Jeffrey Colton, a respected landscape leader with 32 years of industry experience, joined Los Angeles-based Monarch Landscape Holdings, a growing family of landscape companies. Colton was named president of Monarch’s Construction Division and will be based in Northern California.
Private-equity backed Monarch is among the top 20 largest commercial landscape firms nationally with revenues exceeding $80 million and more than 1,000 employees across four states. Monarch’s family of landscape companies includes San Jose-based Jensen Landscape, Woodinville, Wash.-based Northwest Landscape Services, and Redmond, Wash.-based Signature Landscape Services.
“The growth of Monarch is anchored on people who know the landscape business inside and out, and Jeff’s addition certainly strengthens our organization for continued expansion,” said Brian Helgoe, CEO of Monarch. “I know Jeff’s philosophy is closely aligned with our customer-first service values, landscape-based workplace culture, and collaborative team approach.”
Prior to joining Monarch, Colton served as senior vice president and regional manager of ValleyCrest Companies in Northern California. He led the region since 1994, a period when the development division grew more than 700%, and built some of the region’s most notable landscape projects including AT&T Park and Letterman Digital and New Media Arts Center in San Francisco, as well as Facebook’s campus in Menlo Park, Calif.
“Joining Monarch is an exciting new chapter in my landscape career and I embrace the chance to return to my entrepreneurial roots building a company,” said Colton. “It was an easy decision because I recognized Monarch’s leadership group is comprised of true landscape pros who are passionate about the work and acutely focused on meeting the full lifecycle of customers’ landscape needs.”
Colton’s deep landscape pedigree includes a life-long exposure to the landscape business. It began with his father, Stanley Colton, who worked at ValleyCrest Companies for 47 years. It is also linked to his uncle, Burton S. Sperber, who founded ValleyCrest Companies, as well as his cousin, Richard A. Sperber, who served as ValleyCrest Companies’ Chairman of the Board.
Colton started working at ValleyCrest in the summer of 1980, and secured a full time position in Southern California in 1984. Since then he served in numerous roles with the company, ranging from estimator to business development. Colton was selected to take over the Northern California market in 1994, and was promoted to senior vice president and regional manager in 2006.
Initially, he expects to continue building on Jensen’s more than 40 years of award-winning landscape achievements by expanding a full-range of services across the Bay Area, as well as developing Monarch’s landscape construction business in the Pacific Northwest. Long-term, Colton says, “he plans to apply more than 30 years of industry experience toward training people and making sure customers needs are the top priority. I’m confident we’ll build Monarch into a world-class landscape company.
Monarch was formed in May 2015 and is backed by equity partner One Rock Capital Partners, LLC. The New York-based investment firm provides critical access to capital and connections that will allow the venture to grow. Monarch intends to continue building its West Coast presence via additional partnerships with mid-sized, regional landscape firms that generate revenues in the $10 to $50 million range.
