Looking for a Pesticide Mentor in Virginia

[LawnTeam]

Hi,
I'm developing a training program for a landscaping company in Hampton Roads, Virginia and am trying to find a licensed commercial pesticide holder willing to mentor me in the core areas and turf. I have a strong OSHA and chemistry background and have recently found myself back in the landscaping industry in a more permanent capacity. Would be great if I could find someone who is retiring or isn't in our immediate competitive area who would be willing to share their knowledge. Having more hands-on experience would really help me make sure that as I help the guys prepare for the Virginia testing I understand the realities of day-to-day activities.
Erin
'information vampire/geek":D

[Steve]

Welcome to our forum!

I have seen members on here from your area in the past.

Are you going to also be instituting procedures and policies for the company when it comes to fertilizers and pesticides?

[LawnTeam]

Hi, Steve,
My original goal is to develop a training program. I've done training and journalism for 25 years. Yes, I'm developing a complete program that will make it easy to study for the exams and hopefully increase compliance. After working with OSHA issues for quite some time, i developed a huge respect for safety. My husband is also involved in safety professionally.
After a single day of making calls, I was able to enlist the help of a professor and a safety inspector. I have a new mentor and am quite pleased**truly thought it would be harder. It's been a while since I've done the hands-on day-to-day so wanted to make sure that everything goes smoothly. it's really been fantastic to get this feedback, when at first I got some pretty strange answers relating to me being a woman. No matter, it rolls off and I met some fantastic people who work for the agriculture dept who bend over backward to help. The best part is that it won't cost my employer a thing for the training. I'm so thankful to have found a way for everyone to get certified.

[Steve]

That is fantastic! Keep us posted on how all this goes.

Also, one of our newer members had or is currently involved with this kind of training. His screen name is grass2cash. Maybe send him a private message and see if he can help further. There is an article on his green applicator's training site here (http://www.turfmagazine.com/article-6426.aspx).

[LawnTeam]

Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.