Hunter Industries sets new corporate social responsibility targets

sets new corporate targets

community effort

We used the same approach with external stakeholders. More than 40,000 customers, specifiers, educators, industry association representatives, product users, government workers, and others impacted by Hunter’s influence were given the opportunity to rank the selected topics. This effort returned more responses than any other survey we have ever published, which showed us that our external stakeholders care deeply about Hunter and want to ensure we make the best decisions for our future. The critical information that we gathered throughout this process led us to create a materiality matrix that compares the values mentioned by both groups and plots them in

order of priority. The resulting list represents a transparent new roadmap for our company. We will use this plan to launch redefined targets in 2019 for our entire organization: Hunter Industries, FX Luminaire, Hunter Custom Manufacturing, Holm, Senninger, and Dispensing Dynamics. Our mission to find a balance between people, planet and profit has truly blossomed through our stakeholder engagement efforts. We feel more empowered than ever to accomplish this goal. | CG

—Bryce Carnehl is Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Hunter Industries

Good paying jobs

No one knows about

By Becky Garber-Godi

Landscape companies would not mow acres upon acres of grass or complete all their installations each season without service technicians in their own shop or nearby dealership. Those techs keep the industry running. On the equipment side, workforce is as much of a challenge as it is for any other segment of the green industry.

The opportunity for equipment techs is among the best kept secrets around. Here’s a fast-track job that offers high school students lifelong careers. Consider the following:

Photos courtesy Westminster Public Schools Leo Degenstein, L.L. Johnson, works with Westminster High School student on equipment components. High school students with foundational skills can step into a lucrative career path as soon as they graduate and even work summer jobs while still in high school. They won’t have student loans hanging over their heads because companies that hire them pay for their training and often their tools. Everyone starts at the same level—but advancement can be quick. Determined techs with fewer than 10 years of experience are now pushing six-figure incomes. It’s a recession-proof industry that won’t go away. Techs can move on to careers in sales, marketing, management and training. There are many options once they build the foundation. It’s not a job for dummies. Techs need to think through problems and use the right technology to solve them.

Opportunities

Companies as diverse as a one-location shop to distributors serving multistate regions tell the same story about jobs that are waiting. Will Giefer, owner of G&G Equipment in Frederick, estimates it takes 65 hours per year to maintain just one large commercial mower. His team keeps many local companies mowing. He offers incentives to his techs not only to help them become more efficient, but to put more dollars in their paychecks. Says Giefer, “the opportunities will never go away.”

Intermountain STIHL has 450 dealers in five states with about 175 of them in Colorado. “Any town of 1,000 or more on the Western Slope will likely have a STIHL tech,” says Seth Reed, STIHL’s marketing manager. From rur al towns like Rangely and Craig to Front Range cities, there are jobs waiting now that high school grads could fill.

Mike Smith, trainer and recruiter, Honnen Equipment Company, says servicing large John Deere Equipment requires very specialized training and the company invests about $20,000 plus room and board to bring a tech through a two-year program. At the end, 100 percent job placement is guaranteed.