By THAD GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The symbolism of the moment and the task ahead of him is
not lost on Earl Gary.
“I think it’s very unique, the odds of me getting in a position like this,” Gary
said. “I’m really grateful to be given this opportunity to perform with all of
the history that comes with it.”
Gary’s YME Landscape, a Black-owned Richmond company, has been chosen to
revitalize the circle on Monument and North Allen avenues where the Robert E.
Lee statue once stood. His company’s involvement in the project marks another
symbol in the lessening of the city’s Confederate presence with a Black crew
working to reimagine the space once inhabited by the general.
The controversial bronze statue was taken down in 2021, after activists called
for its removal in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The empty pedestal was
leveled in February 2022. The statue was transferred to the Black History Museum
& Cultural Center of Virginia.
YME and the Department of Public Works recently began site work at the circle.
The plan calls for the grounds of the former monument to be spruced up with 6,
000 plants and 28 trees.
“I’ve been doing landscaping for a long time, but I don’t think I had too many
jobs where I had to plant 6,000 plants,” Gary said.
The city approved the temporary landscaping plan in September to revitalize the
empty space until a long-term solution is reached.
Prior to starting YME in 2007, Gary, 47, had an engineering background,
graduating with an electrical engineering technology degree from Old Dominion
and working on industrial projects and energy audits for such places as UPS,
Courtyard by Marriott and the Minnesota Air National Guard.
But Gary wanted to start his own firm due to the uphill climb of finding job
opportunities and receiving promotions.
A lot of times when I was working in engineering, I was pretty much the only
minority working there,” he said. “I learned really quickly, ‘Am I ever going to
get that junior executive position or senior executive position?’ I’m not saying
I couldn’t, but the landscape didn’t look the same to me as someone that’s not
in the minority.”
Gary saw similar things with his grandfather and father while growing up in
Richmond, as they worked at Allied Signal and Honeywell, former names of what is
now AdvanSix. They were often the only minorities on their teams.
After Gary met a Black electrical engineer who worked with his dad, he gained
interest in doing that line of work. Gary also developed a vision of creating
space for more minority engineers.
“I got to see that lineage, and I’m like, ‘Well, I’m gonna take what I saw and
maybe try to transfer it a little bit differently in this generation,'” he said.
“Instead of me being that only minority in that function, maybe I can create a
minority function.”
Gary established YME partly due to his interest in landscaping, but also as a
way to raise money to further his engineering career.
“My granddad, he always worked on lawn mowers, stuff like that, so I knew how to
cut grass,” Gary said. “I just figured if I can get enough landscaping work, I
probably can build my own engineering firm.”
Gary eventually got his own firm, founding Fulcrum Engineering Solutions more
than six years ago. The company’s civil engineers prepare sites for construction
and development.
Gary said it’s important to have more Black and minority-owned businesses,
particularly in cities like Richmond that are majority-minority.
“I think it’s really important,” he said. “I think a lot of the Black-owned
businesses we do have, it takes awhile for them to be more of a corporation. I
don’t want to say they’re all sole proprietors, but they often end up being the
main person working the entire time until they get to retirement; if somebody
doesn’t take it over, then it’s one-dimensional.”
As YME begins the early stages of working on the landscaping plan, Gary hopes
the work will be completed by mid- to late July.
Second District City Council member Katherine Jordan said the fencing and
barriers surrounding the former Lee Circle will not be removed until the project
is completed to ensure staff safety.
Brothers Alfred Brown Jr. and Alex Brown are working at YME for the summer while
attending Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University,
respectively. Both say the project is a good opportunity to create a nice visual
space for Richmonders.
“It’s nice to be able to turn it into something everyone can enjoy,” Alfred
Brown Jr. said. “It won’t be just patch and dirt when we’re done. We’re just
happy to help out with changing the city environment.”
