© 2002 Wendy Dager

Got erosion control questions? Get Bruce!

Bruce Berlin, 39, has returned to S&S Seeds after taking a 3-year hiatus to be a stay-at-home dad to his sons, now ages 7 and 4.

"While I stayed with my boys, I was able to work as a consultant and provide marketing support to S&S," he said. "Nowadays, it's pretty easy to work at home with all the technology we have-emails, voice mail, and file transfers."

Because his wife's work situation changed, she and Bruce switched places. She takes care of the kids and telecommutes, while Bruce works full time for S&S Seeds as the manager of Erosion Control Products and Product Testing. He provides technical assistance for our erosion control product line, including wood and paper compost, bonded fiber matrices, PAMs, binders, fluid matrix emulsions and much more.
         
"My background is in environmental horticulture-I've been a 'plant person' since 1982. I got into landscaping while living in Santa Barbara and then went on to Cal Poly and got a degree in environmental horticulture," said Bruce. "A year after I graduated, I came to work at S&S. Erosion control products are my focus now."

Bruce splits his time between his home office, the S&S Seeds' corporate office and, often, quite literally, the field.

"Sometimes, I'm visiting customers and sometimes, I'm visiting job sites, evaluating the situations and trying to help them come up with a prescription of seeds and/or products," he said.

His main priority is to help meet the specifications of each job location by working closely with S&S Seeds' customers.

“It’s a matter of listening to their objectives and usually, there’s some part of the project that’s asking for lower or minimal maintenance-such as water conservation- and also aesthetically blending into the native hillsides, particularly since we seem to have developed the majority of the flat ground, disturbing some of the natural areas," said Bruce. "My preference is to work with native plants and natural plant communities. I enjoy the challenge of dealing with nature."

That can be especially difficult when nature doesn't want to cooperate.

"In a year like this, where, of course, the rain didn't come and the plants are extremely dry and the fuel load is really high, we're designing a lot more seed mixes for an arid environment," he said. "We do seed mix design daily, based on what's available and what the customers are trying to achieve."

When customers call S&S, they are generally routed to Bruce, who analyzes their needs, then consults with other S&S staff members to come up with the best products for the job site.

Bruce says customers may also wish to expand their knowledge of stormwater mitigation efforts, soil stabilization products and plant material by joining the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), http://www.ieca.org.
         
"The IECA is a trade organization that's into promoting and educating people about erosion control and the various technologies and practices," said Bruce. "If customers are working on projects that are addressing erosion control on a regular basis, there are some good resources available to members of IECA."

For further information on erosion control issues, customers with questions can give Bruce a call on his cell phone, (805) 331-4813.

"S&S has a reputation for so many years as being one of the few places where you can get good information and good products in one place," he said. "That's what led me back-if you're going to work for someone in the industry, you might as well work for the best company there is."

Albright Seed is a Division of S&S Seeds.

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