Landscape Maintenance Tech of the Year: Feb. 1999

Technicians are an integral component to a green industry organization and deserving of recognition for their dedicated work. For this reason, T&O Service Tech honored its first-ever Service Technicians of the Year with winners for landscape maintenance and chemical lawn care technicians.

James Gorton, The Groundskeeper, Tucson, Ariz., the 1998 landscape maintenance category winner, was chosen in part based on some comments from his supervisor and branch manager, Glen Killmer.

“His personal commitment to further education has proven a great asset to the company,” Killmer stated. “James is always willing to take on new projects with a positive attitude, and he portrays this attitude to his employees, peers, superiors and customers. He excels in all aspects of the job from customer satisfaction to technical service to being a leader.”

Gorton, a nine-year veteran of the company, started out as a criminal justice major in college, and it was really by accident that he ended up in the green industry.

“I got bored with that major, so I started working at a golf course 14 years ago and loved it,” Gorton commented.

Gorton has come a long way since then. He started at The Groundskeeper as a laborer. Now, he has moved up to maintenance supervisor overseeing 20 people in the winter and as many as 30 in the summer. These workers consist of maintenance crew leaders, crew members and a turf management team as well.

“James does the scheduling of routes, orientation and training of employees,” Killmer noted. “He also handles quality assurance issues and customer relations. About 60 percent of his time is spent in the field.”

While Gorton said that the key to handling all of these tasks is time management, he never imagined that his accomplishments at his job would earn him a nomination from Killmer. “The nomination was a complete surprise,” Gorton added. “Glen didn’t tell me about it until after he had nominated me. It was very exciting.”

Killmer explained that Gorton falls in line with the company’s philosophy. “The Groundskeeper believes we should move the industry forward with technicians. We are about raising the standards. James goes in and gets any extra education on his own.”

Work habits, attendance, ability to build and maintain customer relations – both internally and externally – are the key factors that make him an excellent employee from Killmer’s viewpoint.

Gorton believes these work ethics are personality traits. “When I first started, I was focused on the company and it gave me an outlet,” he stated. “Because of the opportunities here I was able to grow.”

The passion Gorton has for his work is evident as he talks about the company. The most enjoyable part of his job, he explained, is being a team. “The most satisfaction comes out of the team atmosphere at this office. Everyone will help someone out when they need it with no questions asked.”

This team-player attitude of Gorton’s is only part of what has made him the outstanding employee he has been ever since he first stepped in the door, according to Killmer. “He came to the company wanting to gain education and raise the standards to a technical level,” Killmer noted. “This is much like the company’s philosophy.”

With the dedication that Gorton has put into his work over the last nine years, he gives the company credit as well for helping him boost his career.

“I couldn’t have received the award without support from the organization,” Gorton said. “They support my desire to seek outside education. The support and recognition from my peers and superiors was a huge help.”

So, what’s next for Gor-ton? Killmer explained that in addition to the many functions Gorton performs regularly, he is also learning about sales. This ties into his current duties because when he is talking to customers about changing an existing landscape or finding a solution to a problem, he may actually be selling an upgrade.

“He can be inspecting the property and as he finds and solves a problem, he turns that into a sale.” Killmer added.

The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.

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