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Contact: Sherry MacDonald
Phone: (703) 736-9666
E-mail: sherrymacdonald@landcarenetwork.org

Contact: Kathy Wemhoff
Phone: (703) 736-9666
E-mail: kathywemhoff@landcarenetwork.org              

For Immediate Release

KURT KLUZNIK RECEIVES LEADERSHIP AWARD

HERNDON, Va., February 10, 2006 — The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) recently announced that Kurt Kluznik, CCLP, president of Yardmaster, Inc., was presented with PLANET’s 2006 Lifetime Leadership Award. The award was presented in February at the Executive Forum held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

PLANET’s Lifetime Leadership Award is presented annually to a member of the association who has demonstrated leadership, service, and commitment and who has made contributions to both PLANET and the landscape industry. In presenting the award, Debra Holder, former CEO of PLANET and the 2005 Lifetime Leadership Award recipient, said Kluznik has been instrumental in several key initiatives and partnerships, including the merger between the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), as well as the partnership of OSHA with ALCA.

Kluznik grew up in a “mom and pop” nursery business in Cleveland, Ohio. He worked in his parents’ nursery and started his own landscape business in 1971 — a business he has built with his partner, Rick Colwell to include four locations and more than 250 employees. Today, Yardmaster, Inc., is one of the largest landscape design companies in the country and has won countless awards.

Kluznik joined ALCA in 1979 and influenced nearly all of the organization’s initiatives. He has participated in FFA conferences to bring information to future green industry leaders and been a committed participant in PLANET’s Crystal Ball meetings, which provide a look into the future of the green industry.

In 1994, Kluznik joined the ALCA Certification Board of Governors, now the International Certification Council, and soon became chairman, a position he served for three years. He also holds the Certified Landscape Professional (CCLP) designation, which means he was in the very first test group to take the test. Additionally, Kluznik was ALCA’s last president during 2004, before it merged with PLCAA.

Active in PLANET, Kluznik has served on its board of directors, Education Committee, Recruiting Committee, and the Exterior Landscape Council. He also is an ALCA Educational Foundation contributor and a 2006 PLANET Trailblazer, an elite group of dedicated professionals who were nominated by their peers for making significant and long-term contributions to the green industry in the areas of design/build/installation, interior plantscaping, landscape management, and lawn care. Trailblazers set aside one day per year to provide on-site mentoring to another PLANET member.

Kluznik’s commitment to the green industry extends beyond PLANET as well. He also has been dedicated to a number of green industry and professional organizations, such as the Ohio Landscape Association, Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, American Nursery and Landscape Association, and Society for Marketing Professional Services. Additionally, Kluznik is an Ohio Certified Nursery Technician and a registered landscape architect.

PLANET represents approximately 4,300 green industry service provider companies and suppliers nationwide that specialize in design/build/installation, interior plantscaping, landscape management, and lawn care. These firms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals.