It may at times seem like there’s no help in sight for the chronic workforce shortage that most industry companies face. But many groups and associations have been working on state and local initiatives to help attract new workers to the industry.

In October, the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) hosted 40 executives from industry trade associations across the U.S. and Canada to discuss how industry businesses can attract employees.

The group identified focus areas for the industry to work together on, including changing the narrative so the industry becomes the occupation of choice, not default, that attracts the brightest and the best; collecting wage, salary and benefits information to accurately represent compensation; creating a national TV presence to promote landscape and lawn care as a career; using certification and apprenticeship programs to promote our industry through skilled trade programs; looking to the future by educating children about the industry; and creating a community for recruiters to share ideas.

It’s important for every landscape and lawn care company to spread the word about the industry’s great career potential. Aside from just recruiting at job fairs, you can work with young students, offer apprenticeships and learn about the workforce issue at your state association. You also can support NALP’s Industry Growth Initiative, which seeks to attract candidates to the national LandscapeIndustryCareers.org job board. For us to solve this problem—or to some, a crisis—it has to be an all-industry initiative.