Last week, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance on accommodating those with “long COVID.” The guidance states “that long COVID can be a disability under Titles II (state and local government) and III (public accommodations) of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), and Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Section 1557).”

“There are better places to start a landscape business than Buena Vista,” says Josh Bearss who founded Bearss Landscaping in 2005. He admits the high mountain desert climate is challenging. “It’s windy and there are lots of deer and plenty of giant boulders in the ground. It’s tough for plants. It takes a lot of learning to create landscapes that work here.”  

Consumer spending on home services recovered faster than all other categories and has exceeded pre-pandemic levels from June 2020 onwards, finds a mid-year report from home services website Jobber.

There have been a lot of moving pieces and shifting strategies around legislation affecting the H-2B visa program. At times, there has been legislation aimed at eliminating the H-2B program altogether—all in the last 30 days or so. But the Colorado landscape industry has worked together and participated in lobbying strategy.

When it comes to the H-2B visa program, the landscape industry is the biggest user of H-2B visas in Colorado. Ongoing labor shortages plague the industry, and business leaders are exploring many options for H-2B reform to help bridge the labor gap and increase the availability of seasonal foreign workers to fill jobs that are unable to be filled locally.

UPDATE: SBA has announced the opening of the PPP forgiveness portal: https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/jul/28/sba-announces-opening-paycheck-protection-program-direct-forgiveness-portal. Borrowers with PPP loans of $150,000 or less can apply directly to SBA for forgiveness through the portal, which opens August 4th.

US Small Business Association (SBA) is launching a PPP loan forgiveness portal that is expected to expedite some forgiveness applications. Borrowers may be able to apply for forgiveness directly with the SBA with this new platform.

What motivates consumers when shopping for landscape services? Lawn & Landscape asked homeowners in a recent survey. The results, available in their Grow the Market report, demonstrate that the importance of and desire for professional landscape and lawn care services has grown in the last five years.

In recent weeks, there has been much legislative activity around the H-2B visa program. Andrew Bray of NALP, in his weekly email The Advocate, provided regular updates on this activity. Below you can find several of his updates that detail the story behind the whirlwind of actions in support of and against the guest worker program.

The H-2B visa program has seen a flurry of legislative activity in DC this week. Advocates for H-2B were pleased to find the returning worker exception included in the upcoming fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill, though it was quickly removed. The landscape industry and other industries reliant on H-2B turned their focus back to a language change on discretionary visas from “may” to “shall.”

But additional language in the bill remains a concern among H-2B supporters. The H-2B Workforce Coalition issued this statement, along with a call-to-action for supporters of the program:

Homeowners spent more on home renovations and décor in 2020, according to the recently released 2021 Houzz & Home Study. Exterior work, outdoor living, and lawn/garden projects grew in popularity and the amount spent on each project increased as well. For example, median spending on deck and porch improvements projects grew by 25% over the previous year.