ALCA Announces New ILTC Chairman

The Associated Landscape Contractors of America recently announced that the International Landscape Technician Council has chosen a new chairman.

John van Roessel, P. Ag, CLP, of JVR Landscape, Inc., a Calgary, Alberta, Canada, residential design/build firm, was elected to the position at the annual meeting of the ILTC held during the Green Industry Expo in Nashville, Tenn.

ILTC is the group that administers the Certified Landscape Technician program (called Certified Horticultural Technician in Canada).

Van Roessel achieved a bachelor’s degree in agriculture at the University of Alberta, specializing in horticulture and landscape architecture. He has been a Professional Agrologist since 1985, and he recently earned the coveted Certified Landscape Professional designation.

Van Roessel has been actively involved in the Landscape Alberta Nursery Trades Association’s Southern Chapter activities for the last 15 years, serving as director, treasurer, chair and currently as past chair. He was awarded LANTA’s Executive Choice Award in 1997, 1998 and 2000, partly as a result of his efforts with certification. He recently won awards for two residential design/construction projects through the Beautification Awards program sponsored by LANTA. Asked to sit on the original Prairie Region Certification Steering Committee eight years ago, he presently serves as the landscape certification chair for the Prairie Region.

The CLT/CHT program offers three specialty modules — Irrigation, Maintenance and Installation. The daylong examination involves written tests and hands-on tests. State and provincial associations are licensed to give the test by ALCA. Twenty-three state associations and four regional divisions of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association offer CLT/CHT certification. The ILTC meets annually to review the test to ensure candidates are tested on the most current practices and knowledge.