Bill Arman and Ed Laflamme founded The Harvest Group in 2007, building on a friendship and shared passion for the landscape industry that spans nearly 40 years.
Bill brings deep corporate experience, having helped grow one of the largest landscape companies in the country from $30M to hundreds of millions in revenue, with a strong focus on people, systems, and scalable growth. Ed built and sold one of the largest landscape companies in Connecticut, growing it from the ground up and developing a reputation for operational excellence and customer service.
Together, they combine entrepreneurial grit with corporate discipline, giving clients a balanced, real-world approach to running a successful landscape business.
They divide their consulting geographically:
- Ed works with clients east of the Mississippi
- Bill works with clients west of the Mississippi
Bill and Ed focus on one-on-one consulting, helping owners and leadership teams improve operations, increase profitability, and build stronger, more sustainable businesses.
Their work covers the full scope of running a landscape company, including:
- Operations and efficiency
- Profitability and margins
- Leadership and accountability
- Sales, customer service, and growth
- Systems and process development
Harvester Bill & Ed’s Speaking Topics
Talk: Lessons from the Garden
“5 Insights from 100 Years of Landscaping Experience”
Lessons from the Garden distills five key insights learned from over a century of combined, real-world experience in the landscaping industry, lessons shaped through challenges, growth, and building teams that consistently perform. This session cuts through theory to focus on what actually works: how leadership differs from management, why culture becomes your strongest competitive advantage, and the critical importance of surrounding yourself with the right people. It explores how the right systems create freedom instead of friction, and why an organization’s ability to adapt, embrace change, and pursue innovation ultimately determines its long-term success. Attendees will leave with clear, actionable strategies they can immediately apply to lead more effectively, strengthen their teams, and intentionally grow their business.
Talk: It’s All About People!
Find, Attract, Onboard, and Grow the Right Team
Your people are your competitive edge—and this high-impact session shows members exactly how to build a team that drives real, sustainable results. In a fast-paced, practical format, attendees will learn the proven systems top-performing companies use to attract the right talent, implement smarter recruiting and screening processes, and build a consistent hiring pipeline. The session also covers how to create onboarding experiences that generate immediate buy-in and retention strategies that keep top performers engaged and growing. This is a must-have session for organizations looking to strengthen their teams, improve performance, and create long-term success.
Talk: So, Thinking About Selling Your Business?
Many business owners receive calls from potential buyers, but far fewer understand what it really takes to sell well, protect what they’ve built, and walk away with the best possible outcome. This session gives your members a clear, practical roadmap for navigating the sale process with confidence, clarity, and control.
We’ll break down what to do when buyer interest shows up, how to evaluate whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, and which factors truly drive business value in the eyes of buyers. Attendees will also learn how to prepare financially, operationally, and personally for a successful exit, including the steps they can take now to reduce risk, strengthen performance, and avoid common mistakes that can cost owners time, money, and leverage.
Whether they are actively considering a sale, fielding occasional buyer calls, or simply want to build a stronger and more valuable company for the future, attendees will leave with practical insights they can apply immediately to improve their business, increase enterprise value, and make smarter decisions when the time comes.
Bill Arman
worked for and helped grow one of the biggest landscape outfits in the country. He’s seen how the big boys do it, how their systems and structures work. So his know-how is rooted in recruiting, hiring, training and growing great people—that along with quality assurance. Bill, alone, has gone on 15,000 quality site visits in his career. Nobody else has that, not that we know of anyway. He received Lawn and Landscape/ Bayer Environmental Science's 2006 Leadership Award. Read Bill's full bio.
Ed Laflamme LIC
started his own business from scratch, built it up, sold it and then wrote a book about how he did it. So, he’s been there. He understands your frustrations, worries and concerns. Some of you may want to buy companies, while others may want to sell the one you own. You need expert assessment and guidance before you can move forward. Ed has experience in this area. He is recognized as a CLP: Certified Landscape Professional. Read Ed's full bio.