- November 16, 2024
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What Andrew Hardesty began as a favor for a friend has led to a company that allows civil servants to serve their communities in other ways ,while making money.
After a friend’s mower broke down, Hardesty volunteered to mow his lawn, and his friend’s wife was so impressed with his work that she suggested he start his own business. Hardesty heeded her advice, and Encompass Property Maintenance was born in 2012.
While still serving as a firefighter, he spent his off days working on lawns. As business picked up, he looked to some of his coworkers for assistance.
“I knew what I wanted out of a business: I wanted it to be professional and high quality,” Hardesty said. “I know the care and the quality of my fellow brothers, and I know the dedication and what hard work they can do.”
Soon after he hired fellow firemen, Hardesty began to seek help from other civil servants around Flagler County who wanted to make extra money while continuing to serve the community.
While non-civil servants have worked with Encompass, civil servants get preference: They’ve already had background checks for their fulltime positions, and they’re familiar with hard work, Hardesty said. It also helps that they’re already well acquainted with each other.
“Working with civil servants it makes it a lot easier because, if you’re a new applicant at a new job somewhere, you probably wouldn’t know anyone there,” Hardesty said. “Here, we all know each other. We’ve had calls with each other, and we all have common interests. We feel comfortable with each other.”
While working on their clients’ lawns, Hardesty and his crew often run across other members who are either retired or currently serve the county. They frequently trade their “war” stories, as Hardesty put it. Because they travel a great deal around town, they see a lot of accidents, and, with their experience, they are usually the first to take action.
“When I started out by myself, I saw a car cut across a ditch into someone’s backyard,” Hardesty said. “I was already on the scene, so I was able to pull over, hop in that car, hold C-spine and talk through somebody who was on the phone outside the car and explain what was going on, so the paramedics had a better visualization of what was actually happening.”
Hardesty has been serving his communities since grade school in Boy Scouts. The other day, his wife mentioned to him that he maintains that mentality — an assertion he doesn’t disagree with.
“I can sleep well at night, knowing that my crew and I are providing quality services for people, and that we’re not ripping them off,” he said. “We also know that we are always helping people, whether it’s through our civil services or with lawn care.”
“This job gives us the opportunity to continue to serve the public, outside of what we already do.”-Andrew Hardesty
