Saluting Branches: Arborists United for Veteran Remembrance, a nonprofit organization, marks its fifth annual day of service with more than 3,500 green industry professionals donating a full day’s work on Wednesday, Sept. 18, to honor America’s military service men and women.

With support from industry leaders, Saluting Branches will care for thousands of trees at 67 Veterans Affairs cemeteries, homes and hospitals across the U.S. this year. Leaders include The Davey Tree Expert Company; Rainbow Treecare; Arborwear; Harmon Foundation; Jarraff Industries; Petzl; Stihl; Teufelberger; Teupen and others. This year, Davey Tree will send more than 90 employees to volunteer at 18 locations across the U.S.

Saluting Branches is a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring veterans by organizing volunteer tree and landscape care for the properties dedicated to them.

Arborjet has awarded the 2019 Taking Root Scholarship to deserving students. Now in its sixth consecutive year, the program offers $10,000 in scholarship to graduating U.S. high school seniors who plan to pursue full-time studies in forestry, plant sciences, horticulture, entomology or a related major at an accredited two-or four-year college.

“We want parents, educators, counselors and the tree care community to join us in encouraging young students to transform their ingenuity and passion into a career in this important industry,” said Russ Davis, president and COO, Arborjet. “Through this scholarship program, we recognize dedicated students whose philosophy aligns with our company’s mission to help save trees and preserve urban forests. This year’s winners have demonstrated achievement in their schools and want to lend their skills and talents to help grow our industry, which we truly value.”

This year’s scholarship recipients plan to major in forestry, agriculture and environmental sciences and are matriculating at the following schools: Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Austin State, Colorado College, North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University and The University of Tennessee.

In other Aborjet news, the company is partnering with Helena to host a special field day and demonstration event to address the emerald ash borer (EAB), which has recently been discovered in Broomfield, Colo.

Media, residents, city officials and local arborists have been invited to attend and watch a demonstration of the treatment process to learn more about the options available to both homeowners and municipalities to protect and save their ash trees. This is part of Arborjet’s “Saving America’s Iconic Trees,” program, the company’s latest initiative to ensure the health and longevity of the country’s trees.

TruGreen has selected Brownstein Group (BG) as its Brand Strategy and Creative Agency of Record.

“We sought an agency that could understand our audience, develop and test value propositions and bring bold, creative ideas that will drive business growth,” said Anthony Conversa, TruGreen’s chief growth officer. “We have ambitious goals, and Brownstein Group demonstrated its ability to not only deliver across all our needs, but to pivot with us as we spearhead a customer-centered transformation of the lawn care business.”

BG will help TruGreen focus on service offerings to motivate loyal and prospective clients. BG will provide ongoing leadership on national marketing initiatives with integrated services including advertising, digital and public relations. Brand campaigns will leverage paid, owned and earned media — as well as the use of AI technology — to maximize TruGreen’s reach and elevate customer experiences.

TreeTown USA will host an inaugural event at its Winters, Calif., facility from Sept. 16 through Sept. 27.

The event will feature an educational element, designed to provide garden center retailers and landscape professionals with a deeper understanding of how and where their plants are grown and the techniques used to make them thrive.

The goal is to introduce guests to plants and applications that go beyond beautifying the environment by serving greater purposes: from earth-cooling groundcovers and pollinator habitats to hydrozones and plants native to the region.

Scag Power Equipment, a division of Metalcraft of Mayville, had its Windstorm stand-on blower voted in to the top 16 in the 2019 “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin Contest.”

The annual competition, presented by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Johnson Financial Group, aims to highlight the state’s manufacturing industry.

“We couldn’t be more grateful for all of the support our Windstorm received during the first round of voting,” said Scag President Chris Frame. “We know that commercial landscapers across the country absolutely love our first stand-on blower, and it’s great to see so many of our employees, friends and family are getting behind it too. Of the 153 wonderful Wisconsin-made products in the running this year, we are proud to be considered in the top 10 percent.”

Navistar will be making a capital investment of more than $250 million to build a new manufacturing facility in the state of Texas.

The investment, which is contingent on finalization of various incentive packages, will bring approximately 600 jobs to the San Antonio area.

“Over the last five years, Navistar has made significant investments to improve our position in the market,” said Troy Clarke, Navistar chairman, president and CEO. “This investment will create a benchmark assembly facility to improve quality, lower costs and provide capacity to support anticipated industry growth, as well as market share gains.”

The new manufacturing plant will have the flexibility to build Class 6-8 vehicles, complementing Navistar’s existing assembly manufacturing footprint, which includes truck assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio, and Escobedo, Mexico. The new investment builds on Navistar’s recently announced plans to invest $125 million in the Huntsville, Ala., engine plant to produce next-generation, big-bore powertrains developed as part of the alliance with Traton.

Navistar plans to break ground on the property later this year and anticipates production to begin approximately 24 months later.

John Deere, which has provided equipment for use at the National Mall since 2013, donated a new fleet of equipment to The Trust for the National Mall.

Anuvia Plant Nutrients entered into a long-term strategic relationship with The Mosaic Co. to help meet the increased demand for its bio-based sustainable and environmentally friendly plant nutrients.

The companies have signed a long-term lease arrangement that provides significant benefits to both parties and the surrounding community, said the company. Anuvia will utilize a portion of Mosaic’s shuttered Plant City phosphate production facility and repurpose existing infrastructure to increase its production capacity to up to 1.2 million tons. Currently, Anuvia’s facility in Zellwood, Fla., produces 80,000 tons annually.

As production increases, the company plans to add approximately 135 new employees with an average salary of $70,000. It will be the company’s second Florida location and is expected to be operational by second quarter 2020.