MORGANTOWN – Pierpont Community and Technical College is hosting a Landscape Technician Bootcamp from April 7-11, in conjunction with the West Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association (WVNLA). A few slots remain and payment is needed by March 24 to reserve your position in the course.
The week-long 40-hour course includes classroom and hands-on experience in landscaping. The class includes an OSHA 10 certification and costs $650 per person. Tuition assistance is available through the WVNLA. Graduates should gain the knowledge and experience to satisfy any green industry employer.
“After months of planning, the curriculum is set, instructors with decades of landscape experience secured, and the equipment for students to get hands-on experience has been readied,” said Julie Robinson, executive director of WVNLA. She said many Mountain State nursery and landscape leaders are offering their time and talents for the boot camp.
Bobby Gompers, owner of Highland Landscaping in Buckhannon, will demonstrate proper use and safe practices for equipment such as rototiller, power blower, edge trimmer, mower and aerator. Students will leave the classroom to practice using the equipment at the West Virginia High Technology Foundation research park nearby.
Michael and Pat Biafore, of Biafore Landscape Development in Morgantown, walk the students through a day of plant identification and layout, bed preparation for plant installation and techniques, pruning, and maintenance of installed plants. Students will create a landscaped bed on campus.
Betsy Raynes, of Riverside Sod Farm in Eleanor, will lead students through unloading a truck bed of sod and installing it on a prepared area, as well as seeding a bare area with grass seed. The team will also cover proper loading and unloading of trucks for a day’s operation, as well as essential equipment to bring to a job for specific tasks. Students will finish the course job-ready, with their own work gloves, pruners, safety glasses and ear protection.
The course concludes on April 11 with a job fair at 1 p.m. Area employers can to interact with the students, accept applications and conduct interviews.
For more information about the Landscape Technician Bootcamp, visit pierpont.edu/career-corporate-training.
