Employers of all sizes struggle with recruiting, training, and retention. Apprenticeship could be the triple threat you need to help solve these workforce issues.

Recruitment: Prove to applicants and existing employees that you are invested in their career development.

Training: The apprenticeship model is a structured approach to on-the-job learning and related learning via on-line and/or classroom instruction.

Retention: Employers with registered apprenticeship have better retention rates.

Arborist Apprenticeship got its start in Colorado through the efforts of the Colorado Tree Care Sector Partnership, a collective of tree care companies and municipalities dedicated to solving workforce issues and fostering apprenticeship in Colorado. In 2017, the Sector Partnership collaborated with Front Range Community College (FRCC) in Westminster to develop the related learning curriculum delivered to most arborist apprentices in Colorado. In 2019, the first cohort of apprentices began their journey with the first four Journeyworker Arborists graduating in 2022.

Last fall, the largest cohort to date of 17 apprentices started their first year of apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship in the Denver Metro is taking hold, and we are beginning to see new programs in the Western Slope and beyond.

Developing and registering an apprenticeship seems daunting, but with the help of county and state resources, it is not at all difficult. When working with The Apprenticeship Hub, a free resource, the time investment could be less than one day.

What does apprenticeship look like for an employer? First, you need to register your apprenticeship with the state. You then need to identify people within your organization who have the skills to serve as mentors for apprentices. The state requires a 1:1 Journeyworker (mentor) to apprentice ratio. You can then begin to enroll either existing employees or recruit employees to enroll. It is best to work with a consultant with The Apprenticeship Hub to design and register your apprenticeship. The Colorado Tree Care Sector Partnership can help connect you to the right resources.

What does the training look like for apprentices? The majority of the apprentice’s hours are spent on the job learning the skills on the competency checklist. Remember, apprentices are paid employees. Separate from on-the-job training, there are about 440 hours of required related learning that can be delivered either online or in the classroom. The related learning program at Front Range Community College provides a combination of online and classroom learning. The apprentices at FRCC complete an assigned TCIA online module before attending class and then get hands-on training in a controlled environment with an instructor. These in-person classes are scheduled for a total of 13 days intermittently through the late fall and winter. This makes the related learning minimally disruptive to regular production schedules.

Can an employer have a registered apprenticeship without using Front Range Community College to deliver their related learning? Yes! While most employers utilize Front Range because of the reduced administrative burden to deliver this component of apprenticeship, there are programs registered in Colorado using a combination of TCIA modules and in-house or other training programs to deliver their related learning. This means a company does not have to be in the Denver Metro to have a registered apprenticeship.

How long does apprenticeship take? Most tree-care companies with registered apprenticeship in Colorado choose to register a competency-based model. This means once an apprentice attains all the skills on the competency list and has completed related learning, they can apply for their Journeyworker certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor. This process typically takes two to three years to complete.

What is the cost of having a registered apprenticeship? While this can vary, it is important to know there is an abundance of funding available for apprenticeship, making it very affordable. Last year and this year, a grant acquired by FRCC made tuition for the first year of apprenticeship only $150 or less per apprentice. While the tuition assistance through the grant at Front Range won’t always be available, there are workforce dollars available in every county that are easy for employers to obtain for their apprentices. It is important for applicants to connect with their county workforce center before becoming an employee to be eligible for maximum funding.

The bottom line is financial burden should not stop employers from pursuing registered apprenticeship. Grant dollars are available, and your county workforce centers are eager to help you secure them.

It is important to know there are resources and a community willing to help you set up registered apprenticeship at your company. If you would like to know more about starting a registered apprenticeship program at your company, please reach out to the Colorado Tree Care Sector Partnership at [email protected]. We meet monthly via Zoom, and anyone is invited to join our meetings to learn more about apprenticeship or just get help with workforce issues.

Jessi Burg began her journey as an entrepreneur after surviving a series of toxic work environments. Convinced that there must be a way to value employees, pay a living wage and be able to work outside, she built her landscaping company, Pears to Perennials, in 2017. “After graduation from college in 2007, most of my jobs were seasonal in nature— summer camps, environmental education and urban farming,” Burg says. “So, when I opened my own landscaping company in 2017, I had a lot of ideas but was unsure about running my business. Eventually, I figured out the answers I needed and grew my business.”

Being a business owner gave Burg a voice, and she began advocating for the trades and seasonal and gig economy workers. She also learned a lot about the frustrations that can come with running a company, and that led to the launch of her second business, Outgrow Your Garage, which provides low-cost classes for business owners looking to scale.

Through Outgrow Your Garage, Burg offers online courses that teach companies how to grow sustainably, all built around the idea that professional development should fit into a professional’s workday. Burg built Outgrow Your Garage around her passion for accessible, affordable learning and inclusivity in the business world, with a mission to reduce inequity and promote strong communities through collaboration.

Designed for early-stage landscapers, Outgrow Your Garage is a culmination of what Burg wished she had known when she started in the industry, plus everything she has learned since. All courses are affordable, easy to access online and offer practical advice that helps businesses create action plans.

“I started as a landscaper, so the classes are built to solve mobile service business problems,” Burg says. “I won’t tell you how to run your business. My goal is to help businesses ask the right questions and build operations processes effectivel

Turning work into love

“I like to say that, at this point, I’m unemployable,” Burg says. “I left that one single office job because I didn’t like it—but I also wasn’t a very good employee. I like to be able to set my own hours and work on projects that interest me. I like to have the freedom to adapt my services to what’s most needed. Being self-employed means I can set up my ideal work environment.”

With Outgrow Your Garage, Burg gets to work directly with other landscape companies instead of running her own, which has given her the time and flexibility to move to the Western Slope and buy a farm.

“Ten years ago, I would never have thought I would be interested in running an online learning company for business owners,” Burg says. “I adore the problem-solving aspects. I know that I cannot fix systematic problems, but I can give tools to help companies grow.

The trades are often overlooked when it comes to business policy and ideas, Burg says. As a non-field worker, she can both advocate for small landscape businesses and also help them grow. “Good operations mean you can hire a field crew, get them set up in the morning and then do your admin work.”

Burg is building out a course-hosting platform to start licensing Outgrow Your Business content so other businesses, nonprofits, schools, libraries and industry groups can access it. “Outgrow Your Garage is an operations company,” Burg says. “A lot of business owners know what they need, but they do not know how to get there. My favorite thing to say about business is that you should aim for different problems. No business is problem-free, but if your problems are changing year to year, you are learning from your mistakes. And that’s how you build a stable business.”

As any Green industry professional knows even the most meticulously designed and maintained landscapes are in constant flux. So, imagine the unique challenges and incredible rewards when a landscape company not only completes a stunning design-build project in natural mountain terrain, but then has the opportunity to maintain the property over 15 years. Throughout those years, Designscapes Colorado has evolved the landscape to optimize the Colorado mountain environment and its four seasons, winning 11 awards—most recently, a 2022 Gold Award for Residential Landscape Management from the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP).

Set on 23 acres of forested mountain terrain, the property includes a flowing river and pond. The property owners’ two primary goals when designing the outdoor space were to capitalize on the beauty of the creek and adjacent pond by providing views and access to the water and to create an inspiring setting for entertainment and relaxation. Designscapes Colorado installed a bridge across the river and pulled water from it for irrigation. The wraparound driveway has a central garden that holds a variety of plants and a sprinkling of native aspen trees, which have been planted in various other places around the property. Native plants and materials throughout the landscape complement the beauty of the natural environment. The abundance of wildlife in the area made plant selection crucial to help prevent animals from eating the new garden. The array of blossoms that thrive in each season are carefully selected and layered so that as soon as one plant is done putting on a show, another will come to life. This creates an enduring canvas of colors throughout the year.

Spring bulbs, summer blooms

In early spring, pots are decorated and planted for Easter. Then, as the weather starts to warm up, the landscape explodes with yellows, whites and blues as spring bulbs bloom. The client likes bulbs in the scillia, chionodoxa, and allium varieties, but deer- and rabbit-proof daffodil bulbs are also planted.

Perennials across the property peak during the summer and are paired with various annual flowers. Some perennial varieties used throughout the gardens include catmint little Trudy, strawberry barren, dianthus kahori, moneywort, snow-in-summer, sweet woodruff, lady’s mantle, lilacs, hydrangeas and veronica.

Every year, annual flowers are planted in rustic wood pots to add extra dashes of color during the warmer months. The flower varieties change every summer to give the property a fresh look. Designscapes Colorado also provides general maintenance services including regular mowing to help encourage strong root growth in the bluegrass, edging, fertilizing, weed control, pruning, deadheading and more.

Fall and winter interest

When bright summer colors wind down, Designscapes Colorado revamps the annual flowerpots by adding new flowers to existing summer ones or replacing them with fall flowers that can handle cold weather and frost. In the high-altitude environment, it’s essential to select hardy varieties, such as asters, snaps, pansies and violas, because the climate can change to freezing very quickly. Sometimes Designscapes Colorado adds cabbage and kale to the pots as well.

A similar rejuvenation of the annual pots happens in winter, with evergreen branches, tinsel, pinecones and other festive décor included to give holiday interest. Designscapes Colorado also hangs holiday lights and décor while performing winter maintenance services and planning for spring and summer changes.

One thing that sets this property apart, and helped earn it awards, is how Designscapes Colorado experiments with different plant pairings. Playing around with different combinations over the years has allowed for the utilization of local materials and created unexpected beauty.