For over 10 years, our partners, staff, colleagues and I have continued to forge an idea or concept in the area of tree care.  This concept is that training, and education for tree workers is important for the safety of the workers and the preservation of trees.

Training has always been an important aspect of any successful organization. Historical evidence shows that training tree workers has been going on almost since the very beginning in North America and long before that in Europe and other parts of the world. People seem to have a connection to trees that is almost inexplicable and for some of us this connection causes us to become arborists and to dedicate our lives to the care and preservation of trees, making it our livelihood.

In a recent television interview, where I answered questions pertaining to a colleague who won an international award last year at the ISA show in Providence, I answered questions that made me seriously stop and ponder why I do what I do as a profession.  I realized why I have chosen this business of arboriculture education for long over a decade and why I have worked as an arborist for over two decades.  It is because I love to train and educate others to understand trees and safely and properly care for them.

Many friends of mine have said that understanding how a tree grows and functions is the first step in understanding how to care for it. The same premise holds true for so many aspects of tree care. Climbing and rigging is much safer and easier if all involved with the job at hand understand various concepts of physics.  A basic knowledge and grounding in the science of physics goes a long way to improving safety, productivity and longevity. Using a chainsaw and felling trees is another major aspect of tree work that overlaps into many other trades. Understanding how a chainsaw cuts and the reactive forces created are other examples where training and education will make a big difference in the areas of safety and productivity.

So often in these busy times as new staff come and go, time may not be invested on why to do a task a certain way, but rather focus is only put into how the task should be performed.  Workers that do not understand the reasons and concepts behind performance criteria required of them will show results of boredom, accidents, and no-shows.  We call this, ‘training without education’.  As a result, many employers and business owners face a decision of whether to invest in a person who may or may not remain in their employee long term. 

ArborCanada’s approach to connecting training and education with respect and enjoyment is one of the secrets to our success. In open enrollment courses, where attendees come from all around and take a general course, or in focused programs customized for a specific clients work activities, ArborCanada training and education creates a win-win investment in a short time. In one or two day’s attendees are inspired, trained and educated. They have fun and learn more, faster. Many times attendees of our programs leave motivated and inspired to stay with arboriculture a while, several years or a lifetime. In my case, this type of investment set my career path.

Attendees from our programs and past customers have experienced this to be true many times, not just because our curriculum is current and relevant and our instructors are leaders in arboriculture in many respects, but because we are doing what we love and are passionate about. In fact, anyone who pursues their heart and passion is destined to succeed. Many of us understand this well and have inspired and motivated others to stay in the tree business because of it.

We at Arboriculture Canada Training and Education – from registration, workbook production, certificate generation, data entry, web design, our corporate partners, assistants and instructors – are passionate people doing what we love -because we choose to.

Thank-you to our customers who come back to us for training year after year and to everyone who chooses to work with us and support us. We look forward to seeing all of our old friends in 2010 and meeting many new ones.

Dwayne Neustaeter

President