Auburn's Department of Horticulture is hosting the 37th annual Professional LandCare Network Student Career Days on March 7-10.
The event will attract more than 65 colleges and universities from across the country and will host workshops, conferences and competitions. 90 percent of the event is industry lead. Several companies such as STIHL, the number one selling brand of chain saws, and John Deere will come from all around the nation to run the competitive competitions and lead the workshops.
Jack LeCroy, a graduate student in the Department of Horticulture has set aside his personal work to help with this year's PLANET event.
LeCroy said that the ultimate goal of PLANET is to unite all of the people throughout the green industry.
"The green industry includes lawn care, landscape design, landscape architects, irrigation specialist and many other fields," said LeCroy. "This event takes place so those types of people can come get information and learn about other businesses as well as starting their own."
Every year the conference is held at a different school. The PLANET organization came to the Auburn professors six years ago to ask them if they would be willing to host the 2013 event. With only a few weeks until the career days, a year's worth of planning will finally come to life.
About 1100 students are expected to attend the event. The department has rented The Hotel at Auburn and Dixon Conference Center for most of the event to take place. Workshops will also be taking place in the Student Center and competitive events will be at the fields on Donahue Drive as well as the president's lawn. There will be 28 competitive events going on through the course of four days.
Amy Wright, associate professor in the Department of Horticulture, encourages anyone pursuing a career in the landscape industry to attend, not just horticulture students. During the career fair there will be opportunities for people in business, sales or marketing to learn how their industry can relate to the field.
"Even though the main emphasis of this event is for the students it is great for faculty and industry professionals too, then we all get to interact and network," Wright said. "There are plenty of opportunities for everyone."
Case New Holland, world leader in the agricultural and construction equipment business, donated a skid steer to the department that has been specifically designed for Auburn. The machine, used for loading, will be unveiled at Saturday's competitive games.
Established in 1903, the Department of Horticulture is one of eight departments in the college of agriculture. The department is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year and the PLANET Student Career days coming to Auburn is a great way to show how far the department has come.
"It is such a great opportunity for the our department and all of our students to be able to host so many different universities and show them what Auburn is all about, " said Heath Hoffman a volunteer coordinator for PLANET.
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