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www.arborage.com Arbor Age / March 2014 9 portfolios in the industry," said Andy Lee, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Valent. "Combining our strengths in technical development, product development and operational activities will enable accelerated delivery of innovative, value-added solutions to the turf, ornamental and aquatics market." Darryl Matthews, general manager for Nufarm in North Amer- ica, added, "We are excited to join forces with Valent to create substantial value for our customers. We each bring complemen- tary strengths to the market, and by combining these resources with customer collaboration, we will generate new and innova- tive solutions that uniquely fit the needs of the market." Under the terms of this agreement, Nufarm will offer the en- tire line of Valent branded products for professional golf course, lawn and landscape, production ornamental and aquatic use under the Valent brand name. This agreement excludes Valent's business in the agricultural crop protection, seed protection, consumer home and garden, industrial vegetation management, forestry, pest control, timber treatment, public health and ani- mal health markets. The U.S. agreement between Valent and Nufarm builds on the many successful distribution collaborations established between Valent's parent company, Sumitomo Chemical Company, Lim- ited, and Nufarm Limited since Sumitomo's strategic investment in the global Nufarm Limited business in 2010. Echo and Kubota announce U.S. dealer alliance Echo Incorporated and Kubota Tractor Corporation an- nounced a U.S. dealer alliance aimed at growing their combined sales within the commercial turf and consumer lawn and garden markets. As part of the alliance, Echo and Shindaiwa will become the preferred brands of handheld outdoor power equipment within the Kubota dealer network. The alliance also names Echo Bear Cat as a preferred brand of chippers, shredders, log splitters and wheeled trimmers within the Kubota dealer network. "There is a tremendous amount of synergy between our com- panies and brands," said Mike Best, Echo VP of sales & marketing. Echo Incorporated and Kubota Tractor Corporation both have parent companies headquartered in Japan, both are known for engineering and manufacturing professional-grade products, and both target commercial users and large-land owners. "By leverag- ing our common strengths, both companies will be well positioned for future growth in the months and years ahead," added Best. According to Todd Stucke, Kubota VP of agriculture and turf equipment, the Kubota dealer network includes more than 1,100 sales and service locations. "We are excited about the opportu- nity to bring Echo, Shindaiwa and Echo Bear Cat products into the Kubota dealer network," said Stucke. "These brands are well known in the market, and they allow Kubota dealers to position a complete lineup of products to commercial landscapers and homeowners alike." A series of joint sales and marketing programs will be rolled out in 2014, at which time Kubota dealers can begin expanding their customer product offerings to include Echo, Shindaiwa and Echo Bear Cat products. Nation's largest landscape industry recruiting event heads to Colorado State University Registration is now open for companies to attend the larg- est recruiting event in the landscape industry. PLANET Student Career Days — the national collegiate landscape competition — will take place March 20–23, 2014, at Colorado State Univer- sity, in Fort Collins, Colo. Student Career Days brings together approximately 850 hor- ticulture and landscape students from more than 65 schools to test their skills in real-world, competitive events, and to inter- view with landscape, lawn care, irrigation, and other companies at the Career Fair, which will be held on Friday, March 21, 2014. Each year approximately 60 companies participate in the Career Fair where they have exclusive access to the nation's top landscape industry students. Many of the industry's largest cor- porations attend Student Career Days. Student Career Days Chair, Ed Furner, Landscape Industry Certified, is a former student attendee of the event and describes it this way, "This is the largest recruiting event of its kind in the landscape industry. It helps build careers and it exposes stu- dents, to the vast opportunities and different types of companies that are in our industry." Many of the industry's most influential companies sponsor competitive events at Student Career Days because they believe they are making an investment in the future of the industry. Stihl is the event's Platinum sponsor. "We at Stihl believe that the future of the landscape industry is bright. Investing in it is critical and we are proud to sponsor the PLANET Student Career Days and its mission to inspire and prepare young people for their future," said Roger Phelps, Landscape In- dustry Certified, Stihl promotional communications manager. For more information about sponsorships, securing a booth at the Career Fair, or registering for the event, visit www.studentcareerdays.org. Arborjet launches $50,000 grant program in partnership with the TREE Fund Arborjet announced the designation of signifi cant resources to work more closely with university extension services and their communities. The cornerstone of this effort is the sponsorship of a new $50,000 grant program to be managed by the TREE (Tree Research and Education Endowment) Fund. The TREE Fund works to sustain the world's urban forests by supporting new scientists in the field via funding for scien- tific research, education programs, and scholarships related to arboriculture and urban forestry. Arborjet is proud to partner with the TREE Fund to offer these grants for university exten- sion education and for the education of other natural resource outreach professionals, green space managers and 501(c)(3) organizations that serve communities impacted by the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). To further support the grant program, the company has also appointed Arborjet's Technology Advancement Manager Dr. Don Grosman, Ph. D. to serve as Liaison to State University Extension.