Mike Schrader discovered that a desk job was not the thing for him. He came home to help his father in his landscaping business and he never left. Mike eventually took over his father’s business.

Back when Mike Schrader graduated from United South Central High School he wasn’t planning on coming home and working for his father’s lawn mowing business. And he certainly hadn’t planned on taking over ownership of the business and expanding it.

But, plans change.

“I graduated from USC and went to Minnesota State – Mankato,” Mike says. “I got my accounting degree and I got a job as an intern one summer. I sat inside and was bored. I learned that sitting behind a desk all day wasn’t for me.”

Fortunately his father, Arnie, said there was room for his son to come back and work.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

“I came back, I liked it and I stayed,” Mike shares. “When I was in high school I used to take care of the golf course. So I had some experience.”

His father had actually started a lawn mowing business in 1998.

“I guess I officially began working for the business in 2007,” Mike comments. “Unofficially, I’ve been working for it since I was 10.”

That business is now called Schrader Enterprises – Lawn and Landscape Inc.

“I started the landscaping part of the business when I came home from college,” Mike notes. “We do everything from seeding, to laying down sod and building patios and retaining walls. I enjoy the variety that my job provides me.”

But, at the current moment, it’s all about getting ready for lawn care.

“Anytime from April 1 to April 15 is when we start getting busy with the lawns,” Mike says. “It seems to be getting earlier every year.”

Spring lawn care can encompass any number of activities from applying fertilizer to dethatching, and yes, picking up sticks.

“If it is a lawn we are taking care of, we pick up the sticks too,” Mike mentions. “We also will do some light chainsawing if necessary, but we stay away from the big tree projects.”

During the busiest time of the year, Mike may have as many as 10-12 employees working for him, not counting his father, who will also help him out however he can.

“I have four full-time employees and three to four part timers who return every year,” he explains. “I also will employ three to four high school kids during the summer.”

There are five zero-turn lawn mowers which are kept in use by his employees.

“Four of them have a 60-inch cut and the fifth one cuts a 72-inch swath,” Mike says. “People ask me all the time about what kind of mower they should buy. We happen to own Exmarks, but it is really a personal preference for an individual and what they like. All of the brands are pretty good.”

Mike also has a dedicated machine which can apply a dry or wet product to someone’s lawn. He also has two John Deere garden tractors that he will utilize for spraying jobs.

“The landscaping business starts taking off once we have the lawn stuff under control,” he remarks. “My main job is as the manager. I keep everyone going and busy. From time to time I will operate a sprayer or help with the landscaping. It’s actually a real treat if I ever get to run one of the lawn mowers.”i

The work for Mike and his employees doesn’t end when the grass stops growing in late fall and it gets to cold to do landscape work. In fact, when the snow flies, Mike and his full-time employees stay busy cleaning up the white stuff.

“We have two pickups we put plows on,” he notes. “We also have a skid loader, a small tractor with a loader and a small tracktor with a snow blower that we will use to clean up the snow.”

His business also acquired a grave digging business so that is another form of revenue and work for his company.

Geedee Feist is the office manager for Schrader Enterprises – Lawn and Landscape Inc. and Bill Matz is employee with the most experience.

“Bill has worked for the business since 2002, which is before I purchased the business from my dad,” Mike says. “And my mom, Marlene, used to help out in the office so with my dad doing the outside work, it really did begin as a family business.”

And it is a business that Mike enjoys operating.

“I love talking with people and working with them and helping them,” he states.

He also loves the flexibility his job provides him. That’s important since Mike is involved in a number of organizations. In fact, in 2022, he was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award by the Wells Chamber of Commerce who recognized the Wells native as a devoted member of the community.

Upon receiving the award, Mike said, “I was born and raised here, so I do know everybody. There are always good people who deserve the award just as much, if not more, than me. It’s easy to say ‘yes’ to stuff when you have good people to work with”

“Mike currently serves as the chairman of the USC School Board and is on the Southern Plains School Board, he has served as the co-chair of the Kernel Days committee, has been the president of the USC Education Foundation and is a member of the Wells Ambulance Service.

Mike says none of what he does would be possible without his wife, Anna.

“She’s the one that takes care of things on the homefront,” Mike declares. “None of what I do would be possible without her.”

Mike and Anna have three children, twin boys Mason and Carter who are 18 and will graduate from high school this year and a 12-year-old daughter named Peyton.

“Besides everything else she does for the family, Anna works for Dr. Grandgenett in Blue Earth,” Mike adds.

Regarding the future of his business, Mike shares he really doesn’t know what will happen. “One of my boys has expressed an interest in taking classes to learn how to manage a business, so who knows, maybe he will come back and take over, Mike comments. “We’ve been at our current location between Casey’s and the DQ going on 12 years now. When we moved from our old location where the new liquor store was, we built the shed we are in and now we wish it was even larger. You just never know about some things.”

But Mike does know he made the right choice when he came back home and took over the business from his father.

“Yeah, there’s no question I’m happier being outside,” he concludes.