The ELITE Awards honor excellence in the landscape industry. As you may have seen earlier this week, The ELITE Awards nomination period and nomination deadline are being delayed until spring 2021.

Covid restrictions prevent large in-person gatherings, which prohibit the ELITE Awards reception from being held in spring 2021 as usual. One of the most valuable aspects of the ELITE Awards program is gathering with colleagues in the industry to honor those who have made excellent contributions. Unfortunately, we will not be able to do this in spring of 2021. We are aiming to have an in-person gathering for the ELITE Awards in fall 2021.

H-2B program suspension is extended by White House proclamation

As you may have heard, the H-2B guest worker program has been suspended by a White House proclamation. The proclamation extended Trump's original order, which was set to expire December 31, 2020, until March 31, 2021. You can read a good summary of this action here. The H-2B Workforce Coalition will be working with the Biden administration to rescind this order.

In the meantime, I have shared below a valuable summary from ALCC member Pabian Law on what this means for the landscape industry.

Sunday evening, President Trump signed the omnibus appropriations/COVID-19 stimulus bill.  As you know, the bill includes the current provisions of law related to the H-2B program.  Specifically, the bill:

Landscape company owners should be aware of scams and online threats to their business and their clients. In 2020, as more business is conducted online and consumers are using online ordering and payment for the first time for many services, cybersecurity is more critical than ever. Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated, leaving even savvy internet users vulnerable. 

As pandemic restrictions continue to prevent large-scale events, ProGreen EXPO has pivoted to become the ProGreen EXPERIENCE. The conference and trade show for the Rocky Mountain region will take place February 22-25, 2021 online. The schedule is being confirmed, and registration will open soon.

As we look to close the books on 2020, there is still work to be done to get ready for 2021--even if snow removal is not on your service list. Here are two things you can do to help ensure a great start in 2021:

Construct an operating budget for 2021
For many companies, this is on the ‘to do’ list but gets pushed back and postponed until the question becomes “why bother?” Make this the year that doesn’t happen!

The Sustainable Landscape Management Colorado initiative continues to train landscape professionals despite the setbacks of 2020. The top three participating companies have a total of 57 employees that earned SLM certificates since the program began just over a year ago. Click through to get to know SLM "by the numbers" in a 2020 wrap-up infographic.

Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) has announced its board of directors for 2021. Voting was completed for the 2021 leadership and new at-large director on December 4, 2020.

Please note that the ALCC offices will close at noon on Wednesday, December 23. Please contact staff with any questions or member-related needs before then. The offices will be closed through January 3, 2021. We will return on Monday, January 4. 

Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) invites green industry professionals to submit their input regarding legislative priorities for 2021.

ALCC is one of seven trade associations in the Green Industries of Colorado (GreenCO) alliance, which develops a list of topics and proposed legislation that will be the focus of lobbying and advocacy efforts each year. The areas of focus in 2020 were water, industry regulation, infrastructure funding, sales and use tax, pesticide regulation, and education.

Current Colorado drought conditions indicate that water will continue to be a priority in 2021. But laws and regulations affecting green industry businesses, including sales and use tax, pesticide regulation, and employment laws, are an ongoing concern.

Industry professionals can submit their suggestions for 2021 focus areas and priorities using this form.