BASF Awards Program Recognizes Innovative Business-building Approaches

“The Pendulum Award focuses on three categories including marketing, employee management and customer relations,” said Bob West, editor of Lawn & Landscape. “We expect this program to uncover truly inventive and effective ideas that can benefit everyone in the lawn care industry.”

Tom Delaney, executive vice president of PLCAA, said, “We’re pleased to support and be part of this initiative. Education is a key focus of PLCAA and sharing new ideas can only help to forward that mission.”

A blue-ribbon panel of independent judges will select three winners in each of the following categories:

• Marketing of lawn care services
• Recruiting, management and retention of employees
• Customer relations

Lawn care operators can submit their ideas in any or all of the categories by completing the entry form on the BASF web site, at www.turffacts.com/turf/pendulumawards/pendulum_award.asp. An independent panel of judges will select three winners from each category, and the awards will be announced at PLCAA’s next annual dinner at the Green Industry Conference in November 2001. Winners will receive a plaque featuring the image of a forward-swinging pendulum that symbolizes their forward-thinking concepts. They will also receive customized press materials to help them publicize their award in their own communities. Feature articles in Lawn & Landscape and ProSource, the PLCAA newsletter, will be published to gain national industry exposure for the creative ideas.

The deadline for entries for the 2001 Pendulum Awards is September 1, 2001, but industry professionals are encouraged to submit entries immediately.

For further information, visit the BASF web site at www.turffacts.com. The BASF Agricultural Products business in North America, Specialty Products Department, markets a wide range of products and active ingredients for the forestry, turf, ornamental, pest control and industrial vegetation markets. Its headquarters are in Research Triangle Park, N.C. It is a unit of the BASF Global Agricultural Products Division located in Mount Olive N.J.