By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Since Kyle and Jeff Lohman bought Double L Enterprises from their dad in 1997, annual sales have increased 10 percent a year and the employee base has grown from five to 32. Next spring, Kyle expects to hire three full-time employees and another four to eight seasonal workers.
Gordon Lohman started Double L in Montague as an excavating business in the '80s. Kyle and Jeff have added landscaping, lawn care, a Weed Man franchise and irrigation services, snowplowing and a Christmas lights installation franchise they call Christmas Décor. What's more, they've expanded their territory outside Muskegon County. Their brother Kevin came on board two years ago as co-owner of the Weed Man and Christmas Décor franchises.
"We are meeting with architects now, planning a new building," Kyle says. "We'll double our office space, plus add a 65-foot x 135-foot shop. That will give us the ability to have in-house mechanics and in-house storage."
Currently, the company subs out the mechanics, and workers drive six miles to the leased storage space to pick up equipment and supplies.
The company will break $2 million in sales this year, the highest ever, despite the downturn in the construction industry, where the excavation and landscaping divisions get a lot of their business. Kyle credits the diversity of their services and also that homeowners are investing in landscaping and lawn care instead of spending money on other things.
"By putting $5,000 in your house, you're seeing a return," Kyle says. "It would cost that for a family of four to go to Disney World. But they're putting their money back into their homes."
Source: Kyle Lohman, Double L Enterprises; Amy Van Loon, White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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