PLANET Names First CEO

The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) named Tanya Tolpegin the association’s first CEO, effective immediately. The PLANET board of directors voted on Oct. 4 to appoint the former COO to the two-year old organization’s helm. PLANET was formed in when the Associated Landscape Contractors of America and the Professional Lawn Care Association merged.

“Since she joined the PLANET staff, Tanya has done far more than manage operations effectively,” PLANET President John Gibson says. Since she joined the staff in 2004, Tolpegin helped sustain PLANET’s alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide safety resources to the green industry, contributed to membership growth (from 3,580 in 2004 to 4,400 today) and played a role in the alliance between Green Industry Expo/Green Industry Conference with the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s Expo, which will debut in 2007, Gibson says.

Prior to joining PLANET, Tolpegin served as vice president of strategic planning at Hillenbrand Industries’ Medeco Security Locks Division and managed operations for a distribution team at Pepsi-Cola. She hold a master's degree in business administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration.

“Tanya’s unique mix of vision, passion and discipline make her the right person to become PLANET’s CEO,” Gibson says.