GNTC Horticulture Alumni
Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) Horticulture alumni Kobe McLendon and Grant Payne have found lucrative careers performing landscaping and other Horticulture tasks for the City of Rome.
McLendon and Payne graduated from GNTC in 2023 and 2024, respectively, with their associate degree in Horticulture.
“When I was encouraged to pursue higher education, Horticulture was the only program that interested me,” said Payne, an Adairsville resident. “Before I worked for the City of Rome, I provided full-time hospice care for a family member and gardened. I started gardening with eight raised beds. That has grown to 40 raised beds and five greenhouses.”
Nick Barton, program director and instructor of Horticulture at GNTC, said the City of Rome contacted him about needing employees with Horticulture and landscaping experience. Payne was hired and reached out to McLendon, who was then working as a florist, upon learning the city needed more help.
“I enjoyed the Horticulture program as a student at the Floyd County College and Career Academy and decided to study it at GNTC,” said McLendon, a Rome resident. “I worked on a farm as my first job for three years. I was never an outdoors person before that.”
McLendon believes his coursework and practical experience at GNTC prepared him for his career, he said. He learned about pruning, mulching, landscape design and general maintenance.
“I learned a lot working at GNTC’s plant sales, including how to talk with the public and how to provide customer service,” he said.
Payne said his training on what, when and where to plant and how to care for the plants guide his work now. He developed confidence nurturing plants and developed landscape design skills through hands-on experience.
“Learning doesn’t stop outside the classroom,” Payne said.
In spring, they plant flowers and bedding foliage at all of the city parks and garden areas, then follow that with maintenance throughout summer. In autumn they plant different flowers and foliage and spend the winter months cleaning up and doing other maintenance, Payne said.
GNTC Horticulture students learn to propagate plants in the greenhouse and nursery field, design and construct landscapes and maintain and operate machinery safely, including a tractor, mini-excavator and skid steer, also called a skid loader, Barton said. Graduates of the program are prepared for many career opportunities ranging from lawn care and landscaping to retail plant store management, floral shop management and greenhouse management.
Classes cover arboriculture science; construction, design, installation and management; horticulture business management; identification of woody ornamental and herbaceous plants; irrigation and water management; landscape contracting, management of greenhouses, nurseries and horticulture businesses; pest management; plant production and propagation; soils; turfgrass management; and urban landscape issues.
Floral-related courses cover floral design, interiorscaping and flower shop management.
GNTC’s Horticulture program is housed at the Floyd County Campus in Rome.
McLendon said he advises anyone considering a career in Horticulture, “You’ve got to get your hands dirty, and you’ve got to be persistent.”
Farmers face ups and downs based on the weather and other factors that can affect their livelihood. McLendon, who plans to marry this spring, said he is grateful to have a good salary, benefits and job security, and to work for an employer who supports them with the resources they need to do their jobs well.
“Grant and Kobe were two of my best students,” Barton said. “I enjoyed teaching them and am pleased they have found great careers in their field.”
McLendon and Payne are supervised by Ernest Watson, arborist for the City of Rome.
“Grant and Kobe are very attentive to detail and know everything about flowers and plants,” Watson said. “I give them general directions, and they know what to do. I don’t micromanage their work.”
Watson said his team is responsible for maintaining city parks and areas surrounding several municipal buildings; the team is also providing maintenance of areas previously cared for by a civic garden group. In addition to flowers and plants at these facilities, the team also plants, prunes, maintains and cares for the trees.
He said McLendon and Payne have been adept in keeping up with the responsibilities of their jobs and appreciates that GNTC prepared them so well.
“Now I’m teaching Grant and Kobe about trees,” Watson said. “They are Horticulturalists. Now I am cross-training them to be Arboriculturalists.”
Besides a blossoming career, Payne said he met his wife, Destiny, at GNTC where she was also a student in the Horticulture program.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College provides quality workforce education to the citizens of northwest Georgia. Students have the opportunity to earn an associate degree, diploma or a certificate in aviation, business, health, industrial or public service career paths. This past year, 13,775 people benefited from GNTC’s credit and noncredit programs. GNTC has an annual credit enrollment of 8,836 students and an additional enrollment of 4,939 people through adult education, continuing education, business and industry training and Georgia Quick Start.