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Monaco Landscaping

2600 83rd Street Darien, IL 60561 (630) 433-7255 www.monacolandscaping.info

by Meta Levin

Diego Trimarco and Ernest Monaco have

come a long way from their middle school years when they trimmed neighbors’ lawns with a push mower and drove a John Deere tractor down the street from lawn care job to lawn care job.

Now, the owners of Monaco Landscaping in Darien, Illinois are all grown up. They have four full-time employees and four part time. “I love the guys working for us,” says Trimarco. “I like that we are able to help provide for them. We have a lot of good guys.” Many of their employees are still in college and started with Monaco as high school students.

Monaco Landscaping offers five services, including lawn care, snow removal, property clean up, landscape enhancement, and pressure washing and joint sanding. “We are a full landscape maintenance company and focus on customer service,” says Trimarco.

It all started one summer in 2013 when Trimarco and Monaco wanted to make some pocket change. They began mowing neighbors’ lawns. Eventually some friends approached them about getting some work to make a few dollars, as well. The business grew through high school.

After high school Trimarco went off to the University of Illinois at Chicago to study chemical engineering. “I gave it my best shot,” he says of college, but it wasn’t for him. Meanwhile Monaco had formalized and organized their business and Trimarco was able to join him when he came home.

They set up an office space in the back of Monaco’s father’s dental practice. Now they also have a shop in Romeoville and have another facility in Downers Grove.

They and their employees are eager to learn more about the business. “We encourage that,” says Trimarco, who admits that he, too, is absorbing knowledge as fast as he can.

David Tshulos joined the company in 2016. Still in school at the College of DuPage, studying finance and accounting, he takes night classes so that he can work for Monaco Landscaping during the day. “We use his knowledge about finance and accounting as a resource,” says Trimarco.

Lucas Bilek is majoring in managerial accounting at DePaul University. Before working for Monaco, he ran his own landscaping business, which he merged with Monaco Landscaping.

Mike Riordan is studying horticulture at the College of DuPage. He has worked for the company off and on since high school days. “He has a lot of knowledge and is helping us grow,” says Trimarco.

Trimarco and Monaco not only are working to grow their company, but they are invested in learning and encourage their employees to “up their game” by taking advantage of educational opportunities. In fact, that is a large part of what attracted them to ILCA.

“The resources attracted us,” says Trimarco. “We want to take as much advantage of them as we can. There is more going on in the industry than we thought.” Last summer, they heard about Turf Education Day. Trimarco attended and was impressed. “This is something great that I can use,” he says. “I implemented some of the things as soon as I got home.”

In whatever spare time he has, Trimarco likes to hang out with friends, snow board, ski and recently began learning about foraging. He also listens to podcasts about business, history and science. “I enjoy trying to improve, and be the best at what I am doing,” he says. “I’m happy to be here every day.”

His business partner, Monaco, works at learning to become better at the business. He also is into food and working out. While running, he often listens to books on tape.

Trimarco, too, focuses on improving his business skills. “A lot of my life is the business,” he says. “I use whatever money I make to throw it into the business.”