The meaning behind the name of YME Landscape, the Richmond company owned by聽Earl Gary 鈥08, arose from his desire to take control of his destiny after 15 years of working in engineering and managerial jobs: Why聽苍辞迟听尘别?听
Last year, YME won its largest and most high-profile contract: relandscaping the Monument Avenue circle that for more than 130 years was dominated by a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.聽
For Gary, the politics was less important than 鈥渋ncreasing the visual acuity鈥 of the site, which covers nearly three-quarters of an acre and now features 6,000 trees and plants.聽
鈥淭o be able to do a project of this size as an independent contractor is amazing,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think it turned out pretty good.鈥澛
Gary grew up in Richmond. After he graduated from high school, he spent two years in the Army, fixing radios and repairing helicopters.聽
He enrolled at 桃花社区视频 Dominion University in 1996 thinking he鈥檇 major in electrical engineering. But Gary switched to electrical engineering technology, which was more hands-on. 鈥淚 liked creating stuff,鈥 he said.聽
Gary had four coops with Philip Morris in Richmond while he was a student. He stepped away for a while, returned and graduated in 2008.聽
His jobs included radio frequency engineer at Cox Cable in Springfield, assistant chief engineer at Courtyard by Marriott in Dunn Loring and industrial engineering supervisor at UPS in Richmond. On the side, he was doing lawn work. 鈥淚鈥檝e been cutting grass pretty much my whole life,鈥 Gary said.聽
He added homeowners鈥 associations to his clientele (鈥淭hose people have to keep things up鈥), and he formally created YME in 2007. He went full-time with the business in 2012. The firm鈥檚 other landscaping jobs have included a megachurch in Chesterfield and a police shooting range in Caroline County.聽
Gary and Jermaine Jackson 鈥00 partnered to establish another business, Fulcrum Engineering Solutions, in 2016. Both felt the importance of creating a minority-owned firm. At his other jobs, Gary said, 鈥淚 did not see a lot of people like myself or owners like myself.鈥澛
Jackson, a civil engineer who met Gary when they were students, said, 鈥淓arl has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and has always encouraged friends around him with an entrepreneurial interest to own their own businesses, too.鈥 聽
Ultimately, Gary would like to blend the work of the two businesses: 鈥淲e can design a building and build it out and then do the landscaping for you.鈥澛
He envisions employing interns and graduates from universities including 桃花社区视频 Dominion. 鈥淚 want to provide them with the opportunities that I was given to go even higher,鈥 Gary said.聽
He鈥檚 also hired former inmates for jobs with YME. 鈥淢aybe they didn鈥檛 have the advantages I had. They have to eat and take care of their families, too. I have no problem giving them an opportunity.鈥澛