UF/IFAS Treasure Coast Green Industries Working Group— Meeting the Educational Needs of the Green Industry

摘要

The care and maintenance of landscaped green spaces along the Treasure Coast is a multi-million dollar industry with hundreds of businesses and thousands of employees. This includes, but is not limited to, architects, designers, growers, installers,irrigation Specialists, maintenance professionals and pesticide and fertilizer applicators. Many of these professionals need specific licenses in order to perform their job duties legally and correctly, or hold licenses that require annual training for continuing educational umits (CEUs). The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension is the appropriate organization to offer such training, but in recent years, it has become exceedingly difficult for one county to offer all of the necessary instruction to meet the needs of this clientele. The objective of the working group was to form a regional team of extension educators that would offer various outreach programs to the landscaping industry in order to meet their needsfor education, certification, licensing and CEUs. This team included extension agents from Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties. Three main teaching components are offered via the Treasure Coast Green Industries Working Group (TCGIWG)