When Jacob Kitchner was growing up in Westport, a good friend died by suicide. He had always wanted to be an Eagle Scout. Jacob vowed to earn that rank, in his friend’s honor.
As a Staples High School senior, he achieved his goal.
That same year, shortly before Christmas, Jacob’s older brother Brian Anderson was killed in an automobile accident. Jacob pledged he would do something that would have made Brian proud.
Two months before graduation ceremonies in 2019 — with his Staples degree in hand — Jacob enlisted in the US Army. He served as a military police officer. Four years later, he’s in the Army National Guard.
Jacob Kitchner
Jacob — a football, wrestling, ice hockey and rugby athlete at Staples, and who played euphonium in the Staples and Western Regionals band (his father Lou Kitchner is the very popular band director at Bedford Middle School) — has led a life that surely honors his brother and friend.
In addition to his National Guard service, he now has 2 full-time jobs. He’s a front-of-the-house team member at Tacombi, the new Post Road taqueria.
He has a 4.0 and has been invited to the National Honor Society at American Military University, where he is studying criminal justice on a pre-law track.
In addition Jacob has his own landscaping business, which he started from — well, the ground up.
Jacob got experience with a company in Bridgeport. “It was very hands-on,” he says. “I could really see the results of my work. There was immediate gratification.”
He learned as much as he could, and researched how to start a business.
A man from a Scag Mowers dealership mentored him on equipment: what to buy new, what to look for used.
When Jacob was searching for a truck the Farahona family brought him home, fed him dinner, and gave advice on starting an LLC.
Jacob Kitchner, with his truck …
With a credit union loan he bought commercial mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, and equipment for mulching, weed control, pruning, waste disposal and more.
At 22 years old, he was a business owner.
But Operations Lawns Landscaping is more than just a business to Jacob.
“It’s run by an American soldier. That means there’s fast response time, and a high level of responsibility,” he explains.
He posts his values on his website: duty, loyalty, respect, honor and integrity. He is dedicated to “finishing every mission” the right way, he says.
“Being a soldier is about a lot more than serving,” Jacob notes. “It’s fulfilling every task, the right way. I won’t leave a property until everything is A-OK.”
… and spreading hay.
At his very first job, his lawnmower broke. Jacob apologized, went to Home Depot, spent $600 on a new machine, then returned to finish the job.
“There’s a saying in the military: ‘We will square you away,” Jacob says. “It means ‘making everything right.’
“That’s my saying too. Your lawn is like a square. I’ll square it away for you.”
(To learn more about Jacob Kitchner’s Operation Lawns Landscaping, click here.)
