|
|
GLENDORA, Calif. – Recognizing the expanding roles of those involved in specifying, designing and installing today’s complex irrigation systems, Rain Bird Services Corp. invites irrigation professionals to its Rain Bird Academy Regional and Professional Improvement Training Camps held at various locations across the country throughout the year. Training information can be found at www.rainbird.com/training where visitors can obtain the Rain Bird training schedule, view class descriptions and register for classes online. Interested professionals may also contact Robert Pfeil or Mea Newman at
800/498-1942.
Irrigation training classes also will be held in the following cities on the specified dates:
Seattle: Nov. 28 – Dec. 1, 2005
Las Vegas: Dec. 12-16, 2005
Atlanta: Jan. 10-13, 2006
Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Jan. 17-20, 2006
Atlantic City, N.J.: Jan. 23-27, 2006 -
Anaheim, Calif.: Jan. 31 – Feb. 4, 2006
Portland, Ore.: Feb. 7-10, 2006
Sacramento, Calif.: Feb. 21-24, 2006
San Francisco: Feb. 28 – March 3, 2006
Chicago: March 7-10, 2006
Kansas City, Mo.: March 14-17, 2006
Minneapolis: March 28-31, 2006
Orlando, Fla.: July 25-29, 2006
Courses taught by Irrigation Industry Certified Trainers offer detailed instruction on financial management, product knowledge, various field installation techniques and troubleshooting irrigation systems. Select courses will also be available for Spanish-speaking professionals.
Those who would benefit from this training include irrigation contractors, golf course superintendents, system designers, distributors, technicians, landscape architects and irrigation managers from public agencies. Rain Bird Academy has designed its classes to be informative for everyone in the irrigation profession – from those just starting out in the irrigation field to seasoned professionals. Training classes are broken out depending on participants’ experience and include four main sections:
- Business Skills Training – Rain Bird provides informative, insightful information for those irrigation professionals and business owners wanting to learn more about financial management, profitable job estimating and customer selling skills.
- Central Control Training – Participants can learn more about the technology, hardware and benefits that comprise today’s central controller systems. Participants can also learn about central control maintenance and troubleshooting.
- Golf Irrigation Training – From pump stations to hydraulic fundamentals, participants will gain an in-depth education in installing irrigation products and technologies onto their golf courses.
- Turf Irrigation Training – Much like the Golf Irrigation Training, Turf Irrigation Training will teach participants about irrigation design, products and product troubleshooting as well as intelligent water management.
Irrigation professionals can choose from one to four days of training with instructors who conduct one of the most respected and comprehensive training experiences in the irrigation industry. Specific “education tracks” on drip products and design, irrigation design, contractor business skills, and irrigation contractor courses are also available. The education participants receive will help them to better understand their irrigation products, work more efficiently and run more profitable businesses, which will reap financial rewards in cost savings and better financial management.
Robert Pfeil, senior technical trainer for Rain Bird, tells Lawn & Landscape that the training session are open to anyone who wants ot learn more about proper and efficient irrigating. The costs can range from $150 for a half-day class to $500 for a two-day, 16-hour class.
“We didn’t develop the training seminars as a way to sell products,” Pfeil says. “We just see a need for educating people across the board at all levels of the industry. We’re holding classes for everything from business management and installation and design to central control and low-volume irrigation. We’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries on the business skills side and the design side, so we’re very excited about those classes in particular. We also have a lot of folks coming to us about the intelligent water management classes to learn the efficiencies of irrigation and how they can become better irrigators.”
Pfeil adds that many of the classes are also offered in Spanish – an area that’s expanding Rain Bird’s training reach. “We’re finding that where there used to be a lot of Spanish-speaking folks in our industry on the laborer side, they’re now moving up into management and ownership positions,” he says. “We’re spending as much time on creating training for those individuals as for our English-speaking attendees.”
In addition to the dates and classes listed above, Pfeil notes that Rain Bird regularly adds new training sessions and locations based on the feedback they receive from the industry. “A lot of the session we offer are based on demand as we talk to contractors, architects, dealers and specifiers,” he says. “We’re always putting together new classes to meet those needs.” Visit www.rainbird.com for the most updated training schedule.