Stanford Stadium Maintenance

Kevin Moore – Maintenance Division Manager – Colony Landscape Company
Kevin@colonylandscape.com

In person interview with Joe Bingold and Jorge Heraud

Kevin is a member of the Sports Turf Management Association (STMA). He recommends we talk with folks from STMA. We should also investigate getting in touch with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) - http://www.gcsaa.org/

Colony Landscape is a professional landscape company that services stadiums, sports fields, athletics, alumni, graduate housing, commercial corporate parks, schools in Santa Clara, practice facilities, San Jose city parks .. etc. Colony also performs landscaping work (e.g., preparing the ground, planting, etc.).

Colony Landscaping is responsible for about 390 acres, 12 acres of which are high-end sports fields.

About 120 people work at Colony and Kevin oversees 45 people in the maintenance division. Kevin is on Stanford’s campus nearly every business day.

Stanford’s Stadium takes about 2 hours to mow and gets about 120 mowings per year. He will typically mow the stadium himself. It’s a high visibility job, has to be done perfectly, the grass on the stadium appears on national TV. After he mows, he will then go back over the grass and vacuum. If he catches the grass, he will need to empty the basket 1 time.

The mowers that colony uses typically cost about 40 to 50K, will run about 12K hours, lasting about 7 to 8 years. They use John Deere tractors. Like most organizations, they only use one company for their mowers.

Labor is a significant cost in their business. A fully loaded (salary, benefits, workers comp, etc.) worker costs $35/hr. Health insurance and workers comp is a big factor. Colony will bill people out at around $70/hr.

I describe our conceptual product and the initial thoughts on cost savings. Kevin listened with interest and a sign of disbelief. His response:

If this was trusted and proven, as a business man this is something he would want and implement. He is certainly profit driven – but he is also highly risk averse. He knows he has to stay ahead to remain competitive – the industry changes every 10 years. However, his job is on the line in two ways. First, he decides what equipment gets purchased and he is also responsible for the quality of the field. If the machine messes up the look of a stadium, his job is on the line. Second, an automated machine also replaces himself … he is both a supervisor and an operator. There is a close connection in this industry between who decides what equipment will be purchased and who actually uses the equipment.

Kevin is very concerned about reliability and consistency. He cannot imagine himself leaving a piece of equipment alone to go mow one of his fields. This would make him very nervous.

Kevin also notes that the operator is not just sitting on the mower mindlessly mowing around. The operator is paying attention to several things:
• The condition of the grass – is there a wet spot, is fertilizer needed, is a portion dying?
• The condition of the mower. Mowers will often have hydraulic lines burst – which sprays hot oil on the grass, killing it. Without an operator to notice, the machine could kill large streaks of grass.
• The condition of the field. The operator is looking for objects within the grass to avoid running over them with the reel mower. A bolt in the grass will destroy the reel mower – costing at least $1000 to repair and putting the machine out of service.
This type of value-added work is lost when you replace the operator.

Kevin thinks that if he was to try an automated machine, he would use it in an enclosed practice field that is seen and used only by the team.

Kevin also discussed other types of mowing (golf course, school districts, etc.) and suggested we look at those areas instead.