Bayouland Yard Krewe: Force to be reckoned with

Local businesses and residents take pride in the appearance of their lawns and gardens. But a drawback to today’s urban garden is having the time or expertise to maintain its beauty.

The Bayouland Yard Krewe has been in the business of keeping outdoor spaces professionally neat and trimmed for many years.

“I’ve been here 20 years and when I started they were already here. They’ve probably been around for about 25 years,” said Gilbert Jones, director of the Terrebonne Association of Retarded Citizens’ Enterprises Division 1.

Jones joined TARC after searching for a career move that would give him a sense of meaning.

“Over my career, I was looking for something I felt worthy doing. I started working for TARC and saw the need for some supervision of the clients,” Jones said.

When Jones began working with the Yard Krewe, it had only one major commercial contract that gave staffers three days of work per week.

“We started knocking on doors and promoting our business. Customers starting giving us a chance,” Jones said.

At first, most of their work came from local banks. When the bank customers began noticing the work the Krewe was doing, they began asking for estimates for their own properties.

“We went out, gave them a price, they liked what we were doing and kept us on. Most of them still have us. I don’t think I’ve lost a single job due to job performance,” Jones said.

The business was originally called the Yard Krewe, but in 2007 TARC trademarked all their business names and logos. The Krewe’s official name then changed to the Bayouland Yard Krewe.

The Krewe works out of TARC’s McCord Road campus, fanning out not only to Houma, but the surrounding community as well.

“They provide everything from lawn maintenance, to tending display and flowering beds, to tree and shrub pruning. They can also do anything custom to your needs,” said Erica Null, director of Marketing and Business Development.

If a new customer wants to hire the Krewe, Jones checks out the property and works up a rate based on the size of the job. If the property is very large, the customer is charged by the hour. All rates depend on how many times they’re called out to a site and what services the customer wants.

“The number of times we go out depends on the customer. We work the peak season on a weekly basis and during the non-peak season, we may go every other week or as needed, doing raking, odd jobs or landscape work. Off-season is mostly regular customers with reduced services,” Jones said.

When the Bayouland Yard Krewe arrives at a job site, the first thing they do is canvas the property for trash. Then the supervisor issues job assignments – who’s going to be weed eating, who’s going to be cutting, who’s going to be on the riding mower. “Everybody is trained on the equipment so they can pretty much do everything. I have a couple of guys who aren’t comfortable with the riding mower, but they can push a lawn mower and weed eat,” Jones said.

The Krewe can usually do about four jobs a day beginning before 9 a.m. and returning to their home base around 1:30 p.m.

“They’re a force to be reckoned with. They’re very efficient, timely and they work very hard,” Null said.

The Krewe puts a lot of pride in its work and guarantees customers will get the best job for their money.

“Their reputation in the community has led to a growing business and creation of more jobs for individuals with disabilities in Terrebonne Parish. They’re just so happy to do their best and they love what they do,” Null said.

The Bayouland Yard Krewe currently consists of two groups of eight workers each. The current workload of about 42 contracts has Jones thinking of adding a third Krewe.

“If we can get the clients in, we’re looking at adding a third Krewe. We probably turned down about three to five offers during the summer months,” Jones said.

About 85 percent of Bayouland Yard Krewe’s business is from commercial clients and 15 percent is residential. If the Krewe loses a residential contract, they try to replace it with a commercial contract.

“We lost a couple of jobs due to the recession, but they were more residential and we were able to pick up commercial jobs in their place,” Jones said.

“I prefer to do the commercial contracts over the residential contracts. You have more of a commitment from a commercial individual than a residential customer. The residential customer has the heart to give back to the community, but sometimes financially something happens that prevents them from doing so,” he explained.

The Bayouland Yard Krewe is excited about the opportunity of adding more clients.

“This group of guys is amazing and they all work so well together. They’re just such a great team because they know each other well and they work together amazingly,” Null said.

Null also credits the Krewe’s team leader Betty Anderson who recently won TARC’s DSP (Direct Support Professional) Award. “She won it because she displayed outstanding qualities for the men of Bayouland Yard Krewe. She was just recognized at the ARC of Louisiana convention at Shreveport also,” Null said.

So what does the Bayouland Yard Krewe have that no other lawn maintenance service has?

“Our work speaks for itself. Most of customers have been with us for 20 years,” Jones said.

And what does Jones think about that career move some 20 years ago?

“When you see a smile on someone’s face that they know they’re doing a good job – it makes you feel good,” he said.

Bayouland Yard Krewe member Willie Carter mows property as Steven Young runs a weed eater. Now in its 25th year, the Krewe provides yard service to commercial and residential clients across Terrebonne Parish. COURTESY PHOTO