The National Collegiate Landscape Competition, presented by NALP and powered by STIHL, is a vital recruitment and networking event in the landscape industry. Not only does it serve as an opportunity to connect with students who have a passion for the landscape industry, but it can also re-energize your team that attends.
If you’ve never attended this event, check out what other landscape professionals have to say about NCLC, as well as their tips for success when recruiting.
The Value of Attending NCLC
Bill Petry, a sales consultant for Milosi, based in Hendersonville, Tennessee, says they attend the event for several reasons including to support the future leaders of the industry, to support NALP and to add to their growing staff.
“We use it as a way to backfill our bench for upcoming positions as we expand and go to new locations, and just as the company as a whole grows,” Petry says.
Jaden Miller, marketing manager for Weller Brothers Landscape Professionals, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, says they also participate to engage with students and make them aware of the career opportunities at their organization.
“Secondly, we just love to support NALP,” Miller says. “We know the amount of work that goes into an event like NCLC and it’s an industry we are grateful to be part of, so we have a responsibility to support and engage with this event. Our team gets to connect with other industry professionals, expand our networks, and get re-energized about our day-to-day work.”
Jennifer Burnett, chief people officer for LandCare, based in Frederick, Maryland, says NCLC is a great place to educate students about the positions at your company.
“There are opportunities that might be missed because that company that’s in that hometown of that student isn’t there representing themselves,” Burnett says.
Brigitte Orrick, director of recruiting and employee development for Davey Tree Expert Company, based in Kent, Ohio, says that NCLC serves as time to recruit students and interact with their current interns.
“We hire over 100 interns per year, so we’re going to see some of our interns and we’re also going to see students that we’ve met at other career fairs as well at college campuses,” Orrick says. “It’s really an additional touch point in our employer branding, where the students get to see Davey as a company with exceptional expertise in tree care and in landscaping services.”
Jeff Rossen, CEO of Rossen Landscape, based in Great Falls, Virginia, says he chooses to attend NCLC for brand awareness and to recruit the best emerging talent.
“It is by far the most target-rich environment for young budding landscape talent,” Rossen says.
Tips for Success
When attending NCLC, it’s important to set realistic goals for the event. For the majority of the participating landscape companies, they are seeking interns and full-time hires.
“We are prepared to make a job offer when we meet the right individuals during the event,” Miller says. “This typically applies to graduating seniors with specializations that are harder to find, such as irrigation installation and troubleshooting experience or a passion for pest control.”
Rossen, Petry, and Orrick say they are all prepared to make a hiring decision at NCLC.
“We saw one of the students that was an exceptional climber that climbed in the competition,” Orrick says. “He had not had an internship with Davey previously, but we strongly advocated for him and he is going to be joining Davey in our Orlando, Florida office. He just happens to be relocating there with his wife.”
Burnett says they do not approach NCLC with a specific number of potential hires they’re trying to find.
“We really are going to just create more awareness of who LandCare is and what LandCare does, share how we develop team members and promote the career opportunities, specifically in professional landscape management,” Burnett says.
Burnett says they’ve found many students haven’t even given landscape management a second thought and associate it with just mowing a lawn. She says this event is one of their first opportunities to educate students on what it really means to be in the professional landscape management side of the industry.
Miller notes that they’ve had 11 students become interns or hires from NCLC, but it doesn’t always happen right away. In one case, they brought on a full-time horticulturist this year whom they engaged with for three years in a row at NCLC.
The companies who find hires through NCLC also retain them.
“We are 70% more likely to retain a college graduate than someone we hire off of Indeed or that has no prior college experience,” Orrick says. “Because they are investing in themselves and their knowledge attainment through college experiences, this is their chosen career path. They are much more likely to stay at Davey or in their place of employment than someone you hire off of Indeed or someone that doesn’t have any prior college experiences.”
Rossen says that if landscape companies are struggling to find quality talent who are educated in horticulture, NCLC is the solution.
“If you don’t go, you don’t find anybody,” Rossen says.
Ready to connect with the future of the industry? Consider getting a booth at the Career Fair at NCLC Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, on March 19-22, 2025. Registration for the Career Fair opens in late fall.
