To say that Santiago Castenada is more than a familiar face at emi is true: as an employee for 15 years, Santiago is one of our most experienced landscapers and long-time team members.
“I’ve learned a lot of my skills on the job over the years,” he admits. “I’ve been doing this for so many years that I know what is expected of me and I always do my best so that I don’t have to re-do work, and I want to work to please others.”
As a landscaper, Santiago works year-round for emi, trading his lawn equipment for snow removal tools in winter. However, as a native of Mexico, it’s no surprise that he prefers warm weather tasks to cold weather jobs.
“My favorite part of landscaping is edge cutting the grass,” he admits. “Snow removal is the most challenging because we work in the cold while we are all wet from the snow and rain.”
But after so many years, Santiago has his seasonal routine in place.
“During landscape season, we start mulching and preparing all our properties. Once we are in the season, we cut the grass on schedule and maintain the properties to look their best,” he says. “In the winter, we work as snow removers shoveling and making sure all our properties have a clear path.”
When he’s not working, Santiago enjoys his adopted city of Reading with his family, including his wife, two sons, and nine brothers. He enjoys spending time and visiting with his family. His favorite season is “Verano” (Summer) and he enjoys spending time in the parks, where he might just enjoy his favorite meal of tacos and lemonade. But it also allows him to see all the flowers in bloom in the local parks, especially his favorite flower, roses.
Santiago enjoys working at emi and describes the team as “good people who do good work all the time.” It’s no surprise that his future plans are pretty simple: his five-year plan is to still be at emi and still work just as hard.
Thanks for all you do Santiago!