Spectrum Resource Group

replant · Post by **replant** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 8:33 pm

This thread is devoted to gossip and discussion for employees and stakeholders of Silverado Silviculture Ltd.

This company is believed to work predominantly in British Columbia/Alberta.

Their last known contact information is:

PO Box 2488
Prince George, BC
V2N 2S6
Phone: (250) 561-0788
FAX: (250) 561-0879

rod · Post by **rod** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 6:52 pm

hey anyone worked for silvarado?? got offered a job there and i dunno what to think about em?? only planted a year, not quite in the know just yet.

help a brotha out,

Rod

RedBaron · Post by **RedBaron** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 8:12 pm

rod wrote:hey anyone worked for silvarado?? got offered a job there and i dunno what to think about em?? only planted a year, not quite in the know just yet.

help a brotha out,

Rod

I finshed a full seasion with them last year, ended up getting a total of 77 full planting days in with little to no down time. The food was 100%+ prices and atmospher were great if you want more detailed info about formen and camps, send me an email to redbaronww1@hotmail.com with any questions =)..

the_bourbon_peasant · Post by **the_bourbon_peasant** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:50 pm

I also worked for Silverado last year, for all 3 camps. Like Red Baron said, the food was superb in all camps. Like most companies, each camp had it's own atmosphere. This year however, has the potential to be quite different from last, as there is rumored to be a big shuffling within the company. So really, working for Silverado this year may be completely different from last year. I have a feeling it may turn out to be a wait and see sorta thing. The good news is they have some good contracts with big #'s this year.

michael mccoy · Post by **michael mccoy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:15 am

i worked Silverado for their last two years and spectrum's first two. i started with this company and i'm finish with them. they always treated me well and i've always be happy. if you're looking for a soild company let me know, i looking for some soild planters. e-mail me for more information: lookitsmemichael@gmail.com.

KeithWood · Post by **KeithWood** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:27 pm

I worked for "rado" for 5 years before we became Spectrum and 2 after that. I love the camps, cooks and people. It is a good company for planting! contact me at kwoodie26@hotmail.com if you want to plant or have questions.

mwainwright · Post by **mwainwright** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:42 pm

i've never worked for these guys, but i know alot of folks that do. it seems to me that they may not deserve the reputation they have as being a shitty company. most people i talk to average a minimum of 3 bills a day, but whats more is they actually bid high, at least on BCTS contracts. if you go on the ministry site and look at bid results for the last two years, you'll find that they aren't trying to work for cheap, in the way that outfits like brinkman and coast range used to. i've also noticed that they've gotten into right-of-way and utility corridor work, which is a fantastic way for them to cover their overhead without having to pass these costs on to planters. these guys are smart, and they obviously intend to stick around. i think that the way these guys do business will improve the industry as a whole.

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:35 pm

I have to agree here. I've talked to a few people at Spectrum and there appears to be a major change from the reputation that they had several years ago.

And those bid sheets are a pretty interesting study.

The King of Nowhere · Post by **The King of Nowhere** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:32 am

Planted with bugs in '04. Rookie year. Micheal Wells ran the camp, good guy. Comish was a nutcase driver who was a foreman, but pretty much ran the camp with Mike. so so prices. crap food. dry reserve nearby in the middle of nowhere, but that didnt matter...they shipped us booze

spraying was very laidback, slow, made lots of cash here and there, but not really anything crazy.
If they're as good as what everyone here says...i'd believe it. Still....small companies are where its at.

TheHamsterizer · Post by **TheHamsterizer** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:44 pm

I don't know... I haven't worked for these guys for a couple of years, but when I did they were pretty crappy in general. Experienced planters can do much better, especially these days.

Tupperfan · Post by **Tupperfan** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:10 pm

And here's the website:

http://www.spectrumresourcegroup.com/info/

Audreywonderland · Post by **Audreywonderland** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:45 am

[quote="The King of Nowhere"] Comish was a nutcase driver who was a foreman, but pretty much ran the camp with Mike. quote]
Haha, I worked for Chomysh for 2 years and this can only make me laugh. One day our driver was sick and left work mid day so he asked me to drive the truck back. When we got back Chomysh comes talk to me and says that he heard I was driving a little fast and I was like: I was driving the exact same speed you did this morning. So he replied: Thats fucking way too fast buddy!
So did you plant for him???

TheHamsterizer · Post by **TheHamsterizer** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:48 pm

Audreywonderland wrote:
The King of Nowhere wrote: Comish was a nutcase driver who was a foreman, but pretty much ran the camp with Mike. quote]
Haha, I worked for Chomysh for 2 years and this can only make me laugh. One day our driver was sick and left work mid day so he asked me to drive the truck back. When we got back Chomysh comes talk to me and says that he heard I was driving a little fast and I was like: I was driving the exact same speed you did this morning. So he replied: Thats fucking way too fast buddy!
So did you plant for him???

What a stupid story.... and spectrum sucks, by the way.

muffin_man · Post by **muffin_man** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 4:04 pm

TheHamsterizer wrote:
Audreywonderland wrote:
The King of Nowhere wrote: Comish was a nutcase driver who was a foreman, but pretty much ran the camp with Mike. quote]
Haha, I worked for Chomysh for 2 years and this can only make me laugh. One day our driver was sick and left work mid day so he asked me to drive the truck back. When we got back Chomysh comes talk to me and says that he heard I was driving a little fast and I was like: I was driving the exact same speed you did this morning. So he replied: Thats fucking way too fast buddy!
So did you plant for him???
What a stupid story.... and spectrum sucks, by the way.

I aggree, they must pay people to write good things about them....i have heard nothing good about these guys, they changed their name to hide their shame!

somesilviguy · Post by **somesilviguy** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:59 pm

Spectrum will be planting out in Vanderhoof, BC for the spring of 2010 and has posted here on this great site for planters and cooks.

Anyone have more comments on the blocks/foremen/money/food/camp/safety/boss

Got a recent first-hand account from the last couple of years

Anyone able to work the BCTS site also able to find more info about their contract/s

dirtslayer · Post by **dirtslayer** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:03 am

spectrum has a bad reputation its true, but they are good at deflection and marketing

i did work for them as a surveyor, and it was a colossal gong show, the pay was a bit low for that kind of work $170 / day, still better than a kick in the head, but considering the unsafe work conditions, not much, they hired many under-qualified people had little or no leadership

also, i worked near Tete Jeune Cache in the fall of 2007 i think it was and the newspaper 'the valley sentinel' reported that a tree planting camp left a huge mess behind lots of garbage and whatnot, they did not report that it was a spectrum camp, but i heard that it was, and when i emailed them to ask about it they did not reply

also, when you arrive in prince george spectrum has a huge sign in the airport with smiling faces, it is a sad misrepresentation because we know that planters never smile

d

krahn · Post by **krahn** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 8:12 am

i used to work for silvarado my second season, which was slightly better than the rookie mill i started with (shuswap silvics) and the people were happier, but underpayed, and for some reason we waited for trees almost on a daily basis, they figured that was just part of planting.

years and years later 4 of us go to a spectrum camp to fill in time between contracts, a bit late in the season and we could tell when we got to camp that moral wasn't so high. we did 2 days of underpriced ground before my friends decided we were leaving and i didn't argue, however their biggest concern was the rookie that was our driver every morning, going at ridiculous and unsafe speeds.

also, just like before with silvarado, both days i had moments of waiting for trees. they even had some of the same personnel. what gives? sure it happens, but there's ways to ensure people don't waste time every day for all these little matters. and i know people can make money at that company and it's alright to start out with if you can't get on with someone better, plus there's probably better contracts, but i wouldn't go back.

except i DID go back once, to spray, a couple years later. one week, no money, total gong show. nice crew and foreman. but it was so apparent it was run by a corporation, their hands were tied in certain regards. and stuff like going to the next contract, a hotel show, rooms not booked in advance and due to local festivities everything within miles was full, spectrum management finally, after wasting our day off with searching for hotels, clears enough funds to buy one big tent at wal-mart for a bunch of people to cram into and sleep by the side of the road at a rest stop. we get a couple of hours sleep and go to work making very little money. actually an illegal amount on days where we drove for a while only to survey blocks for spraying. fun times.

i will say that silvarado/spectrum always seems to have way more female highballers/foremen than most companies, so it's not just a boys club like seneca is. also the camp we were at for 2 days had one of the best camp cooks ever, although she was scary and mean-spirited at times, as only the best usually are.

somesilviguy · Post by **somesilviguy** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:32 am

Gingerplanter · Post by **Gingerplanter** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:50 am

I worked for Spectrum this past summer for the spring plant and spray in August. It was my rookie season and I didn't really have too much expectations on how the company was run. I don't really have any horror stories for planting except for low tree price (13 cent was the highest rate, most of our contract was 10.5). All the camps were run by the planters, there was not too much organization when changing camps which always resulted in a waste of a day off (and no pay). The food was awesome and there was always lots of it, even when the kitchen bus was closed, great for the 9pm munchies. All in all for my rookie season I enjoyed my Spectrum experience, however, I am going to look for other work with a different company this summer.

TwoCents · Post by **TwoCents** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:51 am

krahn wrote: except i DID go back once, to spray, a couple years later. one week, no money, total gong show. nice crew and foreman. but it was so apparent it was run by a corporation, their hands were tied in certain regards. and stuff like going to the next contract, a hotel show, rooms not booked in advance and due to local festivities everything within miles was full, spectrum management finally, after wasting our day off with searching for hotels, clears enough funds to buy one big tent at wal-mart for a bunch of people to cram into and sleep by the side of the road at a rest stop. we get a couple of hours sleep and go to work making very little money. actually an illegal amount on days where we drove for a while only to survey blocks for spraying. fun times.

dirtslayer wrote:also, i worked near Tete Jeune Cache in the fall of 2007 i think it was and the newspaper 'the valley sentinel' reported that a tree planting camp left a huge mess behind lots of garbage and whatnot, they did not report that it was a spectrum camp, but i heard that it was, and when i emailed them to ask about it they did not reply

I was a foreman on both those contracts and can verify these stories are true. There are many different camps and supervisors and Spectrum, and each is different - some good, some bad. The only thing that can be said for the company as a whole is that it is just too large to deal with some of the major problems that pop up. I thought that as a foreman and long-time employee my complaints (both formal and informal) might carry some weight in the company. They did not. The Tete Jeune Contract was the end of my planting career.

steel8909 · Post by **steel8909** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:39 pm

krahn wrote:i us
except i DID go back once, to spray, a couple years later. one week, no money, total gong show.

You quit after a week or it was only a week long?

kenax · Post by **kenax** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:42 pm

With the permission of Scooter I just copied updated information from this thread to the Treeplanter’s Database found at http://hardcoretreeplanters.com/ to make it easier to view comments by treeplanters and compare treeplanting companies against one another, in the hopes that they will treat and pay their planters better.

krahn · Post by **krahn** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:55 pm

steel8909 wrote:
krahn wrote:i us
except i DID go back once, to spray, a couple years later. one week, no money, total gong show.
You quit after a week or it was only a week long?

I quit after a week. Was trying to keep busy, maybe my planned time was just up, don't really remember. I did like the people I worked with but that company... not my cup of tea.

jules · Post by **jules** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:18 pm

krahn wrote:
steel8909 wrote:
krahn wrote:i us
except i DID go back once, to spray, a couple years later. one week, no money, total gong show.
You quit after a week or it was only a week long?
I quit after a week. Was trying to keep busy, maybe my planned time was just up, don't really remember. I did like the people I worked with but that company... not my cup of tea.

I took a similar spraycation in August last year. It doesn't sound like anything changed since you'd done it. It was really disorganized and there was one 14.5 hour day that netted me -$5 after camp cost. When we were in B.C. we were also told to keep working under dangerously windy conditions (up to 60 km/hr). Morale was... not high. The food was amazing, though; it was easily the best camp food I've ever had.

It sounds like their planting contracts have gone downhill since I planted for them years ago, too. I heard that everybody in one camp had a 1500 tree/day quota for their entire Mackenzie summer contract, where prices were under $0.10. I worked on that contract for a while in 2007, when prices were $0.12 and up. I'd be interested to see what's changed.

krahn · Post by **krahn** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:04 pm

Did they at least pay you minimum wage for that day?

mwainwright · Post by **mwainwright** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:17 pm

jules wrote: spraycation

this is just wrong

jules · Post by **jules** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:55 pm

krahn wrote:Did they at least pay you minimum wage for that day?

I don't think it would qualify. Depending on how you calculate the hourly wage for the entire pay period, only paying $20 for a day that long was fine.

krahn · Post by **krahn** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:18 pm

What you get paid should be the hours from when you meet the trucks in the morning, to when they drop you off at home.

jules · Post by **jules** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:21 pm

krahn wrote:What you get paid should be the hours from when you meet the trucks in the morning, to when they drop you off at home.

Yes, but I'm fairly sure that if the average earnings for the entire pay period level out to over minimum wage, it's acceptable practice to not top up a bad day. I mean, aside from the fact that $8.75/hr for bush work is ridiculous, and says a lot about how Spectrum views their workers.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:25 pm

A friend is starting a spectrum 12 pack, getting 14%.

colleen · Post by **colleen** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:35 pm

Hey guys,

Has anyone planted for Spectrum in recent years?
I found some old posts with scary reviews... I'm hoping it's gotten better. This will be my first year planting and it will be with Spectrum out of Vanderhoof, BC. At the very least, I've heard good things about the food, and my crew boss seems awesome.

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

MattW · Post by **MattW** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:48 pm

I know a guy who was on that contract last year.

He said the prices were very low, 10 cent raw I think? Ill double check. Favoritism was out of control, but lucky for him he was a favourite.

Its a rookie mill, with only 2 "vets" on his crew. I say "vets" because they only had 2 or 3 years experience.

I wouldn't do it if I were you.

Rainman · Post by **Rainman** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:01 pm

Well everyone's got to start somewhere. I started with probably one of the worst companies in the history of Canadian tree planting. I liked the job and worked my way into a better company eventually. After over 20 years, I still enjoy tree planting.

Wherever you end up, just be aware of what your rights are and don't let any company abuse those rights. If ever you feel something is wrong, don't just accept it like many newbies do. At the very least use this board to express any worries you may have and the regulars here will likely be all over giving you advice.

Once you learn to pound in 2000+ quality trees in a day, then any number of good companies will hire you in a heartbeat. It may be too late to get on somewhere "better" for this season, but no harm in trying. This board is filled with discussions on what the better companies are, call them and email them, even after the season starts. You may have an opportunity to jump to greener pasture$.

Best of luck!

wtv · Post by **wtv** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:03 pm

colleen · Post by **colleen** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:11 pm

Thanks for all the info! :) average will be 11 cents per tree I was told. and I'm on Branden's camp... maybe Brando is a nickname? haha. and thanks for the heads up about the parties, sounds fun :)

The_Bearslayer · Post by **The_Bearslayer** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:14 pm

I've planted with several people who have run crews there. It's one of the worst companies in Canada but that's the kind of place almost all of us started, myself included. Have fun.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:51 pm

Yep, also started in a company that I didn't really want to go back to. It happens. Just get your experience.

Remember, you're entitled to minimum wage top ups based on hours of the day portal to portal. Record your earnings, and record your hours portal to portal, and if at the end of the season, they don't top you up, ask them to. (Though if you ask before the end of the season they'll probably just fire you). It's per 2 week pay period, so the math starts to get a little funny, and hours past 8 count as 1.5 (to 12 hours, at which point tree price is supposed to be doubled, but we still haven't really seen that go anywhere.)

Also, you're entitled to minimum wage for any reefer work/etcetera --- anything they ask you to do that takes more than 30 minutes, and is after you get out of the truck, basically. Again, record, ask for at the end of season, expect them to give you a bad reference if you do any of this stuff. But getting the rookie mills to follow laws...can we please start doing this sometime?

prof · Post by **prof** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:33 pm

I think the above reviews are unnecessarily negative- with some caveats.

Yes, the prices are pretty shit. 10.5-13 tops.
I found the food was good (wouldn't rave about it, but not bad.)
As to getting screwed, I watched my numbers like a fucking hawk after my first year in Ontario, where I got totally fucked over in my first season. I found Spectrum to be honest; I got paid for all of the trees that I put in.

I won' be some Spectrum fanboy and say that this is the best company ever- it isn't, not by a country mile. But it's a great place to start, you'll make some decent cash for your first year and you'll have a good time. Honestly, I had a great time last year.

colleen · Post by **colleen** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:26 pm

Thanks for all the replies guys. As it's my first season, I think I just got to focus on getting the experience and hopefully having some fun. Sounds like spectrum will be good for that.

Thanks again!

phunkytymes · Post by **phunkytymes** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:23 am

These guys are pretty much bottom of the barrel. Massive Rookie mills, try to get all the free work they can out of their inexperienced workers, food is bad and the supervisors are even worse. Planter beware.

East · Post by **East** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:30 am

don't let bad reviews scare you to much. It tends to change every season. Many of these negative reviews are from people who were with them years ago. things change drasticly. Go in with an open mind, Be ready to work hard and you will have an over all great experience.

I have 0 exp. with this company but those are my thoughts ..:D

MattW · Post by **MattW** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:45 pm

I would let bad reviews scare you. Thinking back, I wish someone scared me out of working with my first company. I couldve made 2x as much with my old job working in town. Just wait till you get offered a good position. I know for a fact that sprectrum is a rookie mill with about 15% vet retention. And by vet I mean second year planter because very few planters stay beyond two years.

SGT Creamer · Post by **SGT Creamer** » Sat Jul 13, 2013 9:56 am

Hey

Summer trees, About 5 cent underprice
No dry tent, food is nothing to write home about.
The crew bosses are over worked and have way to many shit planters to have an organized day.

Brandon who is the guy in charge, plays favs and bad talks about anyone and everyone.
He once sat in a truck for 2 hours on the way to camp telling a rookie about everyone he hates in camp.

The overall review is if you don't need to work over the winter don't work for them at all.

prof · Post by **prof** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:10 am

^Regarding the supervisor Brandon... he's a dick. And not in a productive/motivational way, either.

I won't be working for Spectrum next year; the quality of the company definitely deteriorated even relative to last year's season. If you can, work somewhere else.

That said, a lot of very decent people there, and if you work hard, you can still make very good money.

photocopy · Post by **photocopy** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:23 pm

I planted about 5 years ago for spectrum. There were highs and there were lows. If you are looking for year round work as a forestry worker this is a good company to get in with(at least they used to be) as they have tons of easy non planting work that pays well in the off season.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sat May 31, 2014 3:49 pm

Updated Contact Info:

British Columbia

Prince George (Head Office)
3810 – 18th Avenue
Prince George, BC • V2N 4V5
Phone: (250) 564-0383
Fax: (250) 562-4885
srgi@srgi.ca
Chetwynd
4529 42nd Avenue N.E.
PO Box 685
Chetwynd, BC • V0C 1J0
Phone: (250) 788-3662
Fax: (888) 622-4925
hmcleod@srgi.ca

Alberta

Grande Prairie
103-11312 98th Avenue
Grande Prairie, AB • T8V 8H4
Phone: (780) 832-0362
Fax: (888) 622-4925
kwhite@srgi.ca

http://srgi.ca/contact.php

Jarrydlee · Post by **Jarrydlee** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:21 pm

I have worked for Spectrum since 2008, except a brief stint in 2009 when I was planting in Australia. This company has treated me well. I have been a planter and crew leader, my partner is also planting supervisor for spectrum. I also have worked for Brando who has been mentioned in this thread, he is my friend, and in my opinion a very skilled supervisor. I reckon Spectrum has it's pros and cons like many other mid to large planting operations. If anyone would like more information about the company please feel free to drop me a private message, I try to be unbiased. I plan on working with spectrum next spring as well. Hare OM!

wewdzy · Post by **wewdzy** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:57 am

Jarrydlee wrote:I have worked for Spectrum since 2008, except a brief stint in 2009 when I was planting in Australia. This company has treated me well. I have been a planter and crew leader, my partner is also planting supervisor for spectrum. I also have worked for Brando who has been mentioned in this thread, he is my friend, and in my opinion a very skilled supervisor. I reckon Spectrum has it's pros and cons like many other mid to large planting operations. If anyone would like more information about the company please feel free to drop me a private message, I try to be unbiased. I plan on working with spectrum next spring as well. Hare OM!

Pretty telling that the only person with a somewhat positive thing to say about this company has been buddies with one of the supervisors for years and is sleeping with another one... This is a good example of how spectrum operates; if you're a person that works your ass of every day puts in great production and quality you will constantly be overlooked and screwed over as the supervisors and project managers prefer people who kiss their ass and pretend to be their drinking buddies over people who actually know how to do their job. I worked for spectrum from 2007-2013 in several camps over the years, and watched the company go from a mediocre large company to a complete rookie mill with some of the worst tree prices in BC (just check out their public bids over the last few years on this forum)

My last year with them there were 10 and 12-pack crews that literally had all rookies.. for one foreman, this was his 2nd year running an all rookie crew; pathetic. All the highballers and longtime vets were on the same crew as me and we all left after that year; at that point the prices and quality of land had gotten too shitty and the food had decreased in quality and quantity available to accept working there, as well as the fact that I was one of the companies top planters and yet was constantly turned down for their other jobs throughout the year because the project managers / supervisors preferred to hire their "buddies" and 19 year old girls that they could awkwardly try to flirt with. This is the experience that many of the best workers at spectrum have had and its the reason they are now all gone.

Another reason I finally decided to ditch this terrible company was that the supervisor at the time of my last year (Joel) did absolutely nothing the entire season accept collect lots of money he didnt earn. It had long been a tradition at spectrum that once you get to supervisor you're allowed to essentially sleep in your trailer until 11am on work days and pass of most of your work to other people like the foremen or the supervisor assistant (yes this company feels the need to have a supervisor's assistant which creates more overhead and drive the tree price down further) ... Joel took this tradition to the next level, however, by not even being at the camp 50% of the time. He would drive home whatever night he felt like and then not show for the entire next day or two, leaving the foreman to pick up the slack on all the work he wasn't their to do. I couldn't stomach the idea of working my ass off every day to make money for someone who was sitting back at their house jerking off so the choice to leave was obvious. In 2014 I went to little smokey, a much better company with better land, higher prices and better food, and highballed the camp. It sickens me to think of all the money I made for spectrum while they screwed me over the years but I'm happy to say they'll never get another dime from my labour again.

If you're a rookie looking for a company to plant for I'd recommend avoid this place at all costs, even if its your only choice you would be better off just getting a regular job for the summer. Spectrum works longer days then most other companies because the have to make up for the fact that they're camps are ofter 90% rookies or more and you'll be forced into tons of unpaid work after planting's done for the day. That amount of labour is not worth the $150average you will likely make for the season. Yes, 150 bucks is about all an average rookie at spectrum can hope for(and its not unlikely you'll make less); when foreman there pitch to you that you can average over 200/day they're talking about your last few weeks, they conveniently exclude the first few shifts were you'll struggle to break minimum wage. These people are crooks.

Jarrydlee · Post by **Jarrydlee** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 10:03 pm

"This is a good example of how spectrum operates; if you're a person that works your ass of every day puts in great production and quality you will constantly be overlooked and screwed over as the supervisors and project managers prefer people who kiss their ass and pretend to be their drinking buddies over people who actually know how to do their job."

What your don't know is that I have been with my partner for 10 years and was promoted to being a foremen by Brandon (who really is not my friend at all), then after my partner got I camp I went to work with her. In my case there was no nepotism. We had been together for 7 years when she got a camp and that was my third season of leading a crew. I was a planter for 5 seasons before being a foreman and I worked hard to get there. Your point here is moot.

Your other experiences seem terrible and I understand why you left. I'm sorry you had a tough time with Spectrum, as for going to anther company I'm glad that that worked out for you. You seem like a dedicated planter who demands the best. Sometimes you don't get that with big companies.

I personally had 4 vets in my first season (12 person crew) 14 vets my second season (started with 16) 8 vets my third season (14 person crew) and 12 vets my last year (14 person crew). This is my experience. I can give references to anyone who wants them.

fields · Post by **fields** » Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:46 pm

You won't make the most money working for Spectrum, but I can attest to getting fed and paid on time, and staying relatively safe.

I can complain about a lot of things about Spectrum, but they are at least half decent. The other half just smells bad, it's not rotten.