WV Nursery & Landscape Association sponsoring training programs

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) - According to French Creek Freddy spring is right around the corner and with that West Virginias landscaping industry is going to be looking for more hired help.

West Virginias landscapers are looking at a busy season ahead of them.

Businesses like Highland Landscape and Nursery in Buckhannon will be looking for hires and it’s owner Robert Gompers says they want to give a helping hand to get workers on board.

“It’s a growing industry -- you can make a lot of money and there’s definitely good career pathways available,” said Gompers.

9 community colleges and tech schools across West Virginia are offering an intro training course for landscaping.

One of these 40 hour bootcamps is being offered through Peirpont Community & Technical College and that kicks off at the beginning of April.

The classes will help you prune up on skills like gardening, design, and lawn maintenance.

“They’re going to prepare you for your first day on the job, your first three weeks of work -- so you know what to do, what not to do, and how to do it,” said Gompers.

The cost for the course is $390, but landscapers can get reimbursed for up to half of that when sending employees to this training.

Upon the completion of this training participants will also get an OSHA 10 certification for the safety training they receive.

Gompers says he’s hopeful these incentives will help people get back into the workforce.

“So we, along with all of the other industries in West Virginia, struggle with labor participation right now,” said Gompers. “A lot of employers are struggling to find help, so we thought that we could help the situation to train people to come into our industry.”

For more information and to learn about other scholarships for this program visit wvnla.org.

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