Two PGMS Professionals Earn CGM Status

The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) has announced that two grounds management professionals have reached the status of Certified Grounds Manager (CGM). Susanne Woodell, landscape manager at The Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC and Maria Lehner, director of grounds maintenance for the City of Country Club Hills, Ill. have been recognized with the CGM designation.
 
Woodell found the CGM process to be “challenging but effective in that it really tests your skills, knowledge and experience.” She encourages other grounds professionals to earn the CGM designation early on in their careers. “Anyone who is seeking to increase their professional standing should do it. It is a distinguished accomplishment and will help raise prestige in the grounds maintenance industry” she said.
 
Lehner choose to become CGM certified because she believes in the need for continuing education experience as well as personal and professional growth. She calls her profession “a labor of love” and encourages other grounds maintenance professionals to strive for the CGM designation because it is a “great experience and one that gives professional pride.” Her advice for her fellow colleagues in the field working towards receiving their CGM is simply “nothing ventured, nothing gained. Go for it!

Those achieving the CGM professional designation must first have accomplished a level of education and on-the-job experience and then successfully complete a two-part examination process administered by PGMS.
 
In the first part, the test is administered by an approved proctor and covers a core of basic principles of grounds management: insects and diseases, soils, trees and shrubs, turfgrass, chemicals and fertilizers and general management. The second portion of the testing process is an open-book examination based on the applicant’s personal experience and local situation.

Elements of testing focus on: site inventory, operations inventory, turf management; trees; shrubs and grounds covers; irrigation; pavings; management skills; and budget and finance.
 
Founded in 1911, PGMS is an individual membership society of grounds professionals dedicated to advancing the grounds management profession through education and professional development. Further information on PGMS and its CCM program is available online at www.PGMS.org