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To Whom It May Concern:

As a family-owned business with less than 8 employees, we already
face a plethora of hurdles struggling to stay afloat, especially in
the midst of a pandemic.  

Prices of materials and supplies are surging while our ability to
pass costs along to customers is diminishing; projects bid on are
no longer profitable just weeks later.  Unlicensed individuals and
large landscape companies are at an unfair advantage of reducing or
absorbing costs when bidding projects. The daily operations are
becoming too expensive to maintain when all we are trying to do is
keep our business open with integrity and hard work as the back
bone of our operations.  All we strive for is to contribute to our
community and make a living for our family and employees we view as
family.  Some days, it feels like one more hardship may just be the
final straw that puts us under.

With the mass circulation of information regarding the potential
ban on purchasing new gas-powered equipment as early as 2024, our
small business cannot help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread
and fear for the obstacles this ban would implicate.

As a commercial landscape provider, our staff meet onsite our yard
each morning to clock in.  From there, they embark on 8 hours
service routes ranging from 5 to 50 miles away from home base. 
During that time, even the simple task of finding a restroom to use
can be difficult.  With possible bans on new gas-powered equipment,
we now will need to figure out ways to charge all of our equipment,
while still remaining profitable, without causing an inconvenience
to our customers, and to do so with limited resources as the
technology that has been developed for the commercial landscape
industry is severely lacking. The availability of affordable
equipment that can hold charge long enough to support a full day of
use does not exist nor does the equipment necessary to charge that
equipment.

As a member of this community, we are not opposed to the need for
advancements, change, and taking direct responsibility towards
working as a "greener" company.  We instead are terrified of how to
continue operations during a time of already exponentially
increasing costs and dwindling profits while transitioning to a new
technology that just hasn't had the proper research and
development.

Ultimately, we are asking...begging... that additional time be
given and that additional resources be allocated towards the
development and expansion of "green" technology so that we can all
make this transition in a way that is efficient, affordable, and
supportive to everyone in our community.

We ask for fair and genuine consideration so that small businesses,
families of our community, can survive.

Respectfully, 

McKayla Benites