About 300 industry representatives are expected to be on hand to observe and meet with potential employees. Students will compete in 21 competitive events including plant identification, business management, exterior landscape design, irrigation design and troubleshooting, skid steer operation, trencher operation and woody ornamental plant identification. Workshops and seminars on topics such as arbor culture and faculty panels will also be presented to participants.
Competitive events are open to the public and are free.
Most competition will take place in facilities on Colorado State's main campus. Elizabeth Mogen, associate professor of landscape design and construction and a co-organizer for the University, said this is the second ACLA Student Career Days event Colorado State has hosted. Besides giving students an opportunity to demonstrate their marketable skills and learn the latest industry interests and techniques, the gathering gives sponsor representatives and those from the green industry an opportunity to meet and discuss similar issues from the industry side. Thursday and Friday will consist principally of briefings, instructions on the competition and student-industry meetings, with competition beginning Friday afternoon and continuing through Saturday. The event will close with an awards ceremony Sunday morning.