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Student Career Days - April 8 - 11, 2010 Many of the country’s best and brightest green industry students gathered at Chattahoochee Technical College in Atlanta, Georgia, April 8–11, 2010, to compete in the 34th Annual Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Student Career Days (SCD). “This is a great event for our students and they [were] excited,” said Phil Allen, Ph.D., Landscape Industry Certified Manager, Brigham Young University – Provo professor, who brought 37 students to compete and to look for career opportunities. “Even with finals next week, they are focused on competing, opening doors, and talking to as many industry people as possible,” he said.  A total of 883 students from 68 colleges, including a team from Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and one from Bridgwater College, Bridgwater, England (making this year’s event truly international), and two FFA high school teams (for a total of 883 students) participated in 28 individual and team competitions. Tree climbing, paver installation, wood construction, plant identification, sales presentation, exterior/interior design, irrigation troubleshooting, skid steer, and the newest events to showcase this year — 3D Exterior Landscape Design, Personnel Management, and Small Engine Repair — were just a few of the events. “PLANET SCD is all about the future of the green industry and what is really exciting is that these students have the power toliterally transform the environment,” said Roger Phelps, Promotional Communications Manager for STIHL Inc., the event’s Platinum Sponsor. Awards were given to individual winners, called “Superstars,” as well as to winning teams. The individual winners were, in first place, Jessica Logan of Chattahoochee Technical College (Atlanta, Georgia); in second place, Brennan McDuffie of Sandhills Community College (Pinehurst, North Carolina); and in third place, Robert Johnson of Cal Poly – Pomona (Pomona, California).  Chattahoochee Technical College (formerly North Metro Technical College), which previously hosted SCD in 2008, not only took first place in the individual award, but also in overall competitive events. In second place was Brigham Young University - Provo, followed by Brigham Young University - Idaho in third. For a complete list of winners, please visit the Web at StudentCareerDays.org, and click on 2010 Final Results. Aside from bragging rights, some students also received scholarships and award money at a special reception, sponsored by STIHL Inc. This year, PLANET gave almost $80,000 in scholarships to 73 students through its PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation. Students heeded the words of advice offered by SCD Chair, Brett Lemcke, Landscape Industry Certified Manager, during the Opening Ceremony — “Be professional and network” — and took advantage of the opportunity to meet and interview with green industry companies for full-time positions and internships at the on-site Career Fair.  PLANET thanks event sponsors STIHL Inc., at the Platinum level; Ariens & Gravely at the Gold level; Caterpillar and JOHN DEERE at the Silver level; and BRICKMAN, Husqvarna, Pavestone Company, and Ryan Turf Renovation Equipment at the Bronze level.
Executive Forum — February 17–21, 2010 Green industry owners and managers who attended the Executive Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada, were big-time winners. “This was a great meeting,” says Gerry McCarthy, president of Mac’s Landscaping in Burlington, Massachusetts. “Every session had excellent take-home value. I especially enjoyed the ‘PROFIT: Winning in the New Economy’ workshop and the ValleyCrest facility tour. In the workshop, Kevin Kehoe was right on target when describing the marketplace. The tour was tremendous, and I really enjoyed the Q&A session with company founder Burt Sperber. When I asked him what his advice would be for smaller landscape contractors, he said, ‘Be consistent with what you do.’” This year’s Forum incorporated the Summer Leadership Meeting to provide members with the best of both events in one grand location and focused on providing attendees with the tools to master and be successful in the current economy and beyond. Featured speakers included Jeff Thredgold, CSP, of Thredgold Economic Associates, whose keynote address examined topics such as how better economic performance will impact the green industry and the outlook for residential and commercial real estate; and a broad spectrum of industry experts, including founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ValleyCrest Landscape Companies Burton S. Sperber; author and consultant Kevin Kehoe; author and astute construction economist and financial consultant Frank Ross; financial consultant Jeff Harkness; CEO and partner, Highgrove Partners, LLC, Jim McCutcheon, Landscape Industry Certified Manager; and founder and head harvester of The Harvest Group Bill Arman, along with fellow harvesters Ed Laflamme, Landscape Industry Certified Manager, and Steve Cesare. Attendees were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the ValleyCrest Landscape Companies Las Vegas facility. The company did all the landscaping for the ARIA, as well as the city’s new CityCenter development project. As always, there were dynamic breakfast roundtable discussions, plenty of opportunities for networking, not to mention ample time to enjoy the fabulous resort amenities and other Las Vegas attractions.
Lawn Care Summit – December 2-4, 2009Jointly sponsored by PLANET and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), the Lawn Care Summit was the result of years of dialogue between the two groups about ways the strengths of both organizations could best be harnessed for the benefit of lawn care professionals. Dual educational tracks, developed by leading lawn care operators, covered both technical and management topics of interest, such as how to create a dynamic Web site, the strategical use of new and traditional insecticides, tips on designing cost-effective and environmentally compatible lawn fertilization programs, a look at responsible weed control, and how to inject social media in a marketing plan, to name just a few. The opening session, “Trends in Lawn Care — The Future of the Industry,” was led by a panel of lawn care experts who shared their thoughts on how the economic recession is impacting the industry, what lawn care operators can expect in the way of new products, and perspectives on new customer demands. Evening receptions and daytime gatherings provided ample time for peer networking, and the perfect setting to share best practices and build valuable peer relationships.
Green Industry Conference – October 28–31, 2009 “If you’re not here, you’re missing out.” That’s the sentiment that Fred Haskett, CTP, U.S. Lawns of West and St. Charles County, Defiance, Missouri, expressed while attending the recent PLANET Green Industry Conference (GIC) and GIE+EXPO in Louisville, Kentucky. “Many of the seminars this year were conducted by industry people, those who walk the same walk we do,” says Haskett. “The sessions were well-attended, the trade show floor was crowded, and innovations, such as the CEO Forum and the GIC keynote panel-discussion format, were very successful, too.” Attendees took advantage of excellent networking opportunities, educational sessions and round tables on hot topics such as sustainability and social marketing, checked out the latest products at the industry’s largest trade show and outdoor exhibition, participated in the PLANET Live Auction to benefit PLANET’s legislative initiatives and the PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation (PLANET AEF), and celebrated the accomplishments of industry leaders at the Friday evening Awards Presentation, to name a few of the many activities at the conference. “The conference reaffirmed what PLANET has to offer to my business,” relates Anthony Claud of Claud’s Lawn Care in Plymouth, Virginia. “I would have been truly remorse if I had missed this experience.”
Legislative Day on the Hill and Renewal & Remembrance – July 12–14, 2009
It’s not too soon to make plans for next year’s Renewal & Remembrance and Legislative Day on the Hill, July 19–20, 2010. Photos are also available for viewing or to purchase. To access the site, the password is July 13. Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Summer Leadership Meeting - June 24–27, 2009 The beautiful Skamania Lodge was host to more than 100 PLANET leaders as they gathered to shape PLANET’s and the green industry’s future. “What stands out for me is the dedication of the people who are here,” says Rich Wilbert, CLP, of Robert Howard Associates in Boulder, Colorado. “Their companies may be going through a tough time, but they are still here helping to build for the future. There is also a sense of urgency at this meeting, the need to get things done.” In addition to numerous meetings at the beautiful Skamania Lodge, there was also time to enjoy old friends and make new ones. PLANET President Bill Hildebolt, Ph.D., CTP, CTP-CSL, of Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, points out, “This is one of PLANET’s premier events for renewing acquaintances and working on important objectives.” Some new twists were added this year to make the event even better. “We’ve tried some new things at this meeting, including having a team-building exercise between the PLANET staff and leadership,” says Hildebolt. Since sustainability is a popular buzz word these days, another popular part of the Summer Leadership event was the facility tour. Attendees first visited the first-class facilities of Dennis’ Seven Dees Landscaping, a four-generation, family-owned business. Its roots stretch back to 1927. Pacific Landscape Management was the second stop on the tour. It not only wowed the crowd with a tour of its facilities, it also hosted a comprehensive Sustainability Fair. “I was especially interested in the facility tours,” notes Andy Blanchford, CLP of Blanchford Landscape Contractors, Bozeman, Montana. “I wanted to see what companies like Dennis’ Seven Dees and Pacific Landscape Management were doing with sustainability. I was impressed and the visits were very informative and well orchestrated.” While many of the attendees have participated in Summer Leadership meetings over the years, for some it was their first experience. “This is our first Leadership event,” says Rick Hanson of Serpico Landscaping in Haywood, California. Serpico is celebrating 20 years in business and 10 years as a PLANET member. Says Rick’s wife Sharon, “We’ve been in business long enough to be in a position to start giving back. We came here to talk with PLANET leaders and see if volunteering would be worthwhile. We were not disappointed.”
Inaugural PLANET Day of Service exceeds expectations - April 22, 2009On Earth Day, April 22, 2009, PLANET launched its first annual national PLANET Day of Service. The event was a grassroots effort that allowed individual members, supplier members, and state associations to create volunteer lawn care and landscape projects in their own communities where they felt there was a need.  More than 280 projects were carried out by approximately 2,000 volunteers in a total of 43 states. “ The PLANET Day of Service exceeded our expectations, especially for a first-year event,” said Jason Cupp, CLP, 2008/2009 PLANET president. “There was such an amazing outpouring of support from volunteers, companies, and sponsors who donated time and materials.”Projects were carried out at a wide range of locations. Zoos; elementary schools; public parks; Boy Scout camps; churches; war memorials; and social service, medical, and public housing facilities were just a few of the places that benefited.  PLANET also partnered with Project Evergreen and its GreenCare for Troops program on the PLANET Day of Service. PLANET member Matt Doerr, CLT, of Turf Appeal, Inc., in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, organized a project to help a military family that has a member serving in Iraq. About 10 Turf Appeal staff members volunteered at the home, and, with the help of John Deere Landscapes donating a tree and flowers, and Eastern Sod and McCauley’s Greenhouse also donating flowers, they were able to landscape the one-acre yard — doing in one day what would have taken the family a week to do. “The media covered the story and the public response was amazing,” said Doerr. “I had calls from people who wanted to know how they could help, as well as calls from colonels in the military who wanted to thank us for our work.” He continued, “This project was a win-win on so many levels. Of course, we were so happy to be able to help out a military family, and we work for some of the military bases in the region, so this helped strengthen our relationships with them as well as generate new volunteers for GreenCare for Troops.”  Residents who spend time in parks were also big beneficiaries of the PLANET Day of Service. The Oregon Landscape Contractors Association rallied 100 volunteers to landscape the new Laurel Pocket Park in Bend, Oregon. In Carroll, Ohio, staffers at MirrorScapes were eager to spend another day volunteering at one of their county parks. Their team spruced up historic Lockville Park for a county parks system that only has one full-time maintenance employee. PLANET Day of Service sponsors played a big role in supporting and participating in the Day of Service. There were a total of five lead sponsors and 30 supporting sponsors. Agrium Advanced Technologies, a lead sponsor, renovated and landscaped the Granville Village School ball fields and grounds in Massachusetts. No Kai Oi Landscape Services, a supporting sponsor, replanted a hula mound at a local elementary school located in Kauai, Hawaii, in time for the students’ May Day celebration. For more information about the event, log on to planetdayofservice.org. PLANET thanks the following sponsors for their generous support: Lead Sponsors:  Supporting Sponsors:
Student Career Days - March 26-29, 2009 Many of the country’s best and brightest green industry students came to Pomona, California this past March 26-29, 2009, to compete in the PLANET’s 33rd Annual Student Career Days (SCD), held at Pomona, California. Sixty-one college teams, including a total of 798 students, participated in 26 individual and team competitions including tree climbing, paver installation, wood construction, plant identification, sales presentation, exterior/interior design, irrigation troubleshooting, skid steer, equipment operation, and the newest event to showcase this year – compact excavator operation, just to name a few.“This year's SCD was another tremendous success!” said Jennifer Buck, national recruiting director and Student Career Days committee chair. “It was a great weekend full of education, training, networking, career fair, and competitive events.”  The competition included awards to individual winners as well as to school teams. The individual winners, called “Superstars,” were:First Place: Seth Reed, Brigham Young University - Idaho Second Place: Ben Roney, Alamance Community College Third Place: Dawn Strickland, University of Georgia  The top-ranking schools are:First Place: Brigham Young University - Idaho Second Place: Colorado State University Third Place: North Metro Technical College Fourth Place: Brigham Young University - Provo Fifth Place: Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo Sixth Place: Cal Poly - Pomona Seventh Place: Mississippi State University Eighth Place: North Carolina State University Ninth Place: University of Georgia Tenth Place: Penn State In addition to the competitive events, the four-day event included a Career Fair; Faculty Forum; Career Development Series; student workshops; tour of the Huntington Botanic Gardens, Library, and Art Collection; and networking receptions. Chattahoochee Technical College in Atlanta, Georgia, will host next year’s SCD on April 8-11, 2010. PLANET thanks the following event sponsors for their generous support:
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