Quality Land Management, Inc. was founded in the fall of 1992 by Dean Higbee. Upon completion of his education from Middle Tennessee State University with a major in Business Administration, Dean decided to retire from his collegiate profession as a bartender and pursue a business venture of his own. With $150.00 of tip money he went to a local pawnbroker and purchased his first piece of equipment, a Snapper leaf blower (very used). It was Fall leaf season and Dean's goal was to provide the service of leaf removal to anyone that was willing to pay.

The hunger for success was strong and all that Winter Dean persistently called on businesses and residential homes daily. In the Spring of 1993 he signed his first annual contract with Hardee's Food Systems to maintain nine locations in Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee. Now it was time to buy a truck and mowing equipment. Being fresh out of college and self-employed this was no easy task, so with a loan from his Dad (8% interest $2,500.00) his workers were not the sharpest mowing crew in town.

Job performance, honesty, and persistence made business soar. Quality Land Management still has their first customer Hardee's (441 locations), and now 200 plus commercial and residential properties. With the help of great personnel such as Todd Foote (college roommate and Vice President of the company) employed since 1995, and many other loyal people (30-45), we have become one of the most recognized names in the Middle Tennessee area.

In the fall of 1993 the next best thing that could happen, did. SouthBranch Nursery Co.--there was an old garden center location that had been closed down for years. Dean partnered with college friend Joe Tacker (both opting for loans from family members to total $5,000.00) and purchased the center. They cleaned up the place and opened for business with a pile of mulch and twenty pots of mums. With a 1958 David Brown tractor, complete with loader, and a 1978 model dump truck, they sold and delivered mulch to homes and businesses throughout the county. Today South Branch Nursery stocks over three hundred varieties of plants or trees and all the necessary supplies for landscaping. After eight great years of growth, success, and tremendous effort, Dean purchased his partner's share of the business and combined it with Quality Land Management to run as a single business entity.