PLANET AEF welcomes 4 new ambassadors

The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) named the newest ambassadors of the PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation (PLANET AEF).

The ambassadors reached such a status by pledging $25,000 to the foundation, which awards scholarships to students enrolled in landscape contracting and/or horticulture programs at two-year or four-year colleges and universities. They include:

•           Mike Hommel, Designs by Sundown, Englewood, Colo.;
•           Tom Fochtman, Fochtman Family Trust, Arvada, Colo.;
•           Gary Mallory, Heads Up Landscape Contractors, Albuquerque, N.M.; and
•           Bruce Birdsong, Precision Landscape, Dallas.

In addition, Jesus “Chuy” Medrano of Denver-based CoCal Landscape and Ed Snyder of Greenleaf Services in Linville, N.C., pledged an additional $25,000, elevating them to the platinum ambassador level.

“On behalf of PLANET AEF, I want to thank our newest ambassadors for their generous support of the next generation of industry leaders and for helping us to reach further milestones,” said Fochtman, president of PLANET AEF. “We recognize that this scholarship program, which has funded 864 scholarships, has significantly impacted professionals coming into the landscape industry.”

PLANET AEF is more than halfway through its five-year campaign, developed by the PLANET AEF board of directors, to raise the fund balance from $2 million to $5 million. To date, the fund has grown to $4.1 million.