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Melissa Mixon 6 | July 2009 Community Impact Newspaper • Northwest Austin Edition Business Profile North Oaks Country Child Development Center Patty and Larry Sproul, owners of the North Oaks Country Child Development Center By Melissa Mixon Every weekday between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., a small miracle happens at the North Oaks Country Child Development Center in northwest Austin. The staff there is able to get up to 15 5 year olds — all together in one big, cozy room — to take a nap. “It’s pretty amazing,” Larry Sproul, co-owner of the center, said in a whisper while looking in on the sleeping children. Patty Sproul, Larry’s wife and the director of the center, said the trick is turning off the lights, playing soothing children’s music and rubbing the children’s backs if they cannot get to sleep. It is this personal touch, along with always having Patty at the door to greet children in the morning, that has been making their almost 28-year-old business a “home away from home” for the hundreds of children who have gone there for day care. “We’ve tried to create a loving and safe place where a child can grow,” Patty said. The Sprouls started the center with another couple almost three decades ago, after Larry retired from the military and the family moved to Austin from Oklahoma. While in Oklahoma, Patty had worked at a day care and loved the work. When she and Larry got to Texas with New Office Policy: LIGHTS OUT@ 5Pm! their four high school-aged children, Patty tried working at a day care again, but she said that it just did not feel right. “It wasn’t what I felt it should be, so I thought, ‘Hey, we can do this,’” Patty said. The two couples started the center in a little house on Spicewood Springs Road that opened with only eight children. Not long after, however, interest in the day care increased. The center outgrew the house and moved to its current location. The new location, owned only by the Sprouls, is larger than the original and has six classrooms and several different playgrounds that are each equipped with age-appropriate toys and play equipment. Classrooms in the center are colorful, and hallways are decorated with painted animals and cartoon characters. The day care is open to children ages 18 months to 12 years old. While there, students are separated based on age groups and learn everything from their home address to how to tie their shoes or what to do if a stranger approaches. Patty and Larry said the most rewarding part of their job is helping children grow and develop. The saddest part, however, is when children get older and no longer need to come to the center. “They become your family,” Larry said. Still, many former students bring their own children to the Sprouls’ center once North Oaks Country Child Development Center 8830 Cainwood Lane • 250-5117 www.northoakscountry.com There has got to be a better way to economize. Economize around the office without going to extremes with Time Warner Cable Business Class. Get a free evaluation from one of our local account reps. Then enjoy Internet, Phone and Cable TV solutions tailored for your business and budget. That way, you pay only for what you need. Sign up for a Business Class bundle today and take up to 42% off our standard rates! * Act by July 31, 2009. Call today for a FREE evaluation. 1-866-797-7249 or visit www.twcbc.com/tx they get older and start families. Each time a former student comes in, they try to identify themselves in the hundreds of photos that hang in the day care. The photos date back to their first classes almost 30 years ago. Patty and Larry said they plan to run the center as long as they can. “What other job can you do where a child runs up to you, gives you a big hug and says that they love you and they mean it?” Patty said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.” Another year Larry and Patty Sproul will celebrate 28 years of their northwest Austin day care facility, North Oaks Country Child Development Center, Aug. 1. *Offer applies for new Business Class customers who subscribe to a minimum three-year term agreement. Savings of 42% is based on the Time Warner Cable Business Class three-year Texas bundled pricing (15 x 2 data service and 3 lines of Business Class Phone) versus the TWCBC standard month-to-month pricing for the same levels of service. Savings amount varies for other bundled packages. Excludes applicable taxes and fees, installation charges, and construction costs. Early termination fee may apply. Offer not transferable and may not be combined with any other offer. Business Class Phone does not include back-up power and should there be a power outage, Business Class Phone, including the ability to access 911 services, may not be available. Additional charges apply for taxes, fees, Directory Assistance, Operator Services and calls to International locations. Actual speeds may vary. Offer ends 07/31/09. After promotional period regular monthly rates in effect at that time will apply. Products and services not available in all areas. Some restrictions apply. © 2009 Time Warner Cable. All rights reserved. N Broadmeade Ave. Black Oak St. Cainwood Ln. Anderson Mill Rd.
Clean Scapes Business Profile Clean Scapes Clean Scapes employees Jay Grona and George LIndenberg with co-owner Ivan Giraldo By Mark Collins From pushing a lawnmower to maintaining the Texas State Capitol building’s front yard to managing an entire company, Clean Scapes co-founder Ivan Giraldo has done it all. Clean Scapes is a commercial landscape company that has designed and constructed notable landscape projects like The Domain and South Park Meadows, in addition to performing maintenance and renovation on many buildings’ landscapes throughout the city, including the capitol. “I have worked at every level at several different landscape companies, so I see things from all the different perspectives,” Giraldo said. “Even now I don’t mind mowing lawns. I like being able to help out and pass on what I’ve learned through the years to my co-workers.” A Columbian native, Giraldo got his start mowing lawns in Miami in 1994 when he moved to the U.S. to start a residential lawn care company with his brothers. He credits his time in the field for much of the lawn care expertise he has now. Several years later he moved to Arlington to work as a warehouse manager for a landscaping company and met his wife, who is a native Texan. The couple returned to Miami briefly in the mid-2000s, but it wasn’t long before they returned to Texas. “I realized I was not going to learn any English in Miami,” Giraldo said. “My wife said, ‘We’re going back to Texas,’ and we both decided that Texas had always been a place with great memories.” Giraldo founded Clean Scapes in June 2005 with his business partner, Rex Gore, who he had worked with previously at other lawn care companies. When the company first started operating, it had only seven employees. Now Clean Scapes services properties from Georgetown to San Antonio and employs more than 200 people in peak season. Courtesy Clean Scapes Giraldo said the business partners chose to focus on commercial properties because that is where their expertise is, but that they are open to the idea of offering residential service in the future. He credits much of Clean Scapes’ success to the company’s mantra of exceeding expectations. “I like to think our company helped beautify the city, and we take a lot of pride in that,” Giraldo said. “We want to keep Austin as beautiful as possible.” Environmental updating While Clean Scapes is doing its part to make Mother Nature look good, the company also makes a point to take care of the environment. Clean Scapes recently went through the process of converting its gas-powered mowers to propane ones. Propane mowers run on cleaner fuel, do not produce as many harmful emissions and decrease fuel costs. “Our goal is to do as much as we can to have the least effect on the environment,” owner Ivan Giraldo said. Clean Scapes’ propane-powered mower in action N McNeil Dr. 183 Jekel Cir. Pecan St. Clean Scapes 12136 Pecan St. 448-1094 • www.cleanscapes.net Technology Blvd. OF THE WE SERVICE ALL BRANDS 715 Discovery #508, Cedar Park TX • TACLA018410E Formerly AC Depot - Same Owners - Same Excellent Service impactnews.com July 2009 | 7 Cedar Park Jewelry Custom Jewelry for 30 Years WE BUY: • GOLD • DIAMONDS • SILVER • PLATINUM • ROLEX’S • COINS Y C • Ring Cleaning • Watch Battery • • Appraisal • Watch Link Removed • • Ring size (up/down 1 size) • Chain solder • Expires 8/28/09 512.259.9430 • CedarParkJewelry.com • 601 E Whitestone Blvd., Ste. 112 Your Local Air Conditioning and Heating Specialist Get up to $3000 in cash rebates and tax credits www.AriseHVAC.com www.Ar 260-0160 COMMITMENT RELIABILITY SATISFACTION Comfort Specialist TM
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