Ancram, NY-based Four Silos Management LLC., was founded in 2020 by Mason Berlinghoff, and has since served Northern Dutchess, Columbia County, and surrounding areas. They focus on creating a refined product using their specialized equipment. They pride themselves on being efficient and ecologically oriented land stewards.

Their approach centers around forestry and excavation that starts with design. They enjoy living and working outside to create their clients’ own oasis. They focus on using the most efficient equipment and practices while also taking ecological impact very seriously.

Soon after the pandemic hit, Mason had a decision to make regarding college but ultimately decided that investing in school wouldn’t afford him the experiences that he desired. That’s when he decided to invest in machinery and to start his own company. 

Mason partnered with his mother, Viviann Berlinghoff who had her own landscaping business where she’d been working on both landscape designs and installations but with limited capacity. Combining forces, they were now able to offer both landscape design and complete installation. 

Valuable lessons learned and the growth of the business

Viviann explained that when they started, getting out there and trying new installations and projects as well as growing their portfolio became their biggest challenge. 

But as Mason further invested in specialized machinery, he became less reliant on outside labor, which reduced his labor load and afforded him more flexibility because he could do more himself. They explained that made a big difference, especially with the labor shortages that we’ve all been faced with.

In the past four years, Mason has grown his business both in regards to machinery and projects that he’s undertaken, but he’s also had to hire one full-time employee as well as a part-time employee. “Being able to have employees that are ambitious creates more productivity,” Viviann shared. 

Mason has been diligently working to educate consumers about the type of work that he does and the importance of land and forest management. Word-of-mouth has played an important role in the growth of his business as has his potential and existing clients seeing his finished projects. 

Paying it forward

The mother-son duo have learned a lot, and when it comes to passing along some of the wisdom they’ve gained Viviann shared, “Really look around and see what businesses around you are doing as well as what consumers want. Try to look ahead at possible trends and how they could impact your business plans. And perhaps one of the most important things is to not over-invest. We’re lucky that we don’t have a lot of debt as that takes a lot of pressure off the day-to-day business operations. But we’d advise any business to try to grow with as little debt as possible and again, don’t over invest.”

When looking around at businesses in our region, and specifically in the landscape realm, they’ve seen a shift explaining that people are more hands-on now, especially post-COVID, and they want to be out in their gardens, whether it be vegetable, herb or other. “This has been a definite shift and is a new trend. So to be able to educate consumers and homeowners has been amazing. As a result, we’re better able to educate our clients, and they are more involved in the ecosystems and landscapes that we create for them.”

They shared that seeing more and more young people striking out in business and doing well has been very positive and encouraging. Viviann went on to explain that we could all benefit from having some sort of unification of young entrepreneurs such as a group or meetups where everyone could help other fellow young entrepreneurs, for example, with suggestions on software or further education courses, or to tell them what’s working for them and what’s not. Viviann said that she thinks that we could all benefit from more of a supportive atmosphere. But explained that it’s been incredible to see so many young people taking risks. •

Four Silos Land Management is online at foursilosllc.com.