Hall Of Fame Inductees

 

The individuals nominated should have made a significant impact or positive influence that assures the future of our industry in the lives of generations to come.

 

Once nominated, an individual’s biography and photo are updated on the site, and he or she is placed in the polls for voting. At the end of the year the committee takes into consideration the votes and decides which candidates are inducted.

 

Those with a star (*) next to their name below were either inducted posthumously or have passed away since being inducted.

 

Nomination Qualifications

  • Person with integrity and passion
  • Minimum 20 years in industry
  • Someone who has developed  or invented  new technology
  • Has made contributions that resulted in change
  • Contributed to mankind’s needs in his field
  • Provided education and encouragement  with self-sacrifice
  • Changed the industry

Richard Cohen

Owner, Richard Cohen Landscape & Consruction

 

Richard was born in Trenton, New Jersey on March 26, 1944. In 1952, the family was westward bound, settling in Santa Monica, California, where Richard later attended Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College and Cal State Northridge, studying pre-med. Deciding that medicine was not for him, Richard went through an apprenticeship program and became a journeyman electrician; a job he held for 10 years.

Richard married his lovely wife, Linda, in 1964 and over the course of a few years, welcomed children, Scott and Stephanie, who completed their family.

Richard Cohen Landscape and Construction was started in 1976, and the company was incorporated and joined the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) in 1977. The company is located in Lake Forest and currently employs fifty-five employees who work on commercial landscape maintenance and high-end custom residential installation projects throughout Orange County. With Richard at the helm, his company has been a consistent award winner, both on the Chapter and State levels; winning awards every year since 1978. Included in the awards received have been numerous Sweepstakes, President’s Awards and, in 2012, the Jon Alsdorf Memorial Award for the Best Installation in all Residential Categories in the state trophy awards contest.

Richard served as CLCA Orange County Chapter President in 1982. Not one to limit himself, Richard also served on CLCA’s State Board for six years, serving as Chairman of CPC for two years and as Vice President for four years. While serving on the State Board, Richard was involved in handling the State Trophy Awards and served as CLCA’s representative to the State Contractor’s License Board. He also worked on several committees, including serving as Chairman of the committee that handled the re-writing of C-27 licensing language. His committee got the license language through for the landscape contractor that other industries are very jealous of today. To add to his accomplishments, Richard was also part of a small group of contractors who met from different CLCA Chapters in Southern California to create a training manual, which was published by John Ewing in both Spanish and English, to quantify what an employee should know in all areas (ie: gardener, lead man, crew leader, supervisor, etc.). This manual served as a way to measure the employee in each category; outlining what they should know, what wage they should be paid, what they need to learn to get to the next category, etc.

Over the years, Richard has been awarded CLCA’s Regular Member of the Year (1982) and the highly-esteemed CLCA Allegiance Award (1998).

Still active in the Orange County Chapter of CLCA as Vice President of Legislation, Richard currently also serves on the State CLCA’s Legislation Committee and on the Immigration Task Force. Although his work and extra-curricular activities keep him busy, Richard always has time to enjoy his family, including grandchildren Austin and Kayla.