Because workforce is the Number 1 issue facing landscape firms, ALCC is urging both users and non-users of the H-2B program to reach out to their U.S. congressional representatives to call for immediate release of all supplemental visas that are available. “Any effort to bring more people into the industry helps ease the pressure on everyone,” says ALCC CEO John McMahon.

“Now that the cap of 33,000 H-2B workers nationwide has been met, it’s critical to put pressure on Congress to release all supplemental visas that are available,” says McMahon. He also notes that ALCC is currently working on the returning worker exemption to have key Colorado representatives champion legislation before Congress on the industry’s behalf. This exemption would allow workers who have been counted sometime during the previous three years NOT to be counted against the cap in a successive year. Doing so allows more guest workers into the workforce.

In mid-February, a delegation of four volunteers from ALCC member firms joined McMahon for a fly-in to Washington, D.C., sponsored by National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). They met in congressional representatives’ and senators’ offices to gain support for the H-2B program. 

They were also joined by David Byrd, a representative of The National Ski Area Association (NSAA), who spoke to the impact workforce shortages are having right now on Colorado’s ski industry with shortened seasons for ski areas and the drastically limited services their hospitality sector can offer. “NSAA support pointed not only to their industry’s need for H-2B workers, but that they are critical to workforce needs all year long and impact more than one Colorado industry,” said McMahon.