ILCA Awards & Honors —
ILCA’s 2019 Person of the Year Joe Hobson by Nina Koziol
Joe Hobson is a quiet,
An outdoorsman who loved thoughtful guy. If you don’t know him, hunting and fishing, he debated you should. He’s president and chief pursuing a career in forestry or operating officer of Midwest Trading wildlife management, but ultiin Maple Park, Illinois. And, he was mately decided on landscaping. recently chosen as ILCA’s Person of “If I went into one of the other the Year. When ILCA President José two, I might well end up in the Garcia called to give him the good boonies, which would be fine, but news, Hobson said, “I was speechless. I had a close, tight family and a lot It’s quite humbling and quite an honor.” of friends. I decided landscaping Hobson’s 23 years of professional would give me more versatility leadership experience in the horticulture and would allow me to balance my industry followed more than 30 years work and family.” in landscape management, design and maintenance. He’s served on ILCA’s Career Choices board and is a past-president. A friend who was studying “Joe has worked for some of the landscape architecture gave him largest member companies within advice. “I concluded that I wanted ILCA, but he always tried to walk in to do landscaping, so I switched the work boots of the small, indepento the University of Missourident contractor,” said Scott Grams, Columbia.” He graduated in 1986 ILCA’s executive director. “Joe realized there was a silent with a degree in horticulture with an emphasis on landscape majority of members who needed more from the ILCA than design. golf outings and glass plaques. He committed himself to After graduation, Hobson had an internship at Powell understanding what the average member needed and challenged Farms, an 800-acre site near Kansas City. “The owners joined the Board and staff to address those needs above all others.” with the University of Missouri to figure out what to do with the farm.” He worked there for two years becoming the interEarly On im director and performing master planning. “Working with Raised on a farm in southwestern Missouri, Hobson the master planners was interesting, but it’s a one-time shot appreciates the importance of hard work. “I did everything and done, even though it takes many years to implement the from mending fences and working cattle to hauling a lot of plan.” And, the planning involved a great deal of paperwork hay and cutting a lot of firewood. I had a never-ending appeand approvals that made projects cumbersome and drawn out. tite,” he said. “I like the system where we go get things done—I decided to At 17, he worked after school and on weekends for do something different.” Gladys and Brown Thomas, an elderly couple with a greenOne of the master planners gave Hobson job leads. “I house and big garden. “I’d cut the grass, water the greeninterviewed with the Brickman Group who took a chance house, dig potatoes, attend to customers or deliver plants— and hired me. That’s what really got me into the landscape whatever needed to be done. They were super good people to world.” That was in 1988 and he stayed at the Long Grove, be around and I was fortunate.” Illinois, location for five years before transferring to Atlanta Hobson knew he wanted to go to college. “Out of the 15 for three years where he handled the firm’s commercial landgrandkids on my mom’s side, very few headed in that direcscape maintenance. “In the design-build world, each project tion and I was the first to graduate.” He started at Southwest is a “wow” factor. In maintenance, it’s much more repetitive. Missouri State University where he took an Introduction to I found my passion improving properties and developing Horticulture class as a freshman. “I didn’t have a game plan, but people.” during that class a landscape segment caught my attention.” 10 The Landscape Contractor January 2020