It is all about building relationships for Mountain View Nursery & Landscaping, LLC.
The work was recently recognized at a national level with the Butler based business earning the “Best of Customer Service” award by Houzz. Houzz is recognized as the leading platform for home remodeling and design and the business was selected by more than 40 million monthly users that make up the Houzz community.
“After I learned we won it, I kept looking online to make sure it was real,” Mountain View Nursery & Landscaping owner Harvey Burniston, Jr. told the Elizabethton Star Monday. “It’s an honor to be a small business and be recognized out of a lot of the bigger businesses across the country.”
The Best of Houzz is awarded annually in three different categories: design, customer service and photography.
Customer service honors are based on several factors, according to Houzz, including the number of quality client reviews a professional received in 2016.
The quality of work comes back to the friendships and relationships forged over the 30-year-old business, according to Burniston, Jr.
“It was slow early on because we started in the ’80s,” he said. “But it started to grow over time with east Tennessee becoming more of a retirement-based area with more people moving in. Since then, we’ve been able to meet with the public and we’ve been able to have a lot of returning customers over the years. I think that’s one thing that gets lost with some of the bigger companies. We don’t go after the one-big landscaping job, we depend on our repeat customers and they have been vital for our success … we appreciate everyone that has supported us over the years.”
The love of the business comes natural for Burniston, Jr., who retired five years ago. Prior to starting up Mountain View Nursing & Landscaping, the owner was a 30-year instructor of horticulture at Johnson County High School, where he and his program were recognized at a national level — including the agriculture and horticulture vocational program in Johnson County being mentioned in the 2010 edition of High Country Magazine and Burniston, Jr., being recognized as USA Today Teacher of the Year in 2000.
“Since we started, our goal was always to be No. 1 for our customers,” he said. “I’ve been able to hire students that come from the horticultural program (at Johnson County). My son-in-law was received an award and was recognized as the top hardscaping last year in our region, so we’ve been lucky to have the awards come in. Our nursery has also been visited locally and by people coming in from western North Carolina and Virginia.”
In a statement issued to the Elizabethton Star, Houzz provided praise for each of the award winners for 2017.
“We’re so pleased to award Best of Houzz 2017 to this incredible group of talented and customer-focused professionals, including Mountain View Nursery & Landscaping,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “Each of these businesses was singled out for recognition by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts for helping to turn their home improvement dreams into reality.”
While the accomplishment means a lot to Burniston, Jr., it won’t stall the work ahead.
“Our goal continues to stay the same,” he said. “We want to keep our reputation with the community and continue to work hard for the public.”
For more information, contact Mountain View Nursery and Landscaping at (423) 768-3226.