Tree group branching out in west Champaign

This is an article about where I work.
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Tree group branching out in west Champaign
By Don Dodson
Monday, July 21, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

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CHAMPAIGN – A worldwide society based in Champaign expects its staff to grow by 27 people over the next 10 years and is moving to accommodate that growth.

The International Society of Arboriculture, 1400 W. Anthony Drive, C, plans to move this weekend to the former Farm Credit Services building at West Park Court and Country Fair Drive, Executive Director Jim Skiera said.
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The society has 21,000 members worldwide – including commercial, municipal and utility arborists – and a staff of 38. But Skiera said that number should grow to 65 in 10 years.

Part of the growth is related to the society's certification program, which so far has certified 25,000 arborists.

It also awards other certifications, such as "certified tree worker/climber."

Skiera said the staff also puts together conferences for the society, and that sector is growing as well. The society's annual conference and trade show starts Saturday in St. Louis, with the 2008 International Tree Climbing Championship going on there simultaneously.

"The emphasis on green is really starting to accelerate," Skiera said, adding that interest in the environment is growing in China and India as well as the United States.

Currently, about 17,000, or 80 percent, of the society's members are from the United States. But the society has members in 50 countries, including Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, China, Hong Kong and many European countries, he said.

The move to the two-story building at 2101 W. Park Court will give the society about 34,000 square feet, or more than double what it has on Anthony Drive, Skiera said.

Part of that is warehouse space needed for the society's publications, which generate about 25 percent of its revenues.

The society publishes periodicals, such as Arborist News and Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. But it also produces certification study guides, best-management-practice guides, training videos and interactive CD-ROMs.

Skiera said some members have pushed for the society's office to be in a larger city, but he said the costs of doing business there would be greater, and Champaign-Urbana is "pretty competitive" in that respect. Besides, he said, if the society moved to another community, staff members would have to move, too.

The move to Park Court was made possible after Farm Credit Services of Illinois moved its office earlier this year to the former Roberson Transportation headquarters on the east side of Mahomet.

David Owens, president and chief executive officer of Farm Credit Services of Illinois, said the move to Mahomet was made to accommodate growth.

"We were simply out of space at the former facility and were housing two employees in some offices," he said. "We explored options for adding on, renting additional space or purchasing a second facility nearby. None of these options was very promising."

The former Roberson building has 44,000 square feet, which Owens said is "a bit larger than our current needs," but it provides "adequate space for future growth." Currently, about 60 employees work there.

Farm Credit Services put on a new roof and installed new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning units, Owens said. It created 51 private offices and 20 workstations in the building, with space for 20 more workstations in the future.

Owens said Farm Credit Services' business began growing rapidly three years ago.

"Beginning in 2006, our business started to experience additional demand for loans," he said. "We grew 13 percent in 2006, 24 percent in 2007 and are on track for 30 percent growth this year. Higher farm input costs, cash rents and land values are fueling this demand for credit."