MENUMany industries confer certifications on professionals who have met certain criteria. These credentials, usually sponsored by trade associations or professional societies, require candidates to successfully complete an examination and have a certain amount of experience in the field. Some require a specific degree as well. The tree and landscape industries have a number of voluntary certifications available to professionals in those fields. Here at Birchcrest, we encourage our people to become certified.
Once a person has met all the requirements for certification and the designation has been conferred on them, they aren’t set for life. They need to maintain that certification by earning a specified number of continuing education credits over a certain time period. Most are every two or three years.
Here at Birchcrest, nine members of our tree care team are Certified Arborists (CA) and one has gone one step beyond and earned the Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA) designation. These certifications are administered by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).
Nine members of our landscape team are Certified Nursery & Landscape Professionals (CNLP). This credential is administered by the New York State Nursery & Landscape Association. The CNLP is administered by state associations because of the dramatic differences in landscape designs and plant materials in every region of the country. If a landscape professional were to move here from the desert southwest, or vice versa, they’d have to become familiar with an entirely new plant palette and design style.
A dozen team members are Certified Pesticide Applicators. This stringent designation is a state license rather than an association certification. Becoming association certified is completely voluntary but anyone who gets paid to apply pesticides in New York State must be a Certified Pesticide Applicator or face hefty fines.
Certified professionals are encouraged to display their accomplishments by using the certification initials after their names. Some associations offer their certified professionals shirt/jacket patches and hard hat logos, as well as artwork they can print on their business cards. Additionally, the associations actively police unauthorized use of these identification items.
Our professionals are too modest to wear their accomplishments on their sleeves. That’s why I’m posting this blog – to share our staff members achievements and assure you of the highest standards of professionalism when you depend on Birchcrest Tree & Landscape.
