Yardnique: What's in a Name?
Brian DuMont on Respect, Risk and Rewards
Brian DuMont was in college when he came up with the concept of Yardnique, a landscaping company based on the Golden Rule. Brian’s project earned him an A and the professor wrote “Great Name” at the top. The seed for Yardnique had been planted. But it took a real-life work experience to convince Brian to put his business plan into action. “I worked for somebody doing landscaping. The way he treated his employees was not how I wanted to live life. I came back to college deflated and thinking, ‘There’s got to be more to life than this.’” Brian worked full-time on Yardnique, took classes part-time and graduated with both a bachelor’s degree and a growing business.
He founded Yardnique on the Golden Rule. “I wanted to treat others like I would want to be treated. I wanted to focus on family and culture and treating people with respect. When I started this journey, my goal was to grow my company to maybe five employees,” recalls Brian. “And here we are 27 years later with almost 3,000 employees.”
Today, Yardnique has 30 offices in five states and is one of the fastest-growing commercial landscape companies in the nation, ranked 23rd by Lawn and Landscape magazine in 2023. Yardnique offers full-service commercial landscape maintenance, installation, and design services to a range of market segments including homeowner associations, multifamily, office, industrial, healthcare, and municipal customers, all delivered in Brian’s trademarked Yardnique orange trucks.
“I quickly found I had a huge passion for people,” says Brian about Yardnique’s growth. “Our employees work incredibly hard for us, and I was out there in the field working and connecting with them. I try to make my employees part of our family and that’s really how we grew. People wanted to come work for us because they were treated with respect.”
Yardnique first became a member of Towne Insurance in 2013, according to James Morgan, senior vice president and risk advisor. “Yardnique utilizes our safety solutions services which have helped prevent injuries and reduce liability through a customized safety program. For over a decade, Towne Insurance has been an extension of Yardnique’s business as their trusted risk advisor.”
Yardnique has grown to locations in five states and nearly 3,000 employees work for the commercial landscape company.