When you talk to families whose members work side by side in irrigation, you hear the same themes quickly: pride in craft, a shared sense of mission and the patient transfer of know-how from one generation to the next. You also hear something else: urgency. With contractors skewing older and demand for irrigation services rising, families are helping keep experience in the field while drawing in new talent.
Industry numbers underscore the moment. In Irrigation & Lighting’s 2025 Green Industry Outlook – Contractors, respondents are most often 50–59 years old (32%), and 60% are over 50 — more than all other age groups combined. Only 2% are under 30. At the same time, more contractors report 10 or fewer years of experience than last year (20% versus 15%), suggesting fresh entrants are sticking around. Demand is moving the right way, too: 44% say overall irrigation service demand increased this year, and 57% saw a bump for smart systems, with 71% expecting more growth ahead.
Against that backdrop, two family stories — different paths, similar values — show how working with relatives can accelerate learning, keep companies grounded and connect the trade to a bigger purpose.
‘An irrigation nerd having the sustainability conversation’
Ben Coffey, director of training at HydroPoint, didn’t inherit a shop. He built a career in irrigation from the ground up: technician for a school district, landscape business owner, commercial manager and, finally, a seat in the thick of smart water management.
“I was the first in my family to be an irrigation nerd,” Coffey says. “I got a job in college working as an irrigation tech for my local school district. … And then I owned my own landscape and install company after college. And I then managed irrigation commercially for a big company here in town. … In the last one, I got WeatherTRAK on my site and understood what it was doing, and it excited me so much that I said, ‘How do I work for you?'”
That curiosity led him into a role where the language is as much about outcomes as equipment. “They think of themselves as a sustainability company,” he says. “They think of themselves as a water management company and a solution company. And so I’m an irrigation nerd having this sustainability conversation and I love it … (being) in the middle of the smart controller conversation when it comes to how smart controllers play a role in the conversation about sustainability.”
For Coffey, the spark matters: “I think you have to be passionate or you have to be excited about something, or nobody else will. So, when you are leading a conversation, you lead with the good news, and you lead with excitement.”
Sitting beside him is his son, Spencer, a second-year student at Colorado State University majoring in watershed science and sustainability. Spencer describes himself as coming to irrigation through conservation: “Just like my dad is an irrigation nerd having the sustainability conversation, I see myself as more of a sustainability nerd having the irrigation conversation.”
And he’s crystal clear about why the work matters. “I am super passionate and super driven about building a better world for my kids and the generations of the future,” he says. “Getting to directly contribute to saving gallons for tomorrow and for the next decades and centuries … and get as many people excited about it as I can is super awesome.”
Spencer also loves the invisible craft of it: “I think the coolest part about it is that nobody knows that it’s there, right? I’m doing work that people, when it’s done really well, will never think about it, and when it’s done really poorly, people notice almost immediately.”
The Coffeys’ dynamic — experienced practitioner and purpose-driven student — is one way families are helping close the industry’s generation gap. It’s also a reminder that “sustainability” isn’t abstract. It’s the day-to-day discipline of metering, scheduling and commissioning systems so landscapes thrive without wasting water. According to the industry outlook survey, that’s exactly where the market is headed: Contractors report more demand for smart upgrades and expect another year of growth.
‘Build an equitable business I can pass down’
For Jamison and Hayden Hull of Conserva Irrigation, family and business intersected through franchising and a knack for hands-on work. Jamison spent years in corporate leadership roles before deciding it was time to build something of his own with a clear generational vision.
“I sat in my office and said, ‘Is this it?’ … I want to start my own company, build an equitable business that I can either pass down to the kids or sell eventually,” he says. “I knew I wanted to do something for myself and started to explore different home services businesses.”
The appeal wasn’t theoretical. He grew up building, wiring and fixing things — and kept doing it once he had his own home. “I just always worked with my hands and loved it. And everything that we’ve done in this house, I’ve taken on myself — everything from remodeling to bathrooms to finishing basements to anything else. So, home services was a great opportunity to jump in and utilize that skill and talent,” Jamison says.
Water conservation was also a driving force behind his decision. “My values on water conservation aligned with those of the franchise I purchased and heavily influenced my decision to open an irrigation business, especially since I live in and service such an environmentally conscious community,” he says.
That shared commitment extends into the daily work: “The ability to meet such a diverse set of clientele and have the opportunity to educate them and inform them on how they can help minimize wasted water and save our most precious natural resource is extremely rewarding.”
For Jamison’s son, Hayden, the work hits on both personal values and academic interests. “Knowing that I am making a difference in how people use water, and helping them fix the things that are wasting water on their property and reducing their water bill, makes me feel like I am helping them and the planet,” Hayden says. “Given that my major is human dimensions of natural resources, I feel like working in the irrigation industry supports what I am passionate about and allows me to learn about eco-friendly products that are available to conserve water.”
That practical foundation is valuable in irrigation, where companies wear many hats. Industry outlook survey respondents say they most often provide irrigation maintenance (94%), design and installation (88%), and smart upgrades (82%), with drainage and audits close behind — a mix that rewards operators who understand systems end to end and can coach crews through varied scopes.
For families, the advantage often shows up in small, everyday transfers: how to diagnose a low-flow alarm, when to move from a quick fix to a redesign, or how to talk with customers about water budgets and rebates. It’s the stuff that’s hard to learn from a manual and easier to absorb when you’re riding in the same truck.
Why family helps — and where it’s headed
If you ask these families why working together works, their answers sound a lot like good crew dynamics: trust, accountability and shared priorities.
Spencer’s one-word answer when asked where his energy comes from — “Dad” — says as much about mentorship as it does about family. Ben’s follow-through on enthusiasm sets a tone for leadership on any team: Bring energy, tell clear stories about value and make sustainability tangible.
On the business side, Jamison’s goal to create a transferable asset reflects a broader reality: With owners trending older, succession planning matters. Survey data shows the majority of respondents own or manage their company (65%), and respondents with 21–30 years of experience are the largest slice (26%), even as more newcomers enter. Firms that pair seasoned operators with developing talent — whether related or not — are better positioned to keep pace as demand ticks up.
Families can also help companies navigate where the work is going. Contractors report that water scarcity and conservation rebates are shaping demand — half say scarcity will create new opportunities, and 61% see rebates as a driver. Smart systems are a growing share of the conversation, not a niche.
All of this makes the case for structured knowledge transfer. When a parent and child (or siblings, spouses, cousins, etc.) work together, they can set up intentional cross-training: one day on audits and uniformity, the next on controller programming, then backflow testing or seasonal startups. Families often have the patience and communication shortcuts to make that training stick.
The intangible returns
There’s a human payoff here, too. For Spencer, it’s the satisfaction of helping communities thrive without wasting what they’ll need tomorrow. “I see water as one of the most important resources on Earth … getting to directly contribute to saving gallons for tomorrow and for the next decades and centuries … is super awesome,” he says.
For Ben, it’s getting to share that spark: “The stories that I get to tell are stories that I get excited about.”
For Jamison, it’s building something durable: “Build[ing] an equitable business that I can either pass down to the kids or sell eventually.”
In a trade where the best work is often invisible — no runoff in the gutter, no wilting turf, no angry call from the HOA — families are making the invisible more resilient. They’re carrying forward the craft, adapting it to new tools and expectations, and recruiting the next set of hands to keep it going.
And as the data reminds us, that continuity matters. The industry is seasoned, demand is rising, and smart water management is increasingly the job. Families aren’t the only answer, but they’re a powerful one — stitching experience to purpose, one workday (and sometimes one dinner table) at a time.
