Schill Promotes Three Executives as It Continues to Grow Organically

CLEVELAND, OHIO — MARCH 24, 2025 — Schill Grounds Management has promoted or hired three highly experienced professionals to senior leadership positions in the company as the Top 30 landscaping and snow & ice removal business deepens its executive bench and continues to grow organically and through acquisitions.

Jono Fries has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. He oversees optimization and standardization of processes, systems, and reporting to make them easier for employees to use while driving stronger and more predictable outcomes for the business.

Fries also helps guide the strategic vision and direction of the company, and has enhanced internal communications, peer-to-peer learning, and the cadence and effectiveness of meetings across the organization. A serial entrepreneur, Fries was formerly Chief Operating Officer at Grasscor, which Schill acquired in 2023 to expand in Cincinnati. Earlier in his career, Fries was Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Boca Restaurant Group, and he founded hospitality design firm Hermitage Creative Group.

Patrick Quinlan has been promoted to Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions as he continues to lead the company’s acquisition growth strategy. Quinlan joined Schill in 2022 as Corporate Development Manager and was later elevated to Director of Mergers & Acquisitions as he refined Schill’s strategy for prospect identification, due diligence, execution, integration, and post-closing performance tracking. Prior to joining Schill, Quinlan spent five years in sell-side investment banking at VRA Partners.

Michael Palmer has joined Schill as Vice President of Marketing. He leads brand positioning, performance marketing, sales enablement, and communications strategy to ensure cohesive messaging across all digital and traditional channels. Palmer is also a serial entrepreneur and was previously Head of Product & Brand Experience at Nerdy, Executive Director Brand Marketing at StrongArm, VP Brand Marketing at Everything But The House, Co-Founder and Owner of experiential marketing concept Oggo, and Marketing and Creative Director at Boca Restaurant Group.

Schill Founder and CEO Jerry Schill promoted the trio of senior leaders into these executive positions to deepen the leadership bench, scale resources, and economize and enhance efficiencies across the network as Schill grows through targeted organic expansion and intentional acquisition of privately owned landscape companies across the Great Lakes, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

“Jono, Patrick, and Palmer bring fresh thinking, creative and innovative ideas, and relentless passion for growing our business,” said Jerry Schill, who founded Schill Grounds Management more than 30 years ago. “Each of them will roll up their sleeves and get down into the trenches to find better ways to operate and execute. They are students of our business, and critical thinkers who enrich our outcomes and enhance our performance on a daily basis.”

Schill has completed 15 acquisitions since 2020 and created an “owner’s network” that allows former owners to remain involved in operating the business while providing resources, strategic direction, and sharing of best practices.

With 1,400 employees and a network of 30 branch locations in middle America to meet the needs of customers that have numerous locations, Schill now ranks as one of the Top 30 landscaping and snow & ice removal companies in the nation, according to data by Landscape Management magazine.

Schill continues to actively pursue additional acquisitions throughout the upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states as private owners of landscaping and ice and snow removal companies seek to bring on a strategic partner.

ABOUT SCHILL GROUNDS MANAGEMENT

Schill Grounds Management is a leading provider of year-round landscaping and snow and ice removal services for multi-family, retail, office, mixed-use, distribution centers, healthcare and industrial properties of all sizes located in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions. The Company, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, was founded in 1993 by Jerry Schill, who still serves as the Company’s President and CEO. Over the last three decades, Schill has grown to over 30 branches and services thousands of properties across Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia and Canada. To learn more, please visit schilllandscaping.com.

Media Contact:
Schill Landscape Collective
440-827-248