Landscape Management, April 2017

Continued from page 50 If you went down there with the proper scrutiny and really vetted the individuals I think you could be successful he says Giraldo says he wishes he knew why his success rate hasnt been higher He believes its a combination of things including factors like employees difficulty being away from their extended families and a lack of employment opportunities in Puerto Rico that has left workers unprepared for the rigors of a job in the landscape industry Still Giraldo intends to recruit on the island again He says he will do some things differently Ivan Giraldo such as venturing outside the cities and into the agricultural areas I do think the potential is there its finding where good workers are he says To other companies considering this strategy Giraldo says Have a lot of patience save a lot of money and fill yourself with persistence I would say Try it Were running out of options Heavy duty Attachments for Commercial Mowers DO MORE WITH YOUR MOWER ONE MOUNT BAR GIVES YOU ACCESS TO 7 ATTACHMENTS DETHATCHER AERATOR BLOWER BUGGY SPREADER LEAF PLOW SPRAYER TRANSPORTER 866 537 6238 JRCOINC COM LMM 52 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET April 2017 NALP careers site job board a long time coming Missy Henriksen Cover Story I n response to member concern over a workforce shortage the National Association of landscape professionals NAlp debuted a new website it says will help draw new people into the industry LandscapeIndustryCareers org highlights career paths industry details education opportunities a job board and information for parents and advisers of students interested in landscaping Content includes articles statistics and more than a dozen video profiles of professionals such as arborists landscape designers account managers lawn care technicians and others who explain what their jobs entail and why they are passionate about their careers The job board is free for industry members through the end of the year Starting in 2018 there will be fees to post jobs those rates havent been determined yet Following an early March soft launch employers added more than 250 postings to the job board landscapeindustryCareers org is one facet of the industry Growth initiative iGi which NAlp introduced in late 2015 with two goals grow the industry and grow the workforce iGi operates as part of the NAlp Foundation The foundation board the public affairs advisory committee and industry academics including those on the board instructors who are part of the Faculty Forum and other academic members of the association provided input to develop the site Next a national public relations and marketing campaign will support the launch along with online advertising and social media promotions We dont want people to think weve built a website and our work is done says Missy Henriksen NAlps vice president of public affairs The website is really the beginning of our work to promote the industry Henriksen estimates the association invested at least 175000 into the websites development its been a long time coming she says its important we invest because were vying for the same people a lot of industries are its not something we want to do halfheartedly The stakes are too high WEB EXTRA For an H 2B update and details about when Congress votes next on the returning worker exemption visit Web Extras LandscapeManagement net