Today I’m fortunate to travel to Lansing, MI the Professional Landcare Network’s Student Career Days.  I’ll have an opportunity to witness some of the best collegiate talent in our industry - all competing against one another to win this years event.  Also, PLANET’s AEF will give out their annual scholarships to students who applied.  This event is always one of the most incredible events our national trade association puts on.  Here is the article that appeared this morning in MSU Today, Michigan State University’s campus newspaper.

Horticulture students from around the country to compete in unique event

by Jon Schultz, student writer

March 27, 2007 - Nearly 1,000 students from 55 universities nationwide will compete for bragging rights across 24 horticultural skills events during the Professional Landcare Network’s, or PLANET, Student Career Days.

The 31st annual event will be held March 29-April 1 at MSU.

Students will have the opportunity to hone their skills, meet prospective employers and seek employment opportunities in the green industry while showcasing their academic talents before hundreds of professionals.

The competitive events range from a timed arboriculture tree climbing challenge to a sales presentation, testing the students’ ability to work with hard-sell clients.

“Arboriculture has all the action, but the sales presentation is about how well they can think on their feet,” said Brad Rowe, an MSU associate horticulture professor.

In the arboriculture event, students take a written exam testing their knowledge of the tree and then are timed while they climb it using ropes and a harness. For the sales presentation, students face professional actors who play a customer looking for a low price.

“Any sales job will be like that,” said Rowe, the event’s faculty adviser. “You have to know how to deal with rejection. The actors are fairly tough, and many students aren’t used to being challenged by clients.”

Besides the competitions, there will be training workshops and a career fair, which take place following the 8 a.m. opening ceremony in the Lansing Convention Center on March 30.

PLANET spokesperson Lisa Schaumann said the horticulture and landscape industry is seeking skilled students to fill the high demand for top-notch workers.

The knowledge students gain from the activities will help advance the professionalism of the business, Rowe said.

“Having knowledgeable people within the industry is important,” he said. “Consumers sometimes can’t make a distinction between who’s qualified and who’s not.”

MSU ranked in the top 10 overall for the past five years, and Rowe said he hopes this year’s team of 19 students will continue the school’s success.

The event originated in 1975, when a group of MSU students entered into a friendly argument with Mississippi State University students about who had a better horticulture department.

The competitive spirit still remains, Rowe said.

“You get some of the best students from around the country participating in career days,” he said. “This event is a forum for sharing horticultural knowledge and best practices.”

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