The green industry needs to better project its true image onto the prospective workforce and legislators. This was largely the consensus of the dozen green industry professionals in attendance June 25 at the Professional Landcare Network’s town hall meeting in Cleveland, held at the Ohio Landscape Association’s offices.
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PLANET representatives have visited about 10 cities since the beginning of the year, including stops in Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and Oregon, to learn which issues are affecting different regions and to offer ideas for strengthening the green industry, says PLANET President Jim Martin, CLP. The events usually piggy-back off of other nearby PLANET events, Martin says. In this case, it was the Summer Leadership meeting, which was held June 20-24 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The green industry professionals at the Cleveland gathering voiced their frustration with the inability to find a qualified workforce, through both local universities and the H-2B program, which is in need of a fix. The immigration bill that was proposed in the Senate could provide a replacement guest worker program.
“If we don’t get some kind of working relationship with the (proposed immigration bill), we’re going to have problems,” says Steve Rak, president of OLA. “If that is fixed, it will be easy to grow the business.”
Attendees also said they’d like to see more of a push to attract students to the industry, starting with the junior high school level.
The same concerns have been voiced throughout the country, Martin says. He encourages industry professionals to tell their stories to their legislators as often as possible, adding that the members of congress work for their constituents, not the other way around.
“Don’t go in as a beggar,” he says. “You need to hold them accountable.”
He recommends creating a relationship with legislators by visiting them at their local offices rather than just attending fly-ins. It is often easier to get an appointment at home than in Washington, D.C., he says.
Martin also spoke about changing the perception of the green industry in the community. This will lead the youth to a greater desire to work for the industry and less desire for others to regulate it, he says. Some suppliers and landscape contractors have begun to use the tagline, “A proud member of the industry that maintains the quality of life in communities across America” on their literature, and Martin encourages everyone in the industry to use it.
“We don’t take enough credit for what we do,” he says.
PLANET will hold a few more town hall meetings before the end of the year, Martin says.