Sustainable Landscape Solutions recruits Costa Rican workers with help of H-2B program

Using the federal H-2B nonimmigrant program, Iowa City-based Sustainable Landscape Solutions (SLS) welcomed temporary workers from Costa Rica from early July to mid-November.

The program allows participating businesses to add to its cohort of workers, at a time when nearly all companies are looking to bolster its labor force, to accommodate seasonal needs while offering much higher wages to workers from other countries.

“In America, we’re definitely a little fortunate to be able to have jobs and have the ability to make good money here compared to other parts of the world,” said CEO Sean Pearl. “Coming here, somebody could make $150-200 a day, but where they’re coming from maybe they’re making pennies to the dollar and not finding work. It’s pretty eye-opening and humbling.”

What could sound like a short-term fix to add employees and complete more projects was actually nearly two years in the making.

Lottery process success

In summer 2021, SLS started an application with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to bring in workers for 2022, after Mr. Pearl first heard about the benefits of the program from friend Brian Stevens, CEO of Stevens Erosion Control in Hills, Iowa.

SLS reached out to Irina Mealy, founder and owner of iWorkMarket, a business in Muscatine that helps connect organizations with workers from Ukraine, Poland, France, Israel, Mexico, Lithuania, Moldova and other countries. They help match participating H-2B businesses with workers that have the right skill sets.

In order to be eligible, SLS is required to put up money up front and enter a lottery system. The DOL organizes companies into groups, with Group A being the most likely to be awarded migrant workers, while Group E, for example, is less likely.

“It’s a pretty big gamble because you can be out the money that you’ve invested to bring them here,” said Mr. Pearl. “It’s definitely a big hesitation and probably a big reason most companies don’t do it.”

Initially, SLS tried bringing in Ukrainian workers. That effort failed once Russia invaded Ukraine, causing many Ukrainian men to get drafted for the war effort. The landscaping company then pivoted to Mexican workers, but those efforts fizzled out as well.

Entering the lottery cost SLS “thousands of dollars” but ultimately proved fruitful, said Mr. Pearl. By early June, details were finalized to bring seven Costa Rican men to the Corridor. One man became ill and died right before the flight, so SLS welcomed six new coworkers to the team.

If not for the DOL issuing 35,000 additional H-2B worker visas, they may have never been able to make the trip, he added.

Language barrier significant

When the workers entered the SLS office, they were greeted by Costa Rican flags hung up on the walls. Both the Iowa and Costa Rican workers, who worked for a roofing company in Minneapolis in a previous H-2B labor assignment, were anxious about how the five-month experience would go.

“It’s kind of like dating,” said Mr. Pearl. “How’s everyone going to get along? It’s something different for our teams they’re not used to. They were also nervous because they just wanted to fit in, work hard and get along with everybody. It was kind of funny. Here were two groups of people really nervous about each other getting along.”

The biggest day-to-day hurdle was the English-Spanish language barrier. SLS has two employees that speak Spanish and one of the Costa Rica workers spoke English, but the two groups relied on Google Translate and impromptu moments of charades to be able to communicate with one another. Each company meeting was translated to Spanish.

SLS paid for the workers’ transportation, airplane tickets and arranged lodging at a Coralville apartment building. Employees were picked up and driven to work each day. On the weekends, they were free to spend time as they saw fit. Some went to church, while others explored the town or went shopping at Coral Ridge Mall.

But once logistical dilemmas and language barriers were overcome, Mr. Pearl said the teams worked well together on several crews and completed both small and large-scale projects.

“There is a ramp-up phase of learning,” he said. “They come from a background of hard work and catching on quickly, so I feel it was a good industry for them.

“I think they really enjoyed the type of work,” he added, when comparing landscaping to the more strenuous roofing jobs they had in Minnesota. 

SLS workers construct outdoor spaces that bring people closer to nature, as well as install and maintain water practices that mesh with the environment. This can include building permeable patios, small-scale rain gardens and, on a larger scale, bioretention cells and bioswales.

Another round of workers?

The cohort returned to Costa Rica in November. Mr. Pearl said SLS is hoping to utilize the H-2B program again with the same group of workers

SLS drew a lottery pick designation of Group D, meaning it’s a toss-up as to whether they will be back. The only thing they can do now is wait and see.

He said they still talk with the group over WhatsApp and social media. The Costa Rican workers will send photos of sunny days and the Iowa workers will respond with pictures of Iowa blizzards.

“When they left in November, it was very much a family feel,” he said. “What started as bringing in additional help kind of turns into our family here at SLS. We definitely miss the guys.”