Young Twin Cities Landscaping Company Gives Back to Local High School

Elevate Lawns owner returns to his former high school, this time to give back to the teachers and staff who once supported him.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A young Twin Cities business owner returned to his former high school this week, but this time, he wasn’t walking through the doors as a student.

Abdi Ismael, owner of local landscaping company Elevate Lawns, returned to Washburn High School alongside his team to give back to the teachers and staff who serve students every day.

Not too long ago, Ismael was a student walking those same hallways. Now, he’s building a growing landscaping company and looking for ways to use that growth to support the community around him.

“As our business has grown, I’ve started thinking differently about where we spend our money,” Ismael said. “Instead of putting every extra dollar into advertising with huge corporations like Facebook and Google, we want to keep more of that money here in our community.”

A Different Approach to Growing a Business

For Elevate Lawns, the visit to Washburn is part of a larger effort to recognize the people who often work behind the scenes to keep local communities moving.

Teachers, first responders, postal workers, healthcare professionals and other community members are among the groups the company hopes to recognize as it continues to grow.

But Ismael says the bigger goal goes beyond what one company can do.

He hopes other small businesses will see the impact they can make and find their own ways to give back.

The idea is simple: communities support local businesses, those businesses grow, and then they reinvest some of that success back into the people who helped make it possible.

If more businesses take part, Ismael believes that cycle can continue to grow.

Remembering Where It Started

Elevate Lawns is still a young company, and Ismael says there is plenty of work ahead. But as the business grows, he wants community involvement to remain part of its identity.

For him, returning to Washburn High School was a reminder of just how much can change in a short amount of time.

Once a student walking the halls, he returned as a business owner with the opportunity to thank some of the people helping prepare the next generation.

“Elevate Lawns will always be a landscaping company, but I want it to stand for something bigger than landscaping,” Ismael said. “I want us to remember where our opportunities came from and always find ways to give something back.”

Elevate Lawns thanked Washburn High School for welcoming the team back and the teachers and staff for the work they continue to do for students and families.

For this young local company, the message is simple: keep more dollars local, support the people who support the community, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.