Arizona Greens
Don Baldwin, founder and president
Susie Baldwin, founder and COO
Est. 2005

Taking the plunge to open your own business is always a difficult endeavor, but for Don and Susie Baldwin, the leap turned into a wildly successful venture with Arizona Greens. In fact, in 2005, only three months after launching their synthetic turf and putting greens business from their home, the couple had so many appointments that artificial turf was stored in the rafters of their garage.

“The phone rang so much we could not even answer it fast enough,” Susie Baldwin says.

Arizona Greens specializes in complete landscaping and hardscaping with an emphasis on low-maintenance, low-water synthetic turf for both residential and commercial properties.

Lifelong Arizona residents, Don and Susie have witnessed the dramatic changes to the state first hand. They realize water conservation is more important than ever, making synthetic grass a wise alternative for many.

“In this day and age of trying to be green and trying to conserve, this is just such an easy way to accomplish all those issues at one time,” Susie says.

In addition, due to numerous landscaping requests from customers, the Baldwins added a dual commercial and residential general contractor’s license to the company’s resume.

With the incredible success of Arizona Greens, one would never guess that the Baldwins previous careers were miles away from the landscaping industry. Don had worked as a long-distance truck driver and Susie was in corporate banking.

“The subtotal of our experiences was taking care of our yard,” she laughs.

Yet, they persevered and quickly learned the ins and outs of owning a landscaping business. The rapid growth of the company forced them to address numerous issues, including problems with adequate staffing and maintaining positive customer relations during delayed installations.

Now, with the tough economic times, the Baldwins are facing their next big hurdle in entrepreneurship.

“The first three years we were in business was cash flow heaven … then things changed virtually overnight,” Susie says. “In light of what has happened with the economy, it is imperative to look as forward as possible.”

Though the nonstop action of the early days of the business has slowed significantly, Don and Susie are positive that Arizona Greens will weather the storm and learn a very valuable lesson along the way. The energetic couple has learned to balance their personal and professional lives without a hitch, and they look to the future to forge ahead with their work.

“We just want to continue to make an impact on our environment and keep it as pure as possible,” she says.