EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

By Glenn Hansen

For the Kress Next Summit 2025 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 3, the manufacturer invited a couple dozen landscape company executives, from enterprise-level companies such as Yellowstone and Mariani, to area-specific service providers such as Teles Landscaping covering Martha’ s Vineyard and The Langton Group serving northern Illinois.

Don Gao, founder and CEO of Positec Tool Corporation, the parent of Kress and other tool brands, including Worx, opened the meeting by pointing to two major trends he sees impacting the power equipment: electrification and robotization.

“ Kress has transformed from a product company to a technology company,” said DJ Johnson, executive vice president of Kress, as he began a day of presentations and discussions about the current and future state of power equipment. Like products themselves, the discussions about these products are evolving.

ELECTRIFICATION AND CONSUMER DEMAND According to Gao, although consumer demand for battery-powered equipment is high, adoption and penetration of battery-powered equipment is below 5 % with commercial end users. Factors impacting this are professional end user perceptions regarding battery power, charging time, runtime, and overall battery lifespan.

In panel discussions that took place at the event, landscape industry professionals addressed these topics directly.

1. Disappointing experiences in the past This could be caused by batteries with a short runtime or lifespan, though warranty can solve that issue. Or it could be related to charging infrastructure. Battery charging systems are a focus of many manufacturers today, even those not solely focused on batterypowered equipment.

2. Charging infrastructure needs Kress invited Brett Carter, energy consultant and former executive with Duke and Xcel Energy, to speak at the event. He said,“ Utilities are very interested in giving rebates to lower the cost of infrastructure and moving away from [ gas-powered ] products.”

3. Upfront costs It’ s as much about ongoing costs, according to Justin White, CEO of K & D Landscaping in Watsonville, Calif.“ We looked at all the work and tasks throughout a day, and we saw spark plugs fouling and issues with gasoline and two-stroke equipment, etc. Switching to

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