Spring Events 2022 —
Young Professionals Group Launches Spring in a Fun, Meaningful Way by Nina Koziol
More than 75 people took part in this
year’s Young Professionals Event at Mickey Finn’s Brewery in Libertyville, and by all appearances it was a roaring success. “I just love to be around people who are going to shape the future of the industry,” said Jillyan MacMorris, chief improvement officer at Night Light, Inc., in Lombard. “It’s a really different vibe than other ILCA events, where it’s an older crowd, in different roles, thinking differently.” Despite the forecast of yet another snow event for that day, “We had a really good turnout,” said Marissa Stubler, ILCA’s membership and marketing manager. The program kicked off with a presentation by staff from Chalet in Wilmette. Lawson Thalmann, technology manager, is a 4th generation employee at the family business, where he helps implement technology to improve efficiency. He and four other staff took attendees through the various aspects of technology development focusing on landscape, retail, plant production and property management. Lawson launched Chalet’s eCommerce business in 2017, and sales have tripled each year. He’s now focusing on new software for Chalet’s landscape division. “That’s what gets me up in the morning,” Lawson said. “I like to think about the future.” This was his first time attending a Young Professionals event. “I wanted to see if there were kindred spirits.” His presentation focused on how data can transform the landscape industry. After the presentations, attendees huddled for roundtable discussions that examined issues like communicating with management, sharing ideas and career development. Elaina Blankenship of Plandscape, Inc., in Elburn, has been in the green industry for three years and led one group discussion, which included career goals and how to effectively communicate ideas up the ladder. “We have a lot of freedom at our company,” she said. “Our owner’s view is go big or go home.”
recruitment website Indeed showed that 46 percent of job seekers who considered a job said they ultimately chose not to apply because they didn’t feel it would be a good cultural fit. Business culture refers to the company’s policies, procedures, ethics, values, employee behaviors and attitudes, goals and code of conduct. It makes up the company’s “personality” and defines the work environment. For example, whether the company is professional, casual or fast-paced. Other elements include management style, expectations, company goals, local and national government policies, benefits and perks, opportunities to advance, the way employees feel about the work they do, and the company’s disciplinary action methods. According to the Indeed survey, 72 percent of job seekers say it’s extremely or very important to see details about company culture in job descriptions. “Culture is the heart of everything,” said Samantha Harris of Night Light, Inc. “If it’s not good, good people leave.” Benjamin Di Salvo, a recent graduate of Colorado State University, had left his municipal job and was looking for other opportunities. “We had a younger group of staff with good ideas, but it wasn’t always easy to get the ideas heard.” That comment was a recurring theme in the discussions.
A Different Vibe
Maritza Gil, store manager for Russo, in Hainesville, said, “A lot of our team members have been there for 20-plus years. The past two to three years we’ve worked on software so there’s less paper—we need to keep up with the times. We have to find better ways to do things so we’re not doing double work.” This was MacMorris’s second Young Pros event. “This event is a different lens on the industry. Some of the big challenges [for young employees] are feeling underestimated or underutilized. They are big dreamers and have smart ideas and want to influence the culture at their companies, but it’s hard to have a conversation when the owners have always done things a certain way. There’s Culture Clash vs. Collaboration a lot of physical paper being passed around—we lag a bit “Just having someone value your idea is important,” in our industry. It’s mind-blowing how manual some of the said Ashley Marrin of Bret-Mar Landscape in Homer processes are, but I feel like everything is changing.” Glen. Her parents started the company and she and her Gannon Siran is an associate designer for Greenwise brother work closely with them. “My mom is very accepting of ideas Organic Lawn Care. He has an Associates degree in Landscape and she likes to collaborate. My dad likes to see the numbers so I Contracting and Management with a focus on design. “You need present my ideas and suggestions with finances in mind. You have to to develop a rapport and set up your ideas. It’s about building figure out people’s personalities and how they view the business.” your reputation—having the data to support your ideas and preAnd that goes back to company culture. A survey by the The Landscape Contractor 20 April 2022
