Entrepreneur behind Copper Creek Landscapes started endeavors at a young age

BY NANCY VOGT Echo Journal

NISSWA — Driving along Highway 371 near Nisswa, you can’t miss Copper Creek Landscapes and Garden Center off Highway 371 just south of downtown.

In summer, it boasts a colorful palette of flowers and plants.

In fall, giant, painted hay bales sitting in a row greet motorists.

In winter, it’s Santa in his sleigh being pulled by reindeer all aglow atop the garden center roof, not to mention skaters on the ice rink out front.

What today is Copper Creek Landscapes and

BY TIM SPEIER Brainerd Dispatch

Garden Center sprawled off Highway 371 started with a teenage entrepreneur doing lawn service for spending money.

“When I was 15 or 16 years old, I hung a little flyer on the Schaefer’s (Foods) bulletin board down here at the grocery store just for lawn service — rake your yard, mow your grass sort of thing,” Copper Creek owner Joe Hall said during a conversation in June in a conference room where the walls are filled with giant photos of landscape projects the company has done. Outside, a little bridge takes people over water

Food trucks bring new tastes to Brainerd lakes

BRAINERD — From fairs to store parking lots and everything in between, no one is angry when they find a food truck nearby.

A food truck’s ability to showcase a plethora of culinary cuisines often makes its presence a draw wherever it decides to open up shop.

Mille Lacs County

Sheriff’s Office

‘Friday Food Truck’

Originally thought of during a brainstorming session on supporting county staff, Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton said their food truck event snowballed into its own thing, thanks to the popularity of locals and passersby stopping for lunch.

“We have a lot of county employees that come over and we have people from the community that come, too, so it’s been a good opportunity for us to sit down, chat and connect with people,” Burton said.

Food Truck Friday has been happening for almost a full year now. Thanks to a surprisingly mild winter, receiving positive feedback and being asked if they would continue, Burton said they decided to keep it going.

“Once we started, it became so popular,” Burton said. “People driving by our office, like, ‘Oh, there’s a food truck. Let’s stop in.’ So we started throwing it up on social media because we started to get people asking if we’re going to keep doing this.”

FOOD filled with koi to outdoor settings with fireplaces, fire pits and seating. Color abounds everywhere in flowers and plants.

Hall also did golf course maintenance at Whitebirch Golf Course in Breezy Point as a teen.

He grew up in Nisswa, attending Nisswa Elementary School and graduating from Pequot Lakes High School. He obtained a degree in welding and fabrication at Central Lakes Colle ge in Brainerd before venturing to Bemidji State University for a teaching degree to become a high school industrial arts teacher.

I’m wrapping up a project right now for my very first clients that I ever did a project for. They’re still on Pelican Lake.

Though he was a student teacher at Brainerd High School, he never delved into that field.

“During that time frame I always owned my business and had the business running all through college,” Hall said.

“I actually hate mowing grass myself, so I got into the construction end of it and then I had a dock service business for probably 10 years,” he said.

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The original name of the business he formed as a senior in high school was Hall Landscaping and Dock Service. He hired his friends to work for him and operated from a shop near where he lived.

“I’m wrapping up a project right now for my very first clients that I ever did a project for. They’re still on Pelican Lake,” Hall said. “I’ve landscaped their place four times now.”

In 2006, two individuals, including one for whom Hall had done a large residential project, asked to buy his business.

“In January of 2007, I sold my first company,” he said.

Three years later, in 2010, he started Copper Creek Landscapes, specializing in landscape construction, including yards, patios, fire pits, water features, Copper Creek:

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