Attendance surged at the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ (NALP) National Collegiate Landscape Competition in 2018 – more than 1,600 people came to the event March 14-17 at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina.
While the number of college students participating in events increased, another reason for overall increased attendance was the inclusion of high school students in FFA programs. NALP teamed with Alamance Community College to reach out to FFA programs near the community college to invite them to the 2018 NCLC. Students and advisers from FFA programs in North Carolina attended on March 16 to meet industry professionals, learn about college horticulture programs and observe the landscaping competitions.
“(NALP) went to the FFA Expo this year and so we made the decision that we would reach out to local FFA chapters to invite them to this event in North Carolina,” said Jenn Myers, director of workforce development at NALP. “We have 183 students and advisers here at Alamance to walk around, observe and get a taste for what would be in their future if they go into the industry or to a two-year or four-year horticulture program.”
For about the past 10 years, STIHL has sponsored the top two high school FFA teams that compete in FFA Expo’s nursery and landscape career development event to compete at that year’s NCLC. However, now more high school FFA programs can be exposed to NCLC. The schools can’t compete, but their students can use the time to observe and network.
Roxboro Community School was one of the high schools that brought about a dozen high school students from its FFA program to NCLC.
“When we were invited to come to this competition, we thought it would be a great way for them to see the businesses, network and meet people,” said Gina Lunsford, a teacher at Roxboro Community School. “The information session they had for us provided the students with good information. In fact, it made five or six of my 14 students say, ‘Well, maybe I should look into this as a career,’ so my goal for the event was met.”
One of Lunsford’s students, Zachary Denny, had already planned to enter the landscaping industry upon graduation. Since he helps his father with a family landscaping business, he is planning to take a two-year turf and landscape program at North Carolina State University. He used NCLC to network with professionals, check out some equipment on display and observe some techniques students used in competitions.
“Someday I want to take over my dad’s business, grow it and get more people,” Denny said. “So, when I heard this was a landscaping competition, I wanted to come to gain more insight on different designs and techniques I could incorporate into the family business.”
NALP plans to continue to invite high school students involved in FFA to NCLC next year, as well, in order to expose younger students to landscaping careers.
“There’s a realization that if we don’t get into the high schools early, we’re not going to win,” said Roger Phelps, corporate communications manager at STIHL, the platinum sponsor of NCLC. “The fact that more than 170 FFA school members were here was huge for me. STIHL has supported FFA for 17 years – we see the value in it. So, what we’re really concentrating on now is if we can get kids interested in high school and get them to a collegiate program, then we’re securing and ensuring we have those programs later on to feed the industry.”
Small school, big competition.
Alamance Community College is a small school in Graham, North Carolina, but it packed in up to 1,600 people throughout the 2018 NCLC, with 770 college students from 61 schools competing in events. Competitions included tree climbing, hardscape installation, wood construction, plant identification, sales presentation, irrigation troubleshooting, skid-steer operation, small engine repair and more.
While Alamance Community College is small, many attendees liked the size for easier navigation around campus. “Every year of this is unique,” Phelps said. “In past years, to get from one event to another took a 10-minute run or car ride. Sometimes a smaller campus is more convenient and a campus like this one had a nice, cozy feel and they did an amazing job.”
NCLC featured more than 30 competitions, including a new mini track loader competition it debuted for 2018. The association also brought back the flower and foliage ID competition it tested in 2017.
Brigham Young University – Provo students took first place in overall competitive events. The school received a check from STIHL, the platinum sponsor, for $5,000. Cal Poly – Pomona students took second place, and Michigan State University students took third place.
Individual winners were Marco Crosland of Brigham Young University in first place; Tyler Gilson of Michigan State University in second place; and McKenna Rowles of Tri-C East Campus in third place. These top three students received scholarship money from the NALP Foundation.
For a complete list of winners, click here.
Awards and honors.
During NCLC, NALP presented scholarships to 75 students at a reception on March 14. Over $107,000 went toward these scholarships.
In addition, NALP named Zeke Cooper of Cooper/Stewart Landscape Architecture in Cherokee, North Carolina, as its 2018 Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Cooper spoke at NCLC’s opening ceremony on March 15 and he gave his advice to the college students.
“I’ve learned a couple of things in my life,” he said. “You’ve got two choices every day: when you wake up, nobody on this planet but you decide your attitude and how positive you’re going to be. There are days it’s gonna be rough, but as long as you stay positive, you can do anything you want. The other thing is your work ethic. You decide every morning how hard you’re going to work. So, look at yourself and think: ‘Am I giving it my all?’”
Cooper also encouraged students to take time now to consider why they want to be in the industry and what piques their interest most.
“This industry is so vast,” he said. “Find the fun part you like, work your butt off and you’ll end up loving every minute of it.”
At the closing ceremony of the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, the National Association of Landscape Professionals Foundation announced the recipient of its Outstanding Educator of the Year Award, Marcus Duck.
Reasons for going.
Landscape contractors, equipment vendors and industry professionals alike attended NALP’s 42 annual NCLC in Graham, North Carolina. Also, more than 60 colleges and universities had students and faculty members attend the event.
Everyone had their reasons for coming. A few attendees shared why they went to the competition and what it means for the industry:
Landscape contractor: Shari Dalziel, vice president at James Martin Associates based in Illinois
“We’ve been coming for a number of years because it’s a great event. We try to come to hire students every year, as many as we can get interviews with. We had 14 interviews at the career fair. We get excellent quality candidates. You gotta be here. If you’re too busy to recruit, then you’re too busy to grow. You won’t grow unless you get staff members from colleges like these. Take the time to do that if you want to grow your business.”
Equipment company: Joe Salemi, product marketing manager at DynaSCAPE
“DynaSCAPE’s been involved with NCLC probably the last 10 years. We believe that students are the next generation of landscape professionals. So, given that DynaSCAPE is taught in almost 200 schools in North America and many of the schools at NCLC teach our program, we see it as hugely important to be involved to recruit the next generation of professionals to get into the business – we have to have a presence.”
Equipment company: Paul Reed of Rain Bird
“We’ve been here the last two years consecutively. Students learn a lot of principles about landscaping in school, but irrigation isn’t one of the ones they learn a whole lot about. If they’re lucky, they do one full semester of irrigation, but that’s not even the average. It’s less than that. So, it’s cool for us to be here and answer questions students have that they don’t get answered in schools. This event gets everyone connected. As a student, I came to this – it’s where I met the industry. When you’re at school, you’re in your own little world, but when you come here, you meet the greater industry, which is invaluable.”
Professor: Jim Funai, assistant professor of plant science and landscape technology at Tri-C East Campus
“We had 19 students come from Tri-C – it’s our biggest team so far. The benefit of this event to them is huge – we track the progress of the students who compete versus those who don’t. It really catapults them into the industry, so this is a launching pad for them. I think there’s too many people out there speaking ‘doom and gloom’ – we can’t find enough people, nobody wants to do this work. I don’t think that’s true at all. It’s a matter of finding who likes to do this kind of work and work outside; it’s a matter of getting the message out to everyone that you can make a great living and there’s honor in making the world a beautiful place.”
Student: Katy Doll, junior at Kansas State University studying landscape horticulture
“This is my second time at the event – I’m competing in sales presentation, 3-D exterior design and landscape plant installation. I was originally a pre-nursing student, but I had a summer job working for a landscaper doing maintenance and I fell in love with this industry. I haven’t second-guessed that decision since then. My goals are to be in a management position, and I’d also like to move up in a company to take ownership of it.”
