Light snowfalls this winter worries local snow removal businesses
Snow removal companies in and around Mount Pleasant are hoping for more snow and more work as winter takes firm hold of the weather.
With only a few major snowfalls so far, businesses that make money by removing the snow report they have had much less work.
“This year’s snow removal equipment sales haven’t been as good,” said Norman Curtiss, owner of Pro Hardware, 118 S. Main St. “There’s just not as much snow.”
Curtiss said his business is also contracted to clean up streets downtown.
Usually, snow plows head out 12 or 13 times over the winter, but so far this season they have only done it a couple times, he said.
The winter’s snowfall has paled in comparison to previous years, Curtiss said.
“Two years ago was the best,” Curtiss said. “We got the snow in November and it just never went away. Last year was decent.”
Businesses that deal in commercial and residential snow removal are also suffering from a reduced workload. Neat & Green Lawn Care, 4699 E. Airport Road and Pete’s Snowplowing Service, 1205 N. Lansing St., have both had less powder to push.
“This year has definitely been below average.” said George Tolas, co-owner of Pete’s Snowplowing Service. “We’ve only had to plow twice this year.”
Tolas said they have eight to 10 drivers out plowing usually, mostly plowing for businesses in the area.
Neat & Green Lawn Care has a fleet of 30 snowplow drivers.
“We do both commercial and residential work,” said Gary Martin, operations and sales manager for Neat & Green. “We’re probably the largest (snow removal) company in the Mount Pleasant area.”
In December, after the first large snowstorm of the season, Martin said they picked up 25 new accounts.
Even for small amounts of snow, he estimated the business gets between 75 to 100 calls to take care of it, he said.
Both Pete’s Snowplowing Service and Neat & Green Lawn Care hope to have more business in January and February.
“January and February are our busiest months usually.” Tolas said, “December can be kind of hit and miss.”
