A statement from Bayer announcing the death of Rami Soufi, head of development read:

"It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic passing of Rami Soufi, a dear father, friend, colleague and scientist in the crop science industry.  At the time of his passing, he was the Head of Development for Environmental Science at Bayer, but he lived a life full of accomplishments not least of which was his tenure with Bayer. He will be missed greatly by his Bayer family and friends, and the industry overall."

Bayer will be founding a scholarship fund as a tribute to Rami’s legacy and in the spirit of Better Life.  Anyone wishing to join Bayer in remembering Rami is asked to visit the link provided:

Rami Soufi Memorial Fund

LAKE ZURICH, Ill. — ECHO Incorporated and the Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 kicked off a robotics-based partnership between the two organizations Wednesday, Aug. 29. District 95 has agreed to be a test site for ECHO’s autonomous mowers, with one unit currently operating on one of the Lake Zurich High School (LZHS) baseball fields. This partnership provides the students with real-world engineering and problem-solving experience while also helping ECHO Robotics test and trouble-shoot the autonomous mowers before they hit the U.S. market. 

“The ECHO business-education partnership is a model for 21st-century learning: connecting students with real-world opportunities like the autonomous mower project, internships or job shadowing solidifies the learning connection while also developing the workforce of the future,” said District 95 Superintendent Kaine Osburn. 

In addition to the partnership, ECHO has agreed to provide material support for the LZHS robotics program and give an annual $20,000 donation to the District 95 Educational Foundation for the robotics team, the Bearbotics. The team competes annually in the FIRST Robotics Competition against other premier high school robotics teams from across the nation. 

“We are very excited about our partnership with the Lake Zurich School District,” said Vice President of ECHO Incorporated Joe Fahey. “Through our robotics program, we will be able to engage students interested in engineering, robotics, computer science and business principles by allowing them to learn and participate in the development of our industry-changing technology.” 

For more information visit Echorobotics.com.  

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Greenworks Commercial announced a new product that will increase the efficiency of its 82V Commercial line of tools - the 82-volt Rapid 2-Port Charger.  The Greenworks Commercial GC 420 is a commercial grade charger that powers up landscape pros’ tools in a quick, more energy efficient way, offering the ability to charge any two of Greenworks Commercial’s powerful 82V lithium-ion batteries, sequentially.

“We know that a major concern landscape and turf management professionals have about switching from gas to cordless equipment is managing their inventory of batteries to ensure their ability to maximize the work day,” said Tony Marchese, director of independent retail for Greenworks North America. “With our new GC 420 2-Port Rapid Charger, those pros using our 82-volt products will be able to recharge two batteries overnight without having to switch from one to the other on the charger, ensuring that the crew has fully charged batteries to start the work day. The sequential, rapid charging ability combined with optimal battery management will reduce downtime on the jobsite.”

The new GC 420 ishas enough power to charge two of Greenworks largest 6Ah batteries, and can more expediently charge two of Greenworks’ smallest, 2.5Ah batteries in a little more than an hour. Other features of the GC 420 include:

• 2 charging docks, allowing users to charge 2 batteries sequentially.
• Rapid charging ability designed to reduce downtime on the job-site.
• LED Indicator light providing users with at-a-glance battery charge status updates.
• 2-year limited warranty.   

 
For more information on the 82-volt Rapid 2 Port Charger and the full Greenworks Commercial line, visit Greenworkscommercial.com. 

WHITBY, Ontario — Jennifer and Chris Lemcke believe they’re on the cutting edge of lawn care technology with the new business they’ve opened in Durham Region this summer.

TurfBot, Canada’s first full-service robotic mowing company, was launched in August — a little later than intended — but has been received well by the five customers who had signed up in the first two weeks.

“So far, the ones that we’ve put in, the people love it,” Chris Lemcke said while standing outside a home in Ajax where he’d made a recent installation. “They sell millions of these in Europe. This is the way of the future. We’re just trying to get in at the start of it.”

The husband and wife team are no strangers to lawn care, having worked for Weed Man since graduating university in Ottawa over 25 years ago, and are now master franchisors for Weed Man USA. They have lived in Durham Region for over 20 years, raising three kids.

“We already have franchising in our background because we do Weed Man, and we wanted to add another brand,” Chris Lemcke explained. “It makes sense, we’re in lawn care, so it matches really well.”

Read the full story from Durhamregion.com