Meet Your ILCA President —
New ILCA President — Donna Vignocchi Zych by Meta Levin
When Donna Vignocchi
Zych’s father invited her to spend a summer during college working in the family business, ILTVignocchi, Inc., she fell in love. “I fell in love with the place, the excitement in the morning and the people,” she says. That summer job has led to a career, a husband, innumerable friends and now, ILCA’s presidency. A telecommunications and marketing major in college, Vignocchi ended up working for her father, where she flexed her marketing muscles and slid into the industry. Lisa Fiore, now of LandscapeHub, Inc., approached her about joining the ILCA Board. “She thought I would be a great fit,” says Vignocchi Zych. At the time, she had been involved in what now is the National Association of Landscape Professionals, serving on several committees, as well as the national board. The ILCA board has been a different and she says, “an invaluable experience. I’ve made some amazing friends; people who have affected my life and have eaten at my house.” The latter is a good thing, since Vignocchi Zych loves to cook and entertain. Not only have those she met through ILCA become close friends, but so have many of ILTVignocchi’s employees. Several of the employees were like family; she had grown up around them and some still work for the company. She points to Sam Ortiz, known by those close to him as Sammy, and about whom Vignocchi Zych recounts a family story. Her parents bought a house, which her father, a stone mason by trade, wanted to make into a stone house. Ortiz “was just a kid,” but he was there working alongside Vignocchi Zych’s father and other rela32
Donna Vignocchi Zych
tives. He is still on the team. Vignocchi Zych grew up in a creative family – her mother is an avid gardener
Donna and father Harry Vignocchi
Donna and husband Aaron Zych
The Landscape Contractor August 2020
and her father is artistic – which is one of the reasons she felt so comfortable when she began working at ILTVignocchi. “There is this thing at ILT, everything has to be beautiful,” she says. Her husband, Aaron Zych, is a landscape architect and now heads the ILTVignocchi design department. “We are similar people and we hit it off,” she says. “He works like my Dad. He wakes up at 2 am and he runs circles around me.” Although she officially is the company president, she and her husband share the operations manager role. Together they also have an 11-yearold daughter, Sofia, who has inherited the family artistic ability. “I love to draw and my daughter loves to draw,” she says. “She’s really good.” She learned many lessons working alongside her father and continues to run the business in “the old fashioned” way. She has done just about every job in the business, except pushing a mower and building a patio. Her father taught her that if she was going to send a crew out in 100-degree weather, she should stay and help. “Show that you are willing to do what they’re doing,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.” As ILCA president, she wants to convey a message of hope and optimism to the membership and for members to know that the association values a high level or honesty and integrity. Moreover, “I don’t want ILCA to throw in the towel, because of COVID-––19.” The association will continue to provide its members with vital information, which it has done during the entire pandemic. “We need to continue to continue to support the people who support us,” she says. “We need to give hope.”
