and distribute food to help many local food pantries and programs.

“Our community is very close knit and anything BrightView can do to help give back is a top priority for us,” says Glen Killmer, Tucson West Branch Manager. “The community knows of BrightView as an industry-leading landscape provider so this is a small gesture to help give back to those in need.”

The Tucson branches plans on donating the first “Stuff the BrightView Truck” to local food pantries at a time when food donations are at a peak: the holiday season. BrightView will be matching all contributions made during this program.

The Gary Sinise Foundation honors the nation’s defenders, veterans, first responders and their families, administering programs designed to inspire, strengthen, and build communities.

A recent Foundation program received support from BrightView, a project that benefited veterans of the U.S. Marines Corps and Air Force. BrightView provided around $7,500 worth of landscaping to a new home for retired Army Sgt. Stefan Leroy, a double amputee. The BrightView crew designed and installed the irrigation system for Sgt. Leroy’s new home in West Palm Beach, Fla. BrightView also installed more than 500 plants and trees and laid 5,000 square feet of sod.

Leroy was wounded in Afghanistan after stepping on an IED while helping carry a wounded comrade to an evacuation helicopter. Leroy has been making headlines since his retirement as a four-time Boston Marathon competitor.

”As a veteran myself, it was really nice to see that people do still care,” said Carlos Sanchez, BrightView Account Manager in Sunrise, Fla. Carlos oversaw the installation, which was fulfilled by 30 industry-wide volunteers.

BrightView recently launched an internal advocacy group called “BrightView Recognizing and Acknowledging Veteran Opportunities,” or BRAVO. This idea was proposed by a group of veteran BrightView leaders and will celebrate military service, assist in the recruitment of veterans for every BrightView line of business, and help establish BrightView as a veteran-friendly organization both internally and in the community.

“BrightView worked with local suppliers to have all landscape materials for the project donated, which enforced a community of support for this important donation,” said Kenneth Catalano, BrightView Branch Manager in Florida South.

Team members from BrightView joined forces with residents of Thousand Oaks, Calif., to honor the 12 victims of the Nov. 7, 2018, mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill. One year after the tragic event, the community came together to create a new healing garden that pays tribute to the victims.

The garden features 12 vertical water jets, 12 natural stone slab benches, 12 natural granite boulders, and one massive oak tree.

BrightView Tree Company donated the 50-year-old oak tree as the centerpiece of the garden. The 30-foot coast live oak tree was delivered to the healing garden in September from BrightView’s nursery in Fillmore, Calif.

“During the selection of the oak tree for the healing garden, our goal was to find a large, healthy specimen that would tie into the existing mature trees on site,” said Andrew Mooney, Conejo Recreation and Park District Senior Park Planner. “The selected tree provides an anchor for the garden, which offers a background element to the space while also providing texture and shade through its foliage.”

The oak, which is 20 feet wide, was set to be destroyed before being rescued by BrightView Tree Company. It was relocated and cared for by BrightView’s experts and nursed back to its former glory.

“Much like the community of Thousand Oaks, the donated tree is healing,” said Robert Crudup, President and chief operating officer of BrightView Tree Company. “BrightView is honored to be a part of this memorial.”

The mission of the garden is to pay tribute to the Thousand Oaks community and honor the strength they showed in the aftermath of the tragic event.

Nationwide, only 40% of teen parents graduate high school. But at Benjamin Franklin High School in Baltimore, the percentage is an astounding 74%. The secret to their success is the community school strategy of the United Way Ben Center in Brooklyn/Curtis Bay, which, in addition to providing a variety of resources for students, their families, and neighborhood residents, supports teen parents pursing a high school diploma. BrightView had the honor of assisting in their noble mission, by helping construct a playground for Ben Center’s tiniest members: the teens’ infants and toddlers.

While teen parents attend high school classes at BFHS, their children can attend the early childhood development program offered at Ben Center. The program is critical to the teen parents’ success, providing safe and convenient care and enrichment for their children while they complete their education. With the addition of the playground, the children now have an enhanced space to take their learning outdoors.

Developing the playground was a true community effort. BrightView partnered with Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) and Plano Coudon to create the play areas. COPT CEO Steve Budorick, former United Way campaign chair, led the charge. BrightView donated services and materials and COPT committed $100,000 in support of the project. Vendor partners SYNLawn and Country Springs Nursery also lent their support, along with BrightView’s Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Howard branches.

Following demo and soil amendments, the multi-company volunteer force installed plants, fertilizer and mulch, to create the beautiful environment for Ben Center’s children. Completed in mid-August, the playground enhances the childcare program and provides a place for parents in this challenged community to bring their children to play. What was once an abandoned building now serves as a symbol of hope.

Since opening in June 2014, Ben Center has helped more than 60 students and 44 infants. To learn how you can help Ben Center continue to change lives, visit UnitedtoAct.org.

Veterans Memorial Park in Pottstown, Pa., is being revitalized thanks to the work of BrightView and other local businesses. BrightView proudly donated landscape services to the memorial park, including mulching, weeding, and general improvements to the grounds. 

This project honors Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Carl M. Shaffer, a Pottstown native who served in World War II. Staff Sgt. Shaffer’s remains were recently identified and returned for burial in his hometown. The project also will honor Gabriel “Gabe” Joseph Fieni, who was the founder of the Pottstown World War II Memorial. Fieni served as a U.S Army medic in World War II.

“Our BrightView team was grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something as moving as a veterans memorial park,” said Zach Kolb, Norristown Account Manager. “It was very satisfying knowing that BrightView’s donation will have such an important impact on the community.”

The clean-up project is leading up to the fourth-annual Pottstown Veterans’ Community Day Sept. 28. The event will honor local veterans and celebrate their service to the country.

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BV) (“BrightView”), the nation’s leading commercial landscaping services company, celebrated the second anniversary of its landmark first Employee Resource Group: GROW (Growth in Relationships + Opportunities for Women). GROW’s mission is to attract, promote, and retain women within BrightView.

Led by a group of women committed to the mission – and who volunteer their time to ensure its success – GROW offers networking, professional development, and leadership opportunities for the women of BrightView. To date, more than 300 women have participated in professional development with hundreds more benefiting from online programs.

”Women are clearly an under-represented, yet capable group within the landscape industry and even here at BrightView,” said Andrew Masterman, BrightView President, Chief Executive Officer, and executive sponsor of GROW. “I’ve challenged our team to double the number of women in BrightView over the next three to four years, which will have a positive long-term impact on the company.”

GROW is comprised of five initiatives:

1. Professional Development – Have in-person events across the country and webinars with external coaches and internal speakers who inspire, teach, and help develop women.


2. Networking – Create channels for organic, lasting relationship development, including an online community.


3. Task Forces – Create cross-functional committees of women working together to solve business challenges and enhance existing programs.


4. Community Service – Build a partnership with Dress for Success, a global nonprofit organization that provides professional attire for low-income women, to support women re-entering the workforce following challenging life circumstances.


5. Mentorship – Currently in development, this program will offer more opportunities to develop the talents of BrightView’s female team members.

“Nurturing the talented women of BrightView through GROW is something I take tremendous pride in,” said Amanda Orders, BrightView’s Senior Vice President for Human Resources and GROW Co-Leader. “GROW brings women together across BrightView to support each other, develop future leaders, and create lasting, professional relationships. It started as a small idea and has grown into something rewarding for all involved.”

BrightView’s GROW celebrates two years, Total Landscape Care
BrightView’s GROW program celebrates second anniversary, Landscape Management 

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., recently brightened the day for their patients with a new, airy butterfly garden. More than 200 butterflies spread their wings and flew into their new home, designed and built by BrightView.

The effect was felt throughout the hospital with patients, families, and guests viewing the event in their rooms and in the now brightened courtyard. The hospital’s goal is for the garden to be a place of joy and healing for pediatric patients.

The garden came to fruition thanks to a $2,500 grant from Sokoloff Grant for Compassion & Kindness, which was awarded to 17-year-old Kendra Kaericher. Kaericher was nominated by her peers and teachers at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire to create a project that gives back to the world. While working her summer at inpatient services at Nemours, Kaericher wanted to brighten the day for the patients and families and knew a butterfly garden would do just that. She used the grant to nurture more than 200 caterpillars into butterflies in her living room and also had input into the garden’s design.

The butterfly garden features perennial plants, a butterfly bush, and various other plants that attract monarch butterflies.

The re-opening of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, part of Independence National Historical Park, can be described in one word: incredible. BrightView, along with fellow champions, suppliers, local media, and eager crowds, were there to witness the symbolic ribbon cutting to re-open the historic lawn to the public on May 17, 2019.

BrightView’s in-kind donation to Independence National Historical Park’s landscape includes the replacement of nearly 100,000 square feet of damaged sod, irrigation repair, tree care, and improvements to the gardens, as well as maintenance of the landscape for the next year.

(For the full transcript, see below.)