New Space Offers New Opportunities
By Alex Subak, School Director, ACRT
Arborist Training
ACRT Services, a nationwide utility service consulting firm offering expert, independent consulting solutions to utilities and associated organizations throughout the United States, including vegetation management consultation and training, customized safety courses, technology solutions, and utility metering services, recently completed our relocation to a new corporate headquarters in Stow, Ohio. Our new space provides us with an additional 9,000 square feet of space for our growing organization.
ACRT, a division of ACRT Services, focusing on vegetation management services, also has oversight of ACRT Arborist Training — a sub-brand that provides entry-level through advanced arborist classes and certifications for line clearance companies, government agencies, tree care companies, municipalities, and individuals around the nation. ACRT Arborist Training offers classes and workshops year-round, with training typically occurring on-site. Our new space supports the continued growth of our training division and opens the door for more students to receive training on-site than was possible at our prior location.
On April 1st,
2019, ACRT Arborist Training held the inaugural training class at our new
headquarters. The training class was a Basic Arborist workshop where instructor
Luke Sidey taught a variety of topics including introductory tree biology,
knots used in tree work, entry-level climbing techniques and safety standards
from the ANSI Z133 among many other subjects.
While most of the training classes we provide are private workshops for organizations
across the country, we recognize that individuals need an opportunity to
complete the training that employers and OSHA require. Our instructors spend
most of their time on the road from California to New York, but they always
enjoy the chance to come in to the corporate office and provide training for
individuals who need it.
Even though we have had to adapt to the challenges of moving an entire
operation to a new space, the environment we are using now offers much more
room for the instructors and students to work in the classroom, or the field.
Say the instructor makes a comment about tree identification; a student asks a
question and the entire class could walk outside to see a real-life example of
what was being discussed. We also have a local city park that provides us
access to their grounds for training purposes, giving us a variety of trees to
practice climbing.
The classroom itself is bigger, and in this case bigger is better. With two large
television monitors at the front of the room, students can follow along with
the instructor’s presentation. Sometimes that is a knot tying diagram that the
students will study and then be tested on, other times it is a safety video
that is a sobering reminder of the inherent danger of tree work. In another
case, students can diagram their own understanding of electric generation in the
line clearance course by using both our glass board or white board at the front
or back of the room, giving the classroom a dynamic and student-centered
feel.
Despite being in a new place, the ACRT Arborist Training principles remain the
same; we provide industry-leading arborist training to individuals and
companies in an effort to promote safety and education. Tree work can be
dangerous and ensuring that a greater number of arborists have the training
they need to get home to their families is on the forefront of our instructor’s
minds. Students, especially those in the Basic Arborist course, are largely
self-funded and interested in getting into an industry that they are passionate
about. By the end of the class, the vast majority of students state how much
they didn’t even know they were missing about the industry. They report feeling
equipped to do the tree work they had in mind and energized to pass on the
safety focus our instructors instill in them.
The new training
space is finally allowing us to schedule more classes for individuals at our
location than ever before. We are pleased to announce that our Advanced
Arborist course has been added to the schedule. Keep an eye on the ACRT
Arborist Training website for the addition of new course offerings. It is
important to keep the safety, education, and training conversation going. Be
sure to reach out with any questions. To learn more about ACRT Arborist
Training, visit, training.acrt.com.
Alex Subak holds a Bachelor of Arts in
English and History, a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a teaching
certificate from Kent State University. Alex has been with the Arborist
Training department of ACRT since 2018.
