| HOW WE GOT STARTED…Rutgers Landscape and Nursery was started in 1986 by James Brophy, a sophomore at Rutgers College. While attending school, Jim developed a very strong interest in plants and landscaping. The part time jobs Jim held while attending Rutgers were gardening jobs, and with this, Jim began to amass more and more knowledge, as well as more interest in the outdoors and plants than the economics/business degree he was pursuing in the classroom. The company was started in a rather unusual manner. At the time, Jim and his fellow college buddies were full time students. They all took part time jobs for small landscape companies to make extra money. When Jim soon realized that the quality of work being performed was far less than what he considered to be "perfect", and additionally that he and his buddies were more reliable than the proprietors they were employed by, his vision of going it on his own was born. |
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The beginning stages were tough, as Jim had no real capital or credit at the age of 19. The business was actually started out of the trunk of his mother's 1971 Chevy Impala!The company performed residential lawn maintenance, landscaping, and yard cleanups in mostly Middlesex County, NJ. Although the beginning years were tough, the work was very rewarding. Jim can still remember doing his first "cleanup job" for the Razzano Family of Hoover Drive, North Brunswick, NJ. Not familiar with costs or estimating, he offered them a price of $105 for a spring cleanup. For the next several days Jim and his college buddies worked to the point where there hands actually bled from raking! They hadn't enough money to afford a leaf blower yet! At the completion of the job, the Razzanos were thrilled, so thrilled that they paid Jim $210, double the price he requested, and they remained clients of Jim's for the next decade. To this day, Jim can remember most of the names of the people in North Brunswick, Edison, and East Brunswick that he mainly serviced.
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People and relationships are something truly valued at Rutgers.In Jim's senior year at Rutgers University, 3 years into his own business while attending school full time, the company was really "growing", Jim now had nearly 8 employees, and it was becoming a real "bear" for a full time student to run a business. Graduation was close, and Jim struggled on. Jim made it thru Rutgers University graduation, and within 2 years upon graduating and saving money, he purchased land in 1990 on Rt. 31, Ringoes NJ, which is where Rutgers Landscape and Rutgers Tree Growers operates from today. In 2005, the company purchased more land on Rt. 202 and moved its retail and growing operations to this new 12 acre site. Today, degreed horticultural professionals make up much of the staff at Rutgers Landscape and Rutgers Nursery, and the personal commitment of Jim Brophy lives on:"We want to make each customer raving fans of us!" |
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