Centreviews is pleased to be able to provide this executive profile about Christine Hurt, Corporate Controller at LandCare. Christine helped implement the Centreviews Payables Solution at LandCare. Not afraid of change, Christine found out about the Centreviews Vendor Payment Solution and realized the potential savings a complete payment solution would provide LandCare.
Career Beginnings
After obtaining her bachelor’s degrees in business and accounting from the University of Delaware 30 years ago, Christine began her career as a CPA at Ernst and Young. That impressive beginning led her to opportunities as the controller of a regional engineering firm, at which time she earned her MBA with a concentration in information systems from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD.
From there, Christine held a position as the chief financial officer of a building materials supplier, then corporate controller of an environmental remediation firm, giving her experience working with a large national service provider
A New Challenge at LandCare
Years of experience in accounting for contracting services makes Christine a natural fit for LandCare, which had $200 million in revenue when she began working with the company in 2011. Her experience in transitioning a company that was owned by a private equity firm was appealing to LandCare, which was being purchased by a private equity firm at the time of her interview. Her background in contracting and working with the service industry was also appealing, leading to her current role as corporate controller for the company.
Christine’s position with LandCare allows her to put her enjoyment of systems development to use. As LandCare has worked hard to streamline processes, Christine has been able add value to the financial systems at the landscaping company. When processes can be improved, Christine is eager to fully embrace those changes when others in an organization are skeptical of changes and resist.
She considers change management one of her biggest accomplishments with LandCare, having weathered various transitions over the course of her career. At the end of last year, the company chose a new enterprise resource planning solution that the LandCare team is in the process of learning and implementing, in addition to new automated accounts payable processes.
When Christine joined LandCare, the company was in the process of becoming an independent company after 12 years as part of the ServiceMaster family. What followed was a massive change in corporate culture that Christine and other leaders had to promote to their own staff. LandCare is now the second-largest landscaping firm in the industry and is consistently ranked one of the top landscape services providers in the nation.
LandCare holds five core values: 1) Delight our customers. Every time; 2) Lead with confidence and integrity; 3) Work hard, smart, and safe. Every day; 4) Inspire others with meaningful environments; and 5) Have fun with a commitment to teamwork. To honor the company’s core values, Christine and the LandCare Support Center team installed landscaping to multiple nonprofits leaving a positive environment for others to enjoy. Christine and her crew worked hard all day as a “Back Office” team with little previous experience in installing landscape materials. Through the experience, the team bonded, helping them work more efficiently together on accounting projects moving forward.
Christine believes that a positive attitude, ability to embrace change and a commitment to making improvements is key to helping LandCare to grow. She continues to embrace LandCare’s core values and impress those values upon her team.
