2009 PLANET Student Career Days:
CSU at Top
Five Colorado State students took home first place in events at the 33rd annual PLANET Student Career Days at Cal Poly Pomona in California, March 26-29, 2009.
Competing Against The Best
This year, 59 schools from across the country competed. CSU’s 17-student team, including members from the Landscape Design and Contracting, Landscape Business, Turf Management and Nursery and Landscape Management programs, took second overall. The team placed in the top 10 in 16 categories; placing twice in the top 10 in Pest Management.
Learning the Profession
PLANET, the Professional Landcare Network, is an international association serving lawn care professionals, landscape management contractors, design/build/installation professionals and interior plantscapers.
The competition includes students from colleges and universities from across the country enrolled in horticulture programs. These students compete in 25 events, ranging from plant identification, to irrigation design, to pest management, and other business related practices such as management and cost estimating.
Being the Best
“Our Landscape Design and Contracting Program is PLANET accredited, helping us stand out as one of the top programs in the country,” explained Heidi Moss, one of the CSU student competitors. “Our second place finish continues to exemplify our students’ abilities and drive to succeed, as well as the professionalism they all possess.”
Catherine Braunlin took first place in Business Management, Mallory Elkins took first in Interior Landscape Design, Daniel Blackwelder and Travis Bottini in Irrigation Assembly and Steve Schommer in Pest Management.
The events directly relate to the skills each will need when searching for a career and entering the green industry. There is also a career fair that provides students an opportunity to network with prospective employers in the industry to discuss possible summer internships and future employment.
All together, there were nearly 200 participants at that year’s event. Although there were no formal job interviews scheduled for the event, industry members pulled students out of the social events to talk to them about job opportunities. This important event continued to grow over the years, eventually becoming what it is today.
PLANET provides its members with a good business foundation to help them evaluate, plan and better manage their companies. Member firms have direct access to marketing tools, industry specific business publications, updates on legislative issues and networking opportunities that can assist them in becoming more profitable.