Letter from the Executive Director

ADAPT, OVERCOME & THRIVE

The changes brought about over this past year have forced every single one of us to adopt this attitude. It is not an unnatural attitude for our industry. This industry does it every single year as we prepare and work through spring. So, it comes as no surprise that our industry, as a whole, has thrived throughout this pandemic. Our industry has grown to $9.97-billion-per-year and employs just over 104,000 Georgians. The growth has not come without many challenges to navigate, some smooth and some painful. But each challenge has allowed us to make positive changes for our industry and our organization. For the GGIA, a change in leadership, the pandemic, ensuring our "essential" designation, the split legislative session, COVID relief funding for our industry, shifting WINTERGREEN to a virtual format, and the persistent feeling that change is still afoot have kept us focused on our path forward. We continue to press on and gain ground every day. Throughout this year, GGIA has worked diligently to ensure our industry's success, whether at the national, state, or local level. The most significant victory for our industry and GGIA during 2020 was securing our "essential" designation at the onset of the pandemic. Many individuals within the GGIA leadership team and GGIA Members state-wide stepped up to the plate to meet the challenge head-on. GGIA has worked heavily on COVID-19 relief funding through both rounds of grants and loans from PPP, EIDL, and CFAP. We partnered with many other trade associations nationwide to get IRS notice 2020-32 overturned. We know these efforts have positively impacted many of our members and hope the same is true for you and your business. We focused much effort during Georgia's split legislative session to advocate for our industry on many issues. One significant success was related to HB 1057, which prohibits domestic septage in fertilizer, liming materials, and soil amendments. It regulates fertilizers and liming materials derived from industrial products and would have required a tonnage fee on all these inputs. The GGIA Legislative Committee was able to secure a regulatory exemption for forest products (like pine bark), slates, clays, shells, gypsum, and lime. These inputs are used in many green industry products like soilless media blends, composts, and mulches. We have worked to educate children across Georgia about horticulture and hopefully spark an interest that will build the next generation of horticulturists. GGIA partnered with many of our members to co-sponsor the Horticulture Section in the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture's Mobile Ag Classroom. Our staff and members worked diligently to raise funds, develop the content, and promote this worthy cause. This classroom has the potential to pay dividends for Georgia horticulture and GGIA for years to come. The challenges that lie ahead are not new to our industry, but we continue to make progress. The Supreme Court will hear the Florida v Georgia lawsuit over waters of the ApalachicolaChattahoochee-Flint basin in late February. We are coming out of one of the wettest years on record and are heading into spring 2021 with full reservoirs and no pending drought restrictions. We continue to work on meaningful labor change at every opportunity. None of this is possible without our members and the dedicated efforts of our supporters. As always, we will continue to work toward organizational sustainability, strive to adapt and acclimate to our ever-changing world, and persevere in our effort to advance all of Georgia's Green Industry. We know that our greatest strength lies in our diversity, and our united voices only add to the success of our industry. Thank you for the opportunity to serve this industry that we all love!

Lanie Riner Executive Director Georgia Green Industry Association

LANIE RINER executive director

Lanie accepted the executive director position for GGIA in May 2020.