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Art Elmers Bio1972At age 14 started in the irrigation industry by working at Preakness Hills Country Club (Father was Superintendent) and for Homestead Lawn Sprinkler (Family owned Irrigation Company).Took first irrigation design course and then worked summers and weekends for both Preakness Hills and Homestead Lawn Sprinkler throughout High School.1975Attended Carnegie Mellon University for Civil Engineering while continuing to work for Preakness Hills and Homestead lawn Sprinkler during summer breaks.1980Employed by Mosler Safe Company then United Artists Cable Television designing Pneumatic Bank Drive up systems then cable television systems. Continued to attend irrigation design courses and continued to work and design irrigation systems for Homestead lawn sprinklers.1984Passed the 3 step exam process to become both a Commercial and Residential Irrigation Association Certified Designer (CID). Was in the first class of CIDs and original Certification number was 007. 1985Accepted a Sales Engineer position with Shemin Nurseries, a National greengoods and irrigation distributor owned by the Weyerhauser Company, at their Burtonsville MD location. It was here that I learned about and sold Netafim Drip Irrigation.1986Organized and was a founding member of the Tri-State Irrigation Association (association currently inactive). This was the local Irrigation Trade Association encompassing Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia and based on my experience with the Irrigation Association of New Jersey. It met once a month and organized educational events and field days for many years. Also was promoted to branch manager of the new Shemin Nursery location in Manassas, VA. This was the first wholesale irrigation distributor in Northern Virginia.Also became a volunteer instructor for the Irrigation Association and taught classes throughout North America.1988Accepted position with Turf equipment Supply managing their locations in Maryland and Virginia.1990Accepted position to manage irrigation depts and returned to Shemin Nurseries at their Greenwich Ct and Mahwah NJ locations.1995Accepted position as Specification Manager at Storr Tractor, the Toro distributor in Northern NJ and southern NY.Passed exam to become a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor (CLIA).Passed all requirements to become a Supervising Regional Authorized Instructor for the Irrigation Association. Continuously ranked as number 1 or 2 in evaluations from students taking Irrigation Classes.1999Became the National Residential Commercial Salesperson of the Year for the Toro Company.Passed exam to become a Certified Irrigation Contractor (CIC). Required to be able to teach the preparatory class for the certification.2002Accepted position as Area Specification Manger for the Northeast for Netafim. Area included Richmond VA to and including Eastern Canada to the Pennsylvania Ohio border.2005Was elected as a trustee on the board of the Irrigation Association of New Jersey. Has continued to hold the position up to and including today. Became head of legislative committee and has testified for legislation before committees of the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly.2014Asked to become a member of the Irrigation Association National Certification Board. Completed ten-year term December 2023.2018As chair of the Certification Board spoke to over 500 Irrigation Contractors in Sydney at the Irrigation Australia Conference and Expo.Was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irrigation Association of New Jersey.2020Received a seventh national sales award from Netafim.At the onset of COVID the State of New Jersey was prepared to ban the installation of all irrigation systems which would have devastated the Irrigation Industry in the State. I was instrumental in preparing on Friday a letter advocating for the importance of irrigation installations and those who install them. With the assistance of the IANJ?s Lobbyist was able to get the letter in front of the Governor?s Chief of Staff on Saturday and by Sunday Governor Murphy declared Irrigation Installation an essential utility. This allowed for no interruption in the installation of irrigation systems during the historic demand created by people working from home and deciding to improve their landscapes.Projects and experiences:Designed the last irrigation system for the old Yankee Stadium in 1996.Designed an irrigation system to cure concrete in NYC water tunnel #3. Five-mile section of nineteen-foot tunnel 650 feet below Brooklyn. I can actually say that I stood up inside a water pipe.Designed the irrigation system for the Thayer walk area at the United States Military Academy, West Point.Designed an irrigation system for the Sheep?s Meadow in NYC Central Park.Designed an irrigation system for the first section of Hudson River Park, Manhattan, NYC.Had an opportunity to walk around (accompanied by a Secret Service Agent) and consult at the Executive Office Building and White House in Washington DC.Consulted on the design of the Green Roof on the Jacob Javitts Convention Center in NYC. The seven acres of green roof is the largest in NYC. Married with two daughters.
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