I think we need to come back to reality with this Billion Dollar article. To begin with it's only someone blog and he is using the article so he can sell his Lawn Care Business guide and software package. Below is where all the money goes.
As defined in this study, the five sectors comprising the U.S. turf-grass industry in 2002 generated total output (revenue) impacts of $57.9 billion (Bn), employment impacts of 822,849 jobs, value added impacts of $35.1 Bn, labor income of $23.0 Bn, and $2.4 Bn in indirect business taxes to local and state governments. If these values are expressed in 2005 dollars, the total output impact was $62.2 Bn and the total value added impact was $37.7 Bn. The value added impact represents total personal and business net income.
Among individual sectors, sod producers created nearly $1.8 Bn in output impacts, $1.3 Bn in value added, and 17,028 jobs. Lawn equipment manufacturers contributed $8.0 Bn in output, $2.5 Bn in value added, and supported nearly 34,000 jobs. The lawn care goods retailing sector produced $9.1 Bn in output impacts, contributed $5.8 Bn in value added, and sustained 114,294 jobs. The lawncare services sector generated nearly $19.8 Bn in output impacts, $13.3 Bn in value added, and 295,841 jobs. Golf courses had $23.3 Bn in output impacts, $14.5 Bn in value added, and 361,690 jobs.
Economic impacts were summarized for individual states and seven geographic regions of the United States, with the turf grass and lawn care industry having significant activity in all areas of the United States. The top ten individual states in terms of employment impacts were California (101,022 jobs), Florida (83,944), Texas (52,784), Ohio (33,154), Illinois (31,625), Pennsylvania (30,845), North Carolina (28,860), Georgia (27,327), South Carolina (25,083), and New York (23,965). Regionally, the Southeast was the largest in terms of employment impacts (197,711 jobs), followed by the East-Central (159,358), Western Coastal (130,862), South-Central (112,284), North-Central (100,738), Western-Interior (64,226), and Northeast (57,671).