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15 <br /> 4. Employment and Job Training <br /> In 2015 the Treeist was a sole proprietorship with only a couple of employees. Each year we <br /> have grown, largely in an effort to keep up with the growth in the demand for our services, a <br /> growth almost entirely fueled by current clients through word-of-mouth referrals, as well as <br /> through our online reputation. We have been able to double our number of employees since <br /> 2020, and currently employ 26 people, 23 of which are full time. We anticipate the opportunity, <br /> and the need, to double in size again within three years. <br /> Our employees are paid well above the $16.60 per hour living wage recognized for Orange <br /> County in 2023-24, with our tree workers earning an average of$28 per hour and our clerical <br /> workers and consultants averaging $26 per hour. Through our reputation for safety, employee <br /> training, pathways for career advancement, and opportunities for working alongside other top <br /> arborists and climbers, we have attracted top talent to our company, including from far out of <br /> state. Continuing to build on this strength will ensure that Orange County has first-class <br /> arboriculture training opportunities, along with first class arborists. We believe this is one of the <br /> best things that can be done for our trees, for Orange County residents who care about trees, <br /> and for residents who would like a path into arboriculture as a career. <br /> Our site plans for the new property include an extensive area of preserved mature trees for <br /> climbing training, as well as ample classroom space to allow us to build an apprenticeship <br /> program, which we see as needed in our industry.10 This facility will expand our ability to offer <br /> training to affiliated organizations, such as municipal Parks and Recreational employees, <br /> university and arboretum staff, and climbers from other tree care companies." <br /> 90 A core part of our mission is to train and employ people who want to work with trees, especially in <br /> aerial tree work. Aerial tree work tends to be both dangerous to the worker and deleterious to the trees if <br /> there isn't a lot of training, knowledge, and experience. Where does one find this training, knowledge, <br /> and experience? It is not found in any formal degree or certificate program, and it is highly difficult to <br /> come by it privately. Prospective employers typically require several years of tree climbing experience for <br /> their climbing positions. For most, the path into professional residential arboriculture requires a extremely <br /> dangerous (starting to climb hazard trees with chainsaws without proper training) or dissuasive time <br /> consuming (requiring several years of menial physical work of dragging brush before a coworker or <br /> employer lets you try to climb a tree under supervision). Consequently, talented people who might <br /> otherwise love to work with trees tend to avoid residential arboriculture. Our pitch for bringing talenting <br /> people back towards arboriculture is posted at our webpage "Why Not be an Arborist?" <br /> " At our current location we have provided tree pruning training to the Parks and Recreation staff of <br /> Carrboro, climbing training to staff at the NC Botanical Garden and the Coker Arboretum, climbing and <br /> aerial rescue training to the arborist team at NC State University and many tree climbers from other <br /> companies, both local and not-so-local. Much of this training was provided by the Treeist at no cost to <br /> these individuals and organizations. <br /> 8 <br />