Contact: Phil Hearn
Student entrepreneur Dustin Bailey (r) is congratulated by MSU's Gerald Nelson.
Dustin Bailey believes a lot of people are looking for a touch of heaven in their own backyard and--for a fee--he's more than willing to help them follow that dream.
The 25-year-old Mississippi State student from Jackson is the owner-operator of Aquascape Water Features, a home-grown business he promotes as "Mississippi's leading water garden design and construction team" on his company Web site: http://www.aquascapewaterfeatures.com .
A unique idea he put into action, Aquascape has earned Bailey a first-place award and $500 in the 2004 Business Plan Competition, a part of the Jack Hatcher Engineering Entrepreneurship Program sponsored by the university's Bagley College of Engineering. The annual student challenge is judged by members of the college Dean's Development Council and local entrepreneurs.
"The business plan projects were extremely well done this year," said Gerald Nelson, director of the entrepreneurship certificate program and holder of the Jack Hatcher Chair (endowed professorship). "Dustin is already in business in the Jackson area."
At prices averaging from $6,000 to $8,000, Bailey and his Hinds County-based crew of landscape technicians install ecologically viable systems of cascading waterfalls, gurgling streams and scenic ponds--complete with boulders, water lilies and other features. Just add fish to create a "piece of paradise" in any backyard.
Bailey said one residential customer paid $35,000 for a system that provides an even-more sophisticated network of interconnecting water flows.
"We create an all-natural ecosystem just like mother nature," said the robust electrical engineering major. "It looks like God provided the water feature and the owner just decided to build a house next to it."
The systems feature a variety of pond kits, mechanical and biological filters, pumps, liners, natural algae control additives and related equipment to meet individual consumer demands and keep everything working smoothly year-round. Also on the plus side, the systems are quickly installed.
"We show up in the morning when people are leaving for work and when they get home about 5 p.m., it's done," said Bailey, who is marketing his business statewide. "The yard isn't torn up for a week and a half. People are amazed, floored and speechless."
Although Bailey has operated a landscape maintenance and equipment business since age 15 with his father, Gary, it was only a couple of years ago that he recognized a "niche in the Mississippi market for a company devoted to water gardening and building water features."
So, with financial help from his dad and mother, Zelda, he launched Aquascape. Gary Bailey, a self-employed contractor and builder, helps run the business that employs a crew of about a half-dozen landscape technicians. Dustin joins them on weekends and during summers.
"There are a lot of 80- and 90-hour weeks," he said with a laugh.
Bailey said he plans to enter law school after completing a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering next December. "I'd like to use my engineering degree and become a patent attorney," he added.
"This year's presentations raised the bar for the future and I am optimistic about the students coming along in the program," Gerald Nelson said. The seven certificate graduates this spring will raise the total number of graduates to 15 since the program's inception, he added.
JACKSON EDITORS: The Baileys' residential ZIP code is 39212.