(Plainfield, Ill.)--- Spring-Green Lawn Care, a recognized leader in the professional lawn and tree care industry, ranks as one of the top 500 franchise systems in the U.S. according to the January 2010 issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

Spring-Green was ranked 419th overall in this year’s Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500®, an improvement over last year’s 446th ranking.

Last year consumers clearly spent less on discretionary services but Spring-Green was able to grow more than just green grass. “We focused heavily on execution and it really paid off. Moving up nearly 30 positions in the ranking is an accomplishment we’re very proud of. We are optimistic about the availability of credit for new franchise owners and look forward to ramping back up our new franchise sale growth and taking a few more spots in the ranking.”

Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500® became a tradition with the magazine in 1980 when they created the first ranking of franchises in the industry. Over the years, the magazine has polished their ranking procedure to give them a formula that accurately identifies today’s top franchise opportunities.

The ranking criteria includes the following important factors: financial strength and stability, growth rate, size of the system, number of years in business, length of time franchising, start-up cost, litigation, percentage of terminations and whether the company provides financing. The magazine partnered with an independent CPA firm, which audited financial data from the franchises.