While answering a question about the next generation of the green industry, Roger Phelps stops mid-sentence and mentions Jessica Watters.
Watters, who is employed by Boston-based Irrigation Consultants, was part of a team who worked on the National Mall soon after she graduated from Chattahoochee Technical College in Georgia.
“There’s someone a year out of college and she’s working on the National Mall,” said Phelps, corporate communications manager with STIHL, which is the platinum sponsor of the National Collegiate Landscape Competition.
His point was those who want to make a splash in the industry, like Watters did, have a great opportunity too, especially when they take part in events like the NCLC, formerly Student Career Days.
The NCLC, which took place at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, featured approximately 800 horticulture and landscape students from more than 60 schools testing their skills in real-world, competitive events, and interviewing with industry companies at a career fair. It runs from Wednesday to Saturday with official winners of the competitive events announced in the next few weeks.
For students, it gives them a chance to meet potential employers and to get a feel of who they are competing with for jobs. Nate Parker, a student from Alamance Community College in North Carolina said he’s looking for a company he can trust because, “you have to be able to trust who you work for.”
This is his third career fair, and his first time at the NCLC. He said the networking is great, but it’s also eye-opening to see all the competition there is in the industry.
“It’s a whole different ball game here than it is at home,” Parker said.
The wrong perception: One common misconception from those outside the industry is it’s not an something you can turn into a career. But that’s not the sentiment at this event.
“It’s much more of a professional industry than people give it credit for,” said Michael Hummel, founder of Designs by Sundown in Englewood, Colorado.
Hummel’s company not only gave a scholarship to a student through the NALP Foundation’s Scholarship program, but Hummel also speaks at high schools to inform students about the opportunities in the industry.
“I tell kids in high school and college to learn a trade because you can always fall back on a trade,” he said.
Phelps said one way to change the perception of the industry is to focus on why people want to make a career in landscaping.
“How many people go to a park or a greenspace and comment how beautiful it is?” Phelps said. “They don’t stop and think who made that happen. It’s a profitable career path. You can work in a large company or a small company or you can start your own company. There’s a lot of hard work, but the rewards far outweigh that.”
Martha Hill, the department chair of landscape management technology at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, said one way to improve the promotion of the industry is to alert local media when students do a project or win awards or scholarships.
“Let our local media interview our students,” Hill said. “You can’t buy that kind of advertising. Everybody needs a pat on the back.”
Now hiring. The more than 50 companies that travelled to Starkville for the career fair were on the lookout for young talent they can bring in either as an intern or as a full-time employee.
Miles Graves, branch manager at the South Carolina-based The Greenery came back a second year because of the success he had last year. “We met some really cool kids last year,” he said. Graves found someone for an internship, which eventually turned into a full-time job. “Finding someone with passion for the industry, that’s what creates great managers.”
Alan Richmond, who is vice president of people and culture, for Dallas-based Southern Botanical said he pays more attention to the students of schools that attend the NCLC than to those who don’t. It’s Richmond’s second year at the event and the company’s tenth year in attendance. He said horticulture students coming out of school look for more than a pay check. “It seems they are more focused on a career that’s not just about money,” he said.
The newly-branded BrightView was also in attendance, and the company’s vice president of irrigation services, Eric Santos, called the NCLC his “biggest recruiting event of the year.” One thing he’s noticed attending career fairs is the professionalism of the students.
“They are coming to these events very well prepared – business cards, things like that,” he said.
Right down the road from the Univserity, Michael Everett, general manager at SGK in Starkville, said it’s clear even in his first year attending the NCLC that the students here have already invested in the industry.
He’s hired two students through an internship program with Mississippi State, and said when you get employees from horticulture programs, it’s a huge advantage for your company. “You get more effort from them from day one,” he said. Obviously, this generation adapts to technology better than previous generations, but Everett added that fact leads to a change in how they approach a job. “They want to work smarter, not harder,” he said.
Other notes from the event:
- UPDATED: Michigan State University won first place during the competition, while BYU Idaho finished second and Cuyahoga Community College finished third. Schools have three days to challenge the final results. Click here for the complete results.
- During the NALP Foundation’s scholarship reception 53 scholarships were awarded for a total of $69,100.
- The late Bob Callaway’s family was in attendance. Calloway was one of the founders of the event, which started at MSU and celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.
- The 1977 Mississippi State University Landscape Club was in attendance and helped vote for the winner of the roll call event.
- And the winner of that roll call event, where schools stand up and sing songs about their team and the event, was Cal Luis. The winner gets a $1,000 scholarship.
- During his remarks at the opening ceremony, Jamieson told a story of how after 9/11 he realized the importance of the green industry. The morning after the attacks, he was walking his dog and thought trimming trees and mowing lawns would be the last thing on Americans’ minds. But he was wrong, as the company he worked for at the time received calls requesting crews come out and maintain properties. “Landscaping plays an important role in this world,” he said.
- Kory Beidler, who competed at the event in 1998, said when he was asked if he wanted to attend, the first thing that came to mind was the fun he’d have on a bus ride with 40 students, and the fact that spring break was the following week. But he got a little more out of it then he expected. “It totally changed my life,” he said. Beidler said the students need to realize the opportunities they have with so many companies in one spot. “I encourage you to talk to as many people as possible,” he said. “If you want to affect change, you have to be at the table.”
- The Young Entrepreneur Award was given to Rudy Larsen, owner of Lawn Butler in Utah. Larsen is just shy of 30 years old and now owns seven companies generating $8 million with 160 full-time employees. He said staying positive and turning negatives into opportunities has been a main driver to his success. “There’s no such thing as perfect timing. You have to create that timing,” he said.