Rich Kansky and Green Acres Landscape: “Be the Solution”
Written by Tim Buckley, May 2026
If superhero trading cards were made for important teachers in his life, Rich Kansky might put his father and Guido Caldarazzo at the top of the list, followed by more recent role models like Jim Seymour and Larry Tokarski.
“My dad talked a lot about integrity, honesty and hard work,” Kansky said. “He told us kids repeatedly, ‘Never say no’ and ‘Be the solution’. As a teen at McKay High School, I ran with a tough and rowdy crowd, but my parents were steady and supportive, even after I messed up, running a car into a power pole as an underaged driver.” Sometimes it takes a while for a parent’s good advice to sink in.
Caldarazzo, the McKay High School principal at the time, focused on bringing out the best in students and staff. “He was authentic; he built relationships and was a great motivator,” Kansky added. He improved graduation results by starting a community employment program for at-risk kids. He won numerous awards during his career and was selected as the Oregon State Administrator of the Year.
Right after graduation from McKay in 1992, Kansky started a lawn maintenance business with friends. Fast forward 34 years, Green Acres Landscape employs about 120 people and Kansky runs the business in a way that his superheroes would celebrate.
Zach Pickett and Enrique Rodriguez were at the recent Community Violence Reduction Initiative (CVRI) with blank applications for employment. The at-risk youth assembled there were encouraged to apply for a position with Green Acres. This was not some sort of “feel-good” ploy either. Kansky said; “Besides Enrique and Jeff , I can name other long-term employees at Green Acres that have overcome a difficult past. We shouldn’t define a person’s character by a big mistake they’ve made,” he added.
From his earliest days in business, Kansky sought quality employees from all kinds of backgrounds. Part of his search included young men who were headed for trouble.
“Back in the early 2000s, Catholic Community Services CEO Josh Graves was running a program for gang-involved youth called Street Vision. Started by Jim Seymour, Josh’s boss at the time, I asked them for advice and referrals.”
“Some of those I hired are managers today, leading Green Acres divisions,” he said. “They’ve been with me for 10, 15, 25 years. They’ve now got homes of their own. Driving company trucks. Raising families. Top tier employees and model citizens.”
With eight divisions, plus administration and facilities, Green Acres is good at matching jobs with employees’ talents. There are no dead-end jobs; the potential for promotion is high.
But, as important as having a job that suits your skill set is, what employees find equally important is the corporate culture – the sense of belonging and community. “Trust and loyalty works both ways,” Kansky said. “Besides the normal benefits you’d expect from a company, like health insurance and retirement plans, Green Acres has additional ways in which we reward dedication and hard work. We’ve provided broad support in many forms, including paying for vacations, offering interest-free loans for home down payments, helping cover medical and transportation emergencies, and covering attorney fees related to immigration matters.”
“We throw parties to celebrate success, and we use our place here sometimes to hold baby showers and wakes,” he added.
Kansky married young. “In the early days of the business, my wife Amy was a waitress and we’d frequently need her tip money just to buy gas.” The couple have a son and four daughters. “Two of them – Jackson and Madison – work part time for Green Acres,” he said. “Amy started and operates our GA at Home store, located next door to the Green Acres business on Gaffin Road,” Kansky said. The store features casual clothing for women, a wide selection of candles, floral workshops and styling advice for patios, decks and porches.
When Kansky refers to Green Acres as a family business, he is quick to point out that the family is much broader than those who have his last name. “It takes a community,” he said, “and that’s why I’m so attached to CBEL. Investment in personal and neighborhood development pays huge dividends, for the individual, the neighborhood and the city.”