Larry Smith, general manager of Lurvey Landscape Supply of Des Plaines, Illinois, testified on June 25 before a Congressional committee field hearing looking into the impact of high fuel prices and price uncertainty on small business job creation. The opportunity came when House Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access chairman Joe Walsh (R-IL) invited the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) to provide a green industry witness.

Lurvey distributes a wide array of plants and landscape products to professional customers from three locations in the Chicago area, and retails garden plants and supplies to the general public from its headquarters location. Smith, in his testimony, described how fuel surcharges have become the norm and a significant portion of the cost of doing business. Surcharges plus price uncertainty have forced Lurvey to carry less inventory, and to quote prices on a per-job basis, which can lead to delays and frustration.

These factors have also made employers reluctant to hire, dampening a badly-needed jobs turnaround.

Asked by Rep. Walsh to describe the current state of the economy in the industry, Smith replied, “we are still on the bottom and treading water.” Rep. Walsh then asked what the company is doing to adjust to the high fuel prices? “Lower margins and reduce labor,” Smith answered.

While the hearing did not surface clear solutions to the challenges described, Smith called for “any and every strategy” to develop both new and traditional energy resources. “We would welcome actions that bring some relief,” Smith concluded.

Filed under: legislation • transportation