Billy Stinson, Rilee Harman and Ian Smith, from left, recently purchased longtime local firm Robbins Landscaping. (Photos courtesy Ian Smith)
Friendships among three Collegiate School grads have led to a pairing up of two local landscaping companies.
Rilee Harman, Ian Smith and Billy Stinson recently purchased Robbins Landscaping, a 35-year-old firm founded by Doug Robbins that they’ve brought under the same ownership entity of their other firm, Terra Forma Landscaping.
Harman and Stinson acquired Terra Forma, a 20-year-old firm, in 2021. That deal stemmed from the firm being a client of Yard Works, the landscape supply company that Stinson co-owned with his father, Bill Stinson, before it was acquired two years ago by a national distributor.
Smith, a general contractor who had been based in Colorado, was brought into the fold by his former schoolmates soon after he returned to Richmond late last year.
“When I did that, Billy and Rilee approached me and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking to grow Terra Forma through purchasing another landscaping business and would love to have you come on board as a partner,” Smith said.
With Smith going in with the pair on the purchase, the group closed on the Robbins deal in mid-December. Terms were not disclosed.
Robbins Landscaping crews at work.
While they’ve put Robbins under the same ownership entity, an LLC called South River Capital, the group is continuing to operate Robbins and Terra Forma as two separate businesses.
Smith, who is leading Robbins as president, said it works primarily for homeowners directly, while Terra Forma is more focused on landscaping work for commercial design clients. Where Terra Forma is most active in the West End and along the Cary Street corridor, he said, Robbins, whose clients include Virginia House in Windsor Farms, covers the whole Richmond area.
“We operate as two different businesses just to keep everything straight, especially with the acquisition of the new business, but we’re technically one business,” Smith said. “It just made a lot of sense for us to join forces and purchase Robbins so that we now have both a business-to-client side and a business-to-designer side.”
Having co-founded a construction development firm in Colorado, Smith is bringing his commercial background to the mix. He and Stinson attended Virginia Tech together, both studying building construction, while Harman, a William & Mary and VCU Brandcenter grad, has degrees in business administration and strategic communication.
Smith, who moved to Colorado after college, said the three of them have been best friends since kindergarten and attended Collegiate together, graduating in 2006.
The three friends attended Collegiate and went into business together in recent years.
After acquiring Terra Forma, Stinson and Harman were looking for another landscaping business with a similar customer profile when they identified Robbins, which Smith said was looking to sell and had enlisted M&A firm MidStreet to scout potential buyers.
Doug Robbins, who founded the firm in 1989, is staying on as a consultant to help with the transition, which he said would be seamless to clients.
Doug Robbins
“The systems and the processes that those guys bought are going to continue, and hopefully they’ll be able to grow that business,” he said. “I’ll be helping them as a consultant for at least a year or so and help them build it the way they want to do it.”
After running the business for over three decades, Robbins said he was ready to sell and was glad to see it passed on to its new owners.
“Once I met those guys, they seemed to have a lot of the same qualities that I have, in terms of wanting to take care of the people that work with me, wanting to take care of the clients and create a business that’s going to hopefully have a positive impact on the Richmond area and making the area beautiful,” he said. “It was just a really good match.”
Smith said bringing the two companies together allows Terra Forma to benefit from Robbins’ brand recognition after growing more organically through word-of-mouth. He said it also provides more resources for both brands, with Terra Forma operating north of the river and Robbins based near Colonial Heights.
“Now we have resources on two sides of the city, so it’s a little bit easier for us to serve our customers and load-optimize,” Smith said. Describing Terra Forma as heavier on the installation side versus Robbins’ equal balance of maintenance to install, he added, “Ultimately, it helps us expand and better resource our maintenance side. That’s something we want to grow.”
Both companies are active in Richmond’s West End.
Smith said the two companies brought in $6 million combined in revenue last year and total 50 employees: 26 in the field for Terra Forma, 14 for Robbins, and 10 office support staff for both.
He said the two brands would eventually be combined as the group takes a gradual approach to growth, adding that additional acquisitions are not currently on their minds.
“We’re really focused on just doing a good job with what we have right now,” Smith said. “It was big for us to grow from Terra Forma to Robbins – we’ve almost doubled in size in terms of revenue – and it’s really important for our clients and customers to see that we’re not just trying to grow this business fast. We’re trying to grow it in a thoughtful manner.”
Terra Forma and Robbins’ combination comes as local lawncare company Virginia Green recently acquired L.S.L. Lawn Service in Maryland, marking its first expansion outside the state.
Billy Stinson, Rilee Harman and Ian Smith, from left, recently purchased longtime local firm Robbins Landscaping. (Photos courtesy Ian Smith)
Friendships among three Collegiate School grads have led to a pairing up of two local landscaping companies.
Rilee Harman, Ian Smith and Billy Stinson recently purchased Robbins Landscaping, a 35-year-old firm founded by Doug Robbins that they’ve brought under the same ownership entity of their other firm, Terra Forma Landscaping.
Harman and Stinson acquired Terra Forma, a 20-year-old firm, in 2021. That deal stemmed from the firm being a client of Yard Works, the landscape supply company that Stinson co-owned with his father, Bill Stinson, before it was acquired two years ago by a national distributor.
Smith, a general contractor who had been based in Colorado, was brought into the fold by his former schoolmates soon after he returned to Richmond late last year.
“When I did that, Billy and Rilee approached me and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking to grow Terra Forma through purchasing another landscaping business and would love to have you come on board as a partner,” Smith said.
With Smith going in with the pair on the purchase, the group closed on the Robbins deal in mid-December. Terms were not disclosed.
Robbins Landscaping crews at work.
While they’ve put Robbins under the same ownership entity, an LLC called South River Capital, the group is continuing to operate Robbins and Terra Forma as two separate businesses.
Smith, who is leading Robbins as president, said it works primarily for homeowners directly, while Terra Forma is more focused on landscaping work for commercial design clients. Where Terra Forma is most active in the West End and along the Cary Street corridor, he said, Robbins, whose clients include Virginia House in Windsor Farms, covers the whole Richmond area.
“We operate as two different businesses just to keep everything straight, especially with the acquisition of the new business, but we’re technically one business,” Smith said. “It just made a lot of sense for us to join forces and purchase Robbins so that we now have both a business-to-client side and a business-to-designer side.”
Having co-founded a construction development firm in Colorado, Smith is bringing his commercial background to the mix. He and Stinson attended Virginia Tech together, both studying building construction, while Harman, a William & Mary and VCU Brandcenter grad, has degrees in business administration and strategic communication.
Smith, who moved to Colorado after college, said the three of them have been best friends since kindergarten and attended Collegiate together, graduating in 2006.
The three friends attended Collegiate and went into business together in recent years.
After acquiring Terra Forma, Stinson and Harman were looking for another landscaping business with a similar customer profile when they identified Robbins, which Smith said was looking to sell and had enlisted M&A firm MidStreet to scout potential buyers.
Doug Robbins, who founded the firm in 1989, is staying on as a consultant to help with the transition, which he said would be seamless to clients.
Doug Robbins
“The systems and the processes that those guys bought are going to continue, and hopefully they’ll be able to grow that business,” he said. “I’ll be helping them as a consultant for at least a year or so and help them build it the way they want to do it.”
After running the business for over three decades, Robbins said he was ready to sell and was glad to see it passed on to its new owners.
“Once I met those guys, they seemed to have a lot of the same qualities that I have, in terms of wanting to take care of the people that work with me, wanting to take care of the clients and create a business that’s going to hopefully have a positive impact on the Richmond area and making the area beautiful,” he said. “It was just a really good match.”
Smith said bringing the two companies together allows Terra Forma to benefit from Robbins’ brand recognition after growing more organically through word-of-mouth. He said it also provides more resources for both brands, with Terra Forma operating north of the river and Robbins based near Colonial Heights.
“Now we have resources on two sides of the city, so it’s a little bit easier for us to serve our customers and load-optimize,” Smith said. Describing Terra Forma as heavier on the installation side versus Robbins’ equal balance of maintenance to install, he added, “Ultimately, it helps us expand and better resource our maintenance side. That’s something we want to grow.”
Both companies are active in Richmond’s West End.
Smith said the two companies brought in $6 million combined in revenue last year and total 50 employees: 26 in the field for Terra Forma, 14 for Robbins, and 10 office support staff for both.
He said the two brands would eventually be combined as the group takes a gradual approach to growth, adding that additional acquisitions are not currently on their minds.
“We’re really focused on just doing a good job with what we have right now,” Smith said. “It was big for us to grow from Terra Forma to Robbins – we’ve almost doubled in size in terms of revenue – and it’s really important for our clients and customers to see that we’re not just trying to grow this business fast. We’re trying to grow it in a thoughtful manner.”
Terra Forma and Robbins’ combination comes as local lawncare company Virginia Green recently acquired L.S.L. Lawn Service in Maryland, marking its first expansion outside the state.