Keith J. Frederick, President of ELA and an associate Jonathan Magee started ELA in 1989 while attending Delaware Valley College. At age 15 Keith began working for a local landscape nursery, he enjoyed the outdoors and physical activity of the industry a great deal and decided to make a career out of it. Upon graduation from P.H.S. in Perkasie in 1986 he enrolled as a freshman at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA the following fall. In 1987 at age 19 Keith began installing landscapes as a self-employed contractor. He recalls, “My first job" was a complete property renovation located in Willow Grove, PA. A friend of a friend was gracious enough to allow me to design and invoice as I worked on different sections of her one-acre property. The home was a 1940's development home in which the property had been let go for some time. Like most projects, it started out as a smaller clean up job and developed into much more. I remember not being able to afford a pick up truck so my parents allowedme to borrow the family truckster, a 1978 Chevy Suburban, a single homemade trailer from my uncle and a few of my Dad’s hand tools. I rented a small Kubota tractor, hired friends and subcontractors as needed, and I was in business. The job took me approximately 3 months to complete, doing most of the work myself, and the cost of the project was approximately $20,000.00. The profits from the job allowed me to buy a used 1978 F-250 pick up, a few hand tools, and contribute to my education costs at Delaware Valley College. I remember going back to college that fall being tired and wornout but feeling financially secure. My roommate would tease me by asking how many jobs I did that past summer, I responded, "Well, I got this one job”. Following that first summer Keith continued to work part time while attending Delaware Valley College. In 1989 Keith began working with Jonathan Magee and formed Environmental Landscape Associates. Keith graduated with honors in the May of 1990 and incorporated ELA in June 1990. Currently the company has grown to astronomical proportions since its beginnings. Keith J. Frederick is still the President and CEO of the corporation and maintains his “hands on approach” to the management of nearly 50 employees. The company currently is divided into four main divisions: Residential Landscape, Commercial Landscape, Excavating, and Large Tree Planting and Transplanting. The company’s annual sales typically exceed the $3 million dollar range.