BRANCHING OUT HillTop Tree Service Handles Tree Removal and Much More Writer / Angela Cornell Photography Provided
Having grown up around a family-owned sawmill, Derrick Harter has always known that he wanted a job that would allow him to spend time outside. “I don’t like being cooped up in a factory,” he says. After spending a few years cutting lumber, Harter decided to open his own business, HillTop Tree Service. Now, 16 years later, Harter and his team offer tree and shrub trimming and removal, cabling, stump removal, fence row clearing, and yard grading. Thanks to servicing a 45-mile (and growing) area around Akron, Indiana, HillTop Tree Service would not be possible without Harter’s crew - Jason Lozano, James Lozano, Matt Keith and Damion Franklin. “We get along like a family,” Harter says. “Not everyone is related, but we do have that mentality.” The team has a combined 45 years of experience in tree removal and landscaping. Very few trees are too difficult for the company’s crew to deal with, especially since one of the crew members, Jason Lozano, specializes in climbing. “A lot of times you’re working in places you can’t get a bucket truck into - they have a septic in the way or it’s a lakefront property,” Harter says. “So a climber is almost a THETHE LAKES MAGAZINE / DECEMBER LAKES MAGAZINE / OCTOBER2020 2020/ /thelakesmagazine.com thelakesmagazine.com/ 39
