Focus — ILCA Officers 2021-2022
Meet the New ILCA Officers by Meta L. Levin
Meet the new ILCA offi-
cers: Scott McAdam, Jr, president; Jeff Kramer, vice president and Ashley Marrin, secretary-treasurer. They may look young, but they bring a wealth of experience, energy and expertise to their new offices.
Although his father never exerted pressure on McAdam Jr. to go into the business, he did allow him to work in the
President Scott McAdam Jr. Looking at his term as ILCA’s new president, Scott McAdam Jr. is taking a lesson from his own past. “I’ve always had my Dad and industry connections,” says McAdam Jr. “A lot of people can’t say that. I was surrounded by a team who guided me and as an association I would like to be able to provide that guidance for members who need it.” He sees that kind of mentoring as good for the industry as a whole, as well as individual companies. “The more healthy, professional companies we have, the better the industry will be,” he says. McAdam Jr.’s roots in ILCA are deep. His father, W. Scott McAdam served two terms as ILCA president – in 1992-1993 and again in 1998-1999 – and McAdam Jr. began attending ILCA events when he was young. Even so, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go into the family business, McAdam Landscaping, Inc. Instead, he originally thought he’d major in political science in college, but the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental science was his entry into the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. He wasn’t sure he wanted to stay there, but his sophomore year a professor of dendrology (trees) changed his mind and he transferred into horticulture. If it hadn’t been for that professor, he admits he wouldn’t be in the landscape industry. 50
Scott McAdam, Jr.
garden center during the summers. “He let me figure out my life’s career path on my own,” he says. Now McAdam Jr. serves as the business’ Director of Sales and Marketing. Once into the business, McAdam Jr. was encouraged to get active in ILCA. During high school he played golf regularly as part of his high school golf team. In 2010 he joined the ILCA golf committee at the suggestion of then ILCA president Bob Bertog. By 2015 he became the committee chair and in 2017 he joined the ILCA Board of Directors. McAdam Jr. sees some challenges ahead for his tenure as ILCA president. Labor issues are ongoing. He believes it is important to find new ways of workforce development, as a means of helping companies recruit more labor. “I’m hoping our apprenticeship pilot program The Landscape Contractor July 2021
at the College of Lake County is a success,” he says. “Labor truly is our main challenge. We can sell as much as we like, but we need people to produce the work.” He also believes that there are some legislative issues on the horizon in the next couple of years. There also may be some local ordinances that will affect the industry. “The Board and the association are conscious of things that may be on the horizon.” “We are trying to do business in a vastly different work environment,” he says, pointing to climate change and other concerns. During the pandemic, landscape contractors were, by and large, able to operate safely. “A lot of credit goes to the businesses that were able to keep their employees safe.” He also wants to show members and potential members the value the association provides, including education opportunities. “We always are on the leading edge,” he says. “Information is power.” He also wants to grow outreach and engage the LatinX group. “It is a huge component of our industry,” he says. “They are business owners and workers.” Married for five years, he has a 2 ½ year old daughter and his wife is pregnant with number two, a boy, due in October. He still plays golf when he has time. In the end, McAdam Jr. sees his ILCA work as shared. “President is a title,” he says. “At the end of the day, I am one person on a board of 12. What the board and the association staff do is a collaborative effort with the benefit of the membership in mind.”
