Ottawa this week: January 12, 2011

Ottawa Chapter this week
Add the Ottawa Chapter page and the LO events calendar to your bookmarks

Ottawa Chapter AGM, Jan. 18
Attend
the Annual General Meeting of
the LO Ottawa Chapter at the RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Drive,
Ottawa, with special guests LO president Tom Intven and executive
director
Tony DiGiovanni. They will demonstrate “Why membership in Landscape Ontario benefits you™
In addition, winning entries from the Awards
of Excellence Program will be showcased. Networking begins at 9:30 a.m., with the meeting starting at 10 a.m. Preston Hardware is the meeting’s sponsor. For more information, contact mwalsh@landscapeontario.com, or click on Ottawa Chapter AGM.

Plan for profit workshop, Jan. 19
The Upper Canada Chapter is hosting Landscape Management Network‘s
“Plan for Profit: Budget and
Management Workshop” from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. on Wed., Jan. 19 at the
Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee. The program will teach you to work
with your numbers to develop a profitable
pricing system, based on your services. Ottawa Chapter members are
welcome to attend this meeting. The cost to LO members is $115. For
further information contact Helen Hassard.

Landscape Industry Certified written test, Feb. 15 at GreenTrade Expo
At GreenTrade Expo 2011, written
tests in all categories of Landscape Industry Certified will take place. To register, visit http://www.horttrades.com/clt, and email completed registration form to rachel@landscapeontario.com or fax 905-875-3942. Don’t delay, registration closes February 2nd.

Register now for GreenTrade Expo, Feb. 16
GreenTrade Expo 2011 registration page has been launched. Featured are MTO Snow Contractors Breakfast and the Profit Builders’ Lunch with Ottawa 67’s general manager and former OHL coach Brian Kilrea. Click here to register. Don’t miss out on limited seating for the Profit Builders’ Luncheon. Booth spaces and sponsorships are still available. For more information, go to www.greentrade.ca, or contact Martha.

Professional Seminar Guide 2011 now available
Check out the Ottawa Chapter Winter course schedule here.

LO this week

Don’t miss your chance to see all the great products at this year’s Congress. The last day of the show is Thurs., Jan. 13 at the Toronto Congress Centre. With over 600 exhibits, the show is a must for anyone in the landscape industry. The buzz has been positive — don’t miss this chance to connect with suppliers and colleagues face-to-face! Thursday also features many seminars, including Charles Vander Kooi, a renowned speaker who has addressed over 200,000 green industry contractors. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Buy your ticket at the door, or visit locongress.com for more details. See you at the show!

Lighting Symposium, Feb. 20
At this year’s Landscape Lighting Symposium, internationally-known designer Jan Moyer will speak
on LEDs, and George Gruel will address how to
properly shoot photographs of night lighting projects. Last year, the symposium sold out, so hurry and register today! Click here to view flyer.

Green Infrastructure Ontario survey
Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition questionnaire is part of an effort to
gauge green infrastructure challenges and opportunities in communities across Ontario. Through a
survey, the group, of which Landscape Ontario
is a partner, hopes to learn what’s
working, barriers faced, and what needs to change. Results will be presented at community
workshops and incorporated into a public report, scheduled for release in fall
2011. The questionnaire takes ten minutes or less to complete, and is submitted
anonymously. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 4.

Try your luck in the Ontario Horticultural Trade Foundation raffle, and help support your industry. Tickets are $20 each; first prize is $5,000, second is $1,000 and third is $500. Only 1,000 tickets were printed. The draw will take place at
Industry Night at Canada Blooms on Thurs., Mar. 17. All proceeds to
go to scholarships and research projects. Stop by booth 5D at Congress to
talk to members of the Foundation and purchase a ticket.

Earn money by taking free safety training program
SCIP is a free training program created by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) that promotes workplace safety, with opportunities coming up in London, Milton and Ottawa. This group focuses on landscaping and related services in partnership with Landscape Ontario. Participating companies receive a one-time fixed five per cent rebate on their firm’s WSIB insurance premiums. To find out more about the program, check out the flyer. Complete and submit SCIP firm application form to Carol Divitkos by Jan. 21, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 200 Front Street West, 11th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3J1, by fax – 416-344-3493, telephone 1-800-663-6639, ext. 3431, or carol_divitkos@wsib.on.ca.

Professional development seminars
Quit hoping for Profit: Plan for it, Jan. 17
Lean and Green: the Landscaper’s Boot Camp for Waste Elimination, Jan. 20
Growing Gretzky’s: How to Find and Develop Superstars, Jan. 21
Installation & Construction Week Jan. 24
Quit hoping for Profit: Plan on it Jan. 24
Landscape Design: An Introduction Jan. 25
Chiseled in Stone-Intro Jan. 26
Estimating to Win Jan. 27
Benchmarking your Overhead Jan. 28
Quit hoping for Profit: Plan on it Jan. 31
Chiseled
in Stone-Inter Jan. 31
Keep
your Engines Running Jan. 31
The
Hardy Woody Plant Jan. 31
Plant
Doctor in the House Jan. 31

To register or get more information, click seminars.

Growers’ Group Short Course, Feb. 9
The annual LO Growers Group Short Course will take place at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington. The program will focus on important production
issues, including weed management, effective IPM strategies and lots of
research updates. This year’s featured speaker is Charles Gilliam from
Auburn University. Pre-registration price is $65 for LO members, $75 for
potential members and $25 for students. On-site registration is $90.
Online registration will be available shortly. Read More.

Rainwater Harvesting Systems course, Feb. 9
A one-day course, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., will focus on the
regulatory and technical aspects of Design, Installation and Management
of Rainwater Harvesting Systems for both residential and
ICI (Industrial, Commercial, Institutional) buildings. The course will take place at Earth Rangers Building,
The Living City Campus at Kortright, Vaughan, and is targeted
at contractors, builders, designers, architects, regulators or anyone interested
in learning about the design, installation and management of rainwater harvesting systems. Cost is $300, plus GST (includes lunch and
a copy of the Guidelines and Design Tool Software). To register, click here.

Building your Prosperity seminar, Feb. 17
The introductory Prosperity Partnership seminars will get you started on to the road of success. The next program is scheduled for Landscape Ontario home office at 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton. It is intended to help green industry members clarify what they excel at and what components of their business need attention and improvement. A seminar workbook will be provided. Take this online survey, to measure your strengths and weaknesses in the six Prosperity pillars. Click here for more information, or to register.

Ontario Turfgrass Symposium, Feb. 23-24
Rozanski Hall, University of Guelph, is the site for the 20th annual Ontario Turfgrass Symposium. Speakers from both industry and academia will provide information pertaining to the symposium’s theme, ‘On the Cutting Edge.’ Sports and recreation staff, lawn care, golf course workers and nursery sod growers will benefit from the many sessions, including pest and disease controls to safety and liability issues in turf environments. Registration for the symposium is available at Symposium, or call 519-767-5000 for more information.