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PGMS Presents 2011 Awards to Grounds Professionals
The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) honored several grounds professionals with numerous awards as part of their annual Awards Dinner that took place Friday, Oct. 28 during the 2011 School of Grounds Management & GIE+EXPO held in Louisville, Ky. Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) was presented the 2011 PGMS Gold Medal. The PGMS Gold Medal is given to an individual or entity to recognize them for outstanding and long-term achievements and/or contributions to the green industry. The Sustainable Sites Initiative was saluted for its unending support of PGMS and for its prominent campaign to promote sustainability in the green industry and beyond. SITES, an interdisciplinary effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden, was recognized for its programs to create a voluntary rating system and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices. PGMS members, and the campuses they represent, are actively engaged in providing maintenance evaluations to the SITES program and in helping to implement recommendations. More information on SITES can be found at www.sustainablesites.org/. Gerry Dobbs, CGM, landscape services manager at Michigan State University received a President's Award from outgoing President, Joe Jackson, CGM. Each year the PGMS President is asked to give a President's Award to a member or members they feel have shown outstanding service and contributions to the Society. Dobbs has actively participated on the PGMS board for several years, where he currently serves as a Director-at-Large. Dobbs is being honored for his exceptional skills as a grounds manager at Michigan State University. In July of this year, he organized and directed a site visit to his campus that entailed scheduling educational programs as well as leading an in-depth tour of the grounds program at the university. This event drew more than 60 grounds professionals from across the country to the East Lansing community where they spent two days touring the campus. The attendees, and especially PGMS President Joe Jackson, CGM, were awe-struck at the workmanship and leadership Dobbs brings to his grounds program. "He is truly an exceptional grounds professional. His leadership, dedication and commitment to sustainability serve as an example for what professionals in landscape services should strive to be," Jackson said. The PGMS Awards Dinner is an annual event that is held at the end of the School of Grounds Management & GIE+EXPO. PGMS would like to congratulate each award winner for their hard-earned recognition. |
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