Category: Uncategorized
Technician Recruitment Fair
Join us Thursday, February 8th between 12-5 at our technician recruitment fair. No appointment needed, come whenever you’re available!
As an extra incentive, we’ll be raffling off $50 gift cards every 30 minutes. You don’t have to be present to win, but you do need to interview.
There are multiple openings for Lawn, Pest, and Multi- App Technician roles.
Join the Blades of Green team so you can reach your full potential, both professionally and personally!
BOG Committees
Blades of Green finds having input from all of our team members imperative. Over the course of the last few years, we have created four committees that our team can join based on their interests to have a direct impact on the decisions made at our company. Each committee has a purpose and meets on a regular basis, virtually, to discuss specific goals. Let’s talk about it!
Culture Committee
The Culture Committee is the most fun of our committees. They are tasked with planning some of our company events, including but not limited to Halftime, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Spirit Week, Technician Appreciation Week, Food Drives, and other holiday events. They are charged with creating new and innovative ideas to increase engagement and keep our company culture alive. The committee is comprised of office and production staff, which makes our events much better because they cater to the interests of all team members.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Committee plans diversity, inclusion, and equity-focused events and company celebrations throughout the year while also shaping our D&I initiatives, policy, and culture. In the past we have hosted a Cultural Potluck and a Juneteenth event. Both of which were incredibly important to our team members. We were able to celebrate our differences and the cultures from which we all come from. We are currently in the process of scheduling a Diversity Summit for the new year, which will provide a wonderful training opportunity in the DEIB space!
Communication Committee
The Communication Committee at Blades of Green was created to ensure that information and updates are shared in a timely and consistent manner throughout the company. It is incredibly important to make sure we are effectively communicating with our entire team, so our committee focuses on increasing interdepartmental communication. This committee meets to discuss our current communication platforms and how they are being used. Can we improve engagement with our internal communications? Can we use a different method to convey important information? There are two training opportunities planned for this month where we will explore common communication challenges and strategies for navigating them, review techniques for effectively conveying messages, identify our personal communication styles, and more.
Safety Team
The Safety Team was created to build a safe working environment for all team members by creating engaging training opportunities, holding all team members accountable, and making sure that we keep each individual safe while they are on the clock, so they can return to their families at the end of the day. We understand that mistakes and accidents happen. It is our mission to reduce the incidences of those mistakes and accidents by having complete transparency with our team and providing the resources to avoid any injuries. Our production team offers industry-specific training throughout the year and the Safety Team collects data from team members on what topics they find the most important. Those topics are then researched and included in our weekly and monthly company-wide emails to help educate our team.
In Conclusion…
Involvement in engagement opportunities like committees in the workplace have been shown to increase employee morale, improve employee retention, enhance communication, foster better teamwork, and more. We will continue to grow our committees and invite team members to join us in making positive changes at Blades of Green.
November 2023 Newsletter
October 2023 Newsletter
Summer Intern Recap
At Blades of Green, we have always been committed to shaping the future of the lawn care and pest control industry. Part of that work has centered on building a partnership with our local school system and the Maryland Department of labor to launch internship and apprenticeship opportunities for students. We are thrilled to announce the completion of our first-ever Summer Internship program. This year, we had four interns with us, all rising Seniors at Anne Arundel County public high schools.
The Summer interns generally completed 135+ hours across the company. One of the key highlights of our internship program was the opportunity for each intern to rotate across the various departments within our company. From day one, they were out in the field, working side by side with our experienced technicians, learning the art and science of lawn care and pest control and seeing the results of the team’s efforts on client properties.
Our interns also spent valuable time in the office, gaining insights into the operations side of our business. From the customer service department, where they learned the importance of client relationship management, to the routing department, where they discovered the intricacies of scheduling and logistics, our interns were exposed to every area of our company.
In addition to their day-to-day responsibilities, our interns played a pivotal role in several strategic projects. Their fresh perspectives and enthusiasm injected new energy into our initiatives, and they provided valuable support to our marketing, soil testing, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
We are excited to share some of their feedback!
Travis W.
My favorite part of being a Summer Intern at Blades of Green was learning so many new things. During my time at Blades of Green, I learned more in a short time than I have in some school situations. I was able to learn something new in a different area of the company every single day. I learned about fertilizer and how it is made, moles and signs of termites, supporting clients in the customer service department, coordinating a route for technicians in the routing department, and so much more.
The area I enjoyed the most was my time in the tree/shrub department, where I learned so many names of different plants and diseases affecting each one, as well as learning about each insect we saw and what plants they each affect.
I am excited to apply what I’ve learned to my STEM program and its biology focus. I have learned so many new things about plants, insects, and pests, including the time they are active, the ecosystem in Maryland, and what environmental factors that affect them. I’ve also learned bits of chemistry with how the fertilizer is made and how it is changed over the year to account for the season. I’ve also learned about the pH of a lawn and how it can be changed using lime and sulfur to get a lawn’s pH to an acceptable level. Blades of Green encouraged me to ask lots of questions throughout my internship, and by doing that I was able to learn so much about this field, what each service does, and why a Technician does a particular thing.
Phoenix S.
I was excited to join Blades of Green for my Summer Internship, and once I began my internship, I knew that Blades of Green was unlike other jobs I have had – in a good way! There is a true sense of “family” at Blades of Green. Managers are understanding and supportive. The Technicians I worked with care about their jobs and delivering the best possible service to clients. This is admirable in a company.
My favorite part of my internship was learning from all the Technicians I worked with. They are all interesting people with all kinds of backgrounds and different paths before getting into lawn care and pest control. The biggest thing I will take with me into my future jobs that I learned at Blades of Green is communication, and the value of that skill. I gained this by observing managers and how they interact within themselves and with their teams. I am lucky to have gotten the coolest internship I could ask for.
Gibran O.
I’d like to talk about just how friendly everyone is. On my first day, I was pretty anxious, as it was my first-ever job, but everyone was so welcoming and excited to have me around. No matter what, the team was there to answer my questions. I don’t think I could have asked for a better work environment, from being out in the field to being in the office, everyone was great. I learned something from every Technician, both about the job and about life lessons as well. I got to run into some friendly clients, too. Overall, my Summer Internship at Blades of Green was enjoyable, and I’d do it all over again if I could. I learned a lot more practical life lessons and leadership lessons than I ever would at school, and it’s really opened my eyes and changed my perspective on some things in life.
Meet Kelsey P., one of our talent & culture specialists
Kelsey is usually the one doing the interviews at Blades of Green but we’ve decided to turn the table and interview her. We hope you enjoy getting to know Kelsey!
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I’m currently in my mom era, so anytime spent with my kids is the best. Taking walks, going to the park, special breakfast at Double T Diner on the weekends, crafts, running around the backyard with my son and the dog, making my baby daughter giggle, going for a swim at the grandparents house – it’s all SO MUCH FUN!
What do you want everyone to know about you?
If you have met me, you already know this, but I have a very outgoing personality! I love to meet new people and learn about them. I also love to help in anyway possible with anything. If there is ever something I can do for someone, I do it. If I don’t have the ability, I find someone who can. I am [almost] always available to chat and if I don’t answer right away, I will get back to you as soon as I can!
Also:
* Pinky promises are sacred
* Taco Bell is the best
* I survive on strawberry lemonade celsius
* iPhone over Android all day every day
* My favorite color is rainbow
* Crocs are life
* I would rather watch 7 episodes of TV over a movie
* There is almost always a candle lit and music playing at my desk
* I love Old Bay and carry some with me almost everywhere I go
* My favorite meal is buffalo chicken anything
If you could have any super power, what would it be?
I would love the ability to cure diseases and remove pain! I think that would be incredible and help a lot of people, including some very close to me.
What is one goal you are currently working on?
I am the wife of a Marine and find it incredibly important to support our veterans! Over the past 8 plus years I have learned all about the things our military men and women go through while they are in the service, but especially the things they deal with once they are out. It is one of my goals to hire more veterans to join the Blades of Green family! Our team is compromised of almost 10% veterans already and I would love to see that number grow.
Why do you enjoy working for Blades of Green?
Something I find very unique about Blades of Green is that we put our humans first. It genuinely feels like team members care about you. You can call anyone on the team and they will help you out, which I did not find in my previous jobs. I have the pleasure of speaking to majority of the people at the company on a regular basis and the word “family” comes up very often. We put a lot of effort into building a culture of inclusivity and I think that is incredible! I am super grateful I get to be a small part in creating that culture and planning events to give back to all of the hardworking individuals here and the local community that helped build us to where we are now!
I look forward to welcoming even more people to the Blades of Green family! I also look forward to growing in my role here as a Talent + Culture Specialist!
Baysox with BOG
On a beautiful, and very hot Saturday night in June, our team enjoyed an outing to a local baseball game at The Bowie Baysox. Food and fun were had by all, and fireworks wrapped up a wonderful evening. Instead of telling you all about how the bases were loaded, there were strikes, outs, and homeruns, we want to share some pictures from the night. Thank you to the Bowie Baysox for hosting our company! We even got to throw the first pitch!
