Environmental Insights

Most landscape designers have to work in the industry for a while before they start earning accolades. Not Robert Arrington. Robert got his first taste of the landscape industry in FFA while in high school, where he was part of both the nursery landscape and floriculture teams. He had the chance to compete in the national competition for nursery landscape where the team placed 3^rd overall. Robert says his experience drawing up a landscape plan to meet guidelines for the competition was pivotal to his decision to pursue a career in the landscape industry.

Looking for a job is a full time job in itself. And because it’s a job with zero upfront benefits and no pay (yet), it’s tempting to simply grab job opportunities as they arise and hope they will work out OK. But taking a bit of time to sort out in advance whether a company is a good match for you helps both you and your prospective employer.

When you walk into an interview knowing a company is a good fit, it gives you a boost of confidence that will help you stand out from the crowd. And, finding a work environment that suits your personality and working style will make a big difference in how fulfilled you feel once you actually start working there—as well as advancement and career opportunities down the road.

At T. Lake, we’re busy. Really busy. Which is why we’re always interested in speaking with potential new hires—but to be quite open and frank, only if there’s a good chance we’ll be a happy match. So before you reach out to us, here are a few job seeking tips to help you decide if T. Lake is the right company for you.

So here we are again: poised at the end of another year, and staring down the barrel of the next. 

A couple weeks back we posted an introduction to our newest team member- our Phantom 4 drone. And I have to admit, since the Phantom arrived it’s been serious drone fever around here. Drones are not only fun and cool, but that little gizmo is also proving to be one of the most useful gadgets ever invented, from a landscape company’s perspective.

But, there’s another side to drone ownership.

As a landscape company, we have to satisfy lots of different regulatory agencies. There is a long list of things a landscape services company must do to stay legal and compliant. Many people aren’t aware of what goes into landscape industry compliance. This is unfortunate, because not every landscape company does all these things consistently—and when they don’t, it can put their clients at risk.

We’re always excited to welcome new team members, especially when they bring diversity and new skills to our team. This fall, we are extra pumped to introduce the newest and most uniquely talented member of the T.Lake team: our brand new DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 quadcopter drone!

The holidays. Gotta love ‘em, but boy, can they take a toll on you if you don’t look out.

Trust. It’s a rare commodity any more. If you can believe the research, trust in business hovers just over the 50% mark these days.

 

They say variety is the spice of life. If that is true, then for someone who has held the same job for 20 years, it would be safe to say that Bob Johnson is a well-seasoned guy.

Dog days are upon us. From the time I was old enough to understand conversation I understood at the core of my being what the term “dog days” meant: it was those days in late summer when the temp hit 95˚ or better, the humidity went over 95% and the gnats came out in droves. The dogs would just lie  under the porch in the shade and pant, not even moving their tails until long after dark.

Since T. Lake’s inception in 1990, we’ve had a lot of employees come and go. Many of them didn’t last too long; we have a habit of weeding out the ones that don’t have enough grit or have too many vices. But we also attract our share of hardy souls who thrive on hard work, good old fashioned horse sense, and a job well done. These are the people who tend to stick around, and we appreciate them more than we could ever express in words.

That said, a few words of appreciation are always in order. So I thought it would be nice to spotlight a few of these individuals here, to recognize them for their excellence and the value they bring not only to T. Lake and the customers we serve, but to each of us as people and to the greater communities to which we belong.

And the very first person to spring to mind as a deserving recipient of this kind of recognition is our longest tenured employee, John Truman Berryhill II.