Client: JFNew

Organization: J.F. New & Associates, Inc.
Industry: Environmental Consulting and Ecological Restoration

Operating one of the largest native plant and native seed nurseries in the nation, JFNew was a full-service ecological consulting and restoration firm with expertise in natural resources management, environmental permitting, habitat restoration, mitigation banking, native plant materials, and cultural resources consulting. They specialized in wetland and prairie restoration, providing a wide range of environmental services across the Midwest and beyond, including those for federal agencies. Today, the company is operating under the Stantec brand.

JFNew operated at the intersection of ecological consulting and native plant supply, facing the dual challenge of marketing both specialized services and niche products.

• On the consulting side, the firm differentiated itself in a competitive B2B market by emphasizing expertise in wetlands, wildlife, and ecological restoration—capabilities that many general engineering firms lacked. Their goals included building trust with developers, municipalities, and federal agencies; expanding service reach across the Midwest; securing federal contracts; and demonstrating the ability to handle larger, more complex projects.

• On the native plant nursery side, JFNew aimed to educate landscape architects, contractors, and property owners on the benefits of local, genotype-specific plants for restoration, stabilization, and landscaping. They developed pre-designed seed mixes and plant packages to simplify purchasing while ensuring a reliable supply for both internal and external projects. Key marketing challenges included overcoming competition from larger engineering firms and smaller local suppliers, addressing clients’ perceptions of environmental work as a regulatory cost rather than a value-added service, and communicating the technical importance of their work to non-experts.

• JFNew received comprehensive marketing solutions that addressed their consulting and nursery objectives, including product brochures, seed and plant catalogs, seminar and event materials, and B2B-focused copywriting. These efforts communicated the firm’s technical expertise, highlighted the ecological and practical value of native plants, and simplified the purchasing process for landscape architects, contractors, and property owners. By emphasizing both specialized consulting services and unique nursery offerings, JFNew’s brand as a trusted leader in ecological restoration helped to increase visibility and credibility, secure larger and more complex contracts, educate the market on environmental landscaping, and position the nursery as the region’s top choice for native plant projects—all contributing to sustained growth and market leadership.

• According to Jeff Sayre, Director of JFNew’s Native Plant Division, what had once been a struggling, unprofitable segment of the company became its most successful division in less than three years—leading in both profit margin and total revenue. The JFNew Nursery brand became the most respected and successful name in the region for native plant products and services. The Nursery division was not only the highest-grossing and most profitable within the company but also the best-marketed suite of products and services in the Great Lakes native plant agriculture industry. With the corporation’s overall revenue growing by more than 260% and its employee base expanding by 225%, the division achieved significant success. The company experienced substantial growth throughout the 1990s and 2000s, growing to multiple regional offices across the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin). During its independent history, the company grew its revenue from $400,000 to over $20 million.