Windsor this week: November 3, 2010

Windsor Chapter this week
Add the Windsor Chapter page and the LO events calendar to your bookmarks

Salt applications topic at Windsor Chapter meeting, Nov. 18
Join the Windsor Chapter at the Dominion Golf Course, 6125 Howard Avenue, Lasalle, from 5 to 8 p.m. for an informative
presentation about snow and ice/salt applications by Robert Roszell, the
chair of the salt research committee of LO’s Snow and Ice Sector
Group. Dinner is provided from a select menu. For more information,
contact Helen Hassard at helen@landscapeontario.com.

Fanshawe looking for horticulture apprentices
Fanshawe
College is an approved delivery agent for Horticulture Apprenticeship
training through the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities
(MTCU). The
apprenticeship program is on-the-job training, with candidates spending
90 per
cent of their time to acquire their skill set through their employer.
The Fanshawe
program, for both level 1 and level 2, begins Mon., Nov. 29 at
Fanshawe’s main
campus in London.
The employer and candidate must register with a local MTCU office.
Contact the
MTCU at 1-888-562-4769. To find out more about Fanshawe’s horticulture
program,
go to Fanshawe.

LO this week

Free webinar on succession, Nov. 10
SB Partners and
Landscape Ontario are offering a series of free webinars on planning for
succession. The fourth webinar in the series is entitled, Maximize Your
Value. Topics deal with understanding the value drivers and how to
capitalize on opportunities to enhance the realizable value of your
business, along with the different methods used to arrive at your
business valuation. Each webinar runs from 4 to 5 p.m. Access the
brochure online by clicking Registration Form, or to see the brochure, click on Succession.

Cash prize for innovative project
Are you working on an
innovative project or do you have an innovative product?  You could win a cash prize through the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Program. 
Applications must be in by Nov. 15. The awards program includes
the Premier’s Award (up to $100,000), the Minister’s Award (up to $50,000) and
up to 55 regional awards of $5,000 each. For more information, go to Innovation, or call 1-877-424-1300.

Salt application study looking for participants
The Snow and Ice Management Sector Group of Landscape Ontario has commissioned a research study aimed at developing an optimum and defensible standard for salt application rates for parking lots. The research team wants to extend the data collection outside the Waterloo area. Contact Tony DiGiovanni to register for the program at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 2304, or tonydigiovanni@landscapeontario.com. For more information, go to Research Study.

Catch latest Ministry of Labour news

Ontario Ministry of Labour newsletter,
What’s New, contains info on health and safety blitzes, WSIB, swing stages
and more. There is also a link to sign up to receive the
ministry’s newsletter via email. Click on What’s New to link to the Ministry of Labour newsletter.

Is Canada ready for a designated TV channel on gardening?
Landscape Ontario
is reaching out to find out how gardening enthusiasts feel about the present
state of television offerings. The association has developed a quick,
four-question online survey on the possibility of a 24-hour gardening specialty
channel. The survey will run until Nov. 30. To access the survey, click on Garden
TV.

Professional development seminars in November 

Estimating to Win Nov. 11.
CLD Equipped to Design Nov. 11.
Quit hoping for
Profit, Plan on it, Nov. 15
Forklift
Training, Nov. 15

Seal the Deal,
Nov. 18
Workplace of
Choice, Nov. 19

To register or get more information, click seminars.

LO receives good press

This past week Landscape Ontario received some positive press coverage. Three of those can be found in the following links Toronto Star blog, Toronto Sun, Kitchener Waterloo Record.

LO members raise funds for a good cause
Ryan Heath CLP, CLT, provincial board representative for the
Toronto Chapter, has registered an LO team for the Movember
awareness campaign for men’s health, which also acts as
a fund-raiser for Prostate Cancer Canada. To link to the LO Movember
team go to Team.
Contact Ryan Heath by email at ryan@ryanheath.com. To learn more about
the LO initiative, go to Movember.

Save money with Safety Groups

The 2011 Safety Groups Program is set to begin a new season. Designed to promote health and safety in
the workplace, this program provides mentoring, pooling of
resources and sharing of best practices between member firms, their
sponsor and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Member
firms can receive, along with improved safety records, financial
benefits in the form of rebates from the WSIB.
The Safety Groups Program is administered by the WSIB. It has received high approval ratings from
participating members.
For more information, and to download a 2011 Safety Group application
form,
click here.

Road work at LO home office
From
now to mid-November, there will be NO ACCESS to the LO site from
Steeles Ave. The LO home office is only accessible from Derry Road, on
the south. Please see the detour map. Signs are also placed along the detour routes.

Building Your Prosperity, Nov. 18
The introductory Prosperity Partnership seminars will get you started on to the
road of success. This program on Nov. 18 at Landscape Ontario home office, 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, is intended to help green industry members
clarify what they excel at and what components of their business needs
attention and improvement. A seminar workbook will be provided. Cost of
workshop includes lunch. To register click here.
Take this free online survey, posted at www.horttrades.com.

Landscape Industry Certified written test, Dec. 3
At Landscape Ontario home office, Milton, written
tests in all categories of Landscape Industry Certified will take place
on Dec. 3. To access the new Ontario Test Application, click here.

Financial information session for nursery growers, Dec. 7
AAC
Farmers’ Financial is holding a complimentary information session on
how to use the advance payment program for nursery growers, lease
financing options and operations improvement tax credits. The session at the Best Western Beacon Harbourside, Jordan, runs from 7 to 9 p.m. To reserve a seat, email abenedict@accfinancial.ca. If you cannot attend, but want more information, contact ACC Farmers’ Financial at 1-888-278-8807.

New member applications
Express yourself in LO’s online forums