How does a small commercial landscaping company evolve into one of the premier contract crushers in the Midwest?
Well, that question is probably best left for company president Darian Houssain to answer.
“When I got out of high school, I started doing commercial landscaping,” says Houssain, whose business is based in Richmond, Indiana. “My dad cut grass, he retired from the mowing and I just took it all over.”
One day, a sidewalk rehabilitation job presented itself to Pro Lawn. Houssain bid on the project, won and quickly realized the unique business opportunity before him.
“The way to get rid of the concrete and the curbs was to take it to the landfill,” Houssain says. “I was like: ‘We can do something with this.’ We had a 3-acre yard. We started piling it all up, and I said we’re going to crush it.”
Houssain rented a crusher and an excavator for the sidewalk crushing job, processing material down to 2-in. minus.
“We tried to use that material on projects,” Houssain says. “I started doing more research. We bought an old Pioneer with a Stedman on it. It did about 100 tph with a triple-deck Cedarapids electric screen plant. That’s how we really started it all.”
Pro Lawn has expanded remarkably since. In its early days, Houssain says Pro Lawn crushed maybe 5,000 tpy. The company crushed about 500,000 tons last year alone, and it’s trending toward 600,000 tons for 2021.
“We’re covering three states,” says Houssain, referring to Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. “It’s not even slowing down.”
Still, Pro Lawn has come a long way since its very first portable plant.
“It’s been non-stop for three years,” Houssain says. “We started with one crusher – a portable on tracks, and in three years, we have 10 pieces.”