Associations from across the country united to create a national green industry careers Web site, designed to spark interest in the variety of positions that the green industry has to offer. The site provides students with an overview of the many career options available in the green industry including: arboriculture, garden center, gardening services, irrigation, landscape design, landscape installation, landscape management & lawn care, as well as nursery & greenhouse production. Each section includes a career path highlighting duties, educational requirements, and pay scale. Visitors will also find video testimonials from current industry professionals who are passionate about their “land lover” careers.
Initiated by the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA) and the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), the site launched in September of 2008. The founding partners were joined by 28 state associations and two national association sponsors, the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) and the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) whose involvement enabled the site to be truly comprehensive and world class.
Most of the industry’s workforce development efforts to-date have focused on securing entry-level workers via reforms to the immigration system. However, the needs are just as dire for future industry leaders, future business owners, and trained supervisory staff in all segments from horticultural production to landscape design, construction and services.
Junior high and high school students are the Web site’s target market, but the site also contains residual information for parents, teachers and guidance counselors. They will find find information debunking some of the current myths surrounding green industry careers. Parents, along with their student, can learn where to pursue higher education for a career in the green industry and browse current job openings by state.
Why is it called thelandlovers.org? Through research, including focus groups and surveys, conducted prior to the launch we created a Web site name that will resonate with these audiences.
We encourage you to go into your community and utitilize this tool. It is through you, our dedicated green industry advocates, that we will raise awareness of green industry careers. If you are interested in community outreach and would like additional resources, please feel free to contact Anna Walraven at annawalraven@landcarenetwork.org.
