Stay Green President-CEO Chris Angelo says the PLANET AEF affiliation, in which Stay Green pledged $25,000 to support scholarships for university students studying landscaping and horticulture, is a significant step toward ensuring a quality talent pool for the industry’s future.

“We strongly believe in the general importance of quality education, and our industry is no exception: It’s vital to Stay Green and our clients that we are able to continually recruit new team members who have studied landscaping, horticulture and related topics, to ensure that we remain on the cutting edge of our industry,” says Angelo.

PLANET is a national trade association representing more than 100,000 landscape industry professionals. Its members are committed to the highest standards in education, best practices and business professionalism. PLANET AEF (www.landcarenetwork.org/foundation) was created in 1998 to provide academic assistance to promising students pursuing green industry careers. The organization has given more than $650,000 in scholarships to 649 students.

Stay Green is one of three landscape companies to become new PLANET AEF ambassadors in 2013. The other two are Farmside Landscape & Design of Wantage, NJ, and the Wilson-Oyler Group of Santa Rosa.

PLANET AEF President Jim McCutcheon says the new ambassadors’ support is a significant step as the organization seeks to achieve its 2011 “5-by-5” initiative, seeking to raise its scholarship fund balance from $2 million to $5 million in five years. The fund has now reached $3.1 million.
Says McCutcheon: “On behalf of PLANET AEF, I want to thank our newest ambassador companies for their generous support of the next generation of green industry leaders and for helping us to reach further milestones to achieve our ‘5-by-5’ initiative.”

Angelo added that Stay Green is proud to support the scholarship foundation and to promote a bright future for the green landscape industry.

“We’re helping the next generation of potential Stay Green experts who are gaining expertise in important subject areas, such as sustainability, drought-tolerant landscape design and water use efficiency,” Angelo says. “Their education and expertise will be vital as these key areas of our industry continue to advance and evolve in the years ahead.”

About Stay Green Inc.
Stay Green Inc. provides award-winning landscape maintenance, design/build, tree care, and plant health care services for premiere residential, commercial and industrial properties throughout Southern California. Info: www.StayGreen.com.