EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Hello fellow members and distinguished activists within the Indiana Nursery and Landscape Association. It is time for my insights and reflections regarding future and past events that are must-attend events. Many of these have their own dedicated pages to reflect upon or a save-the-date that many participate in or need to become actively involved in.

I will first reflect on our coveted 2023 Indiana Green Expo, which was very well-attended, I might add, from January 30 to February 1, 2023. We were in Halls F & G for the trade show while utilizing a vast assortment of classrooms for Workshops on January 30, 2023, and general education on January 31 and February 1, 2023. There will be many pictures and a recap of items germane to the INLA, such as the annual meeting and awards presentation on Tuesday evening, January 31, 2023. Regarding the ever-entertaining Awards ceremony and winners, it was great to see some “newbies” receiving awards for their submissions as well as several mainstay companies that always keep producing awardwinning entries. Remember, you cannot win if you do not submit an entry, so start early taking pictures and progressions of projects for 2023 submittals. The INLA will also unveil other Green Excellence award opportunities to enter project submittals upon finalizing details at our annual committee meetings. Stay tuned for updates in the very near future.

Regarding the overall Indiana Green Expo, I was very encouraged by the pre-registration numbers for both attendees and exhibitors. The pre-registered attendees rivaled numbers from a few years before COVID happened, and the exhibiting companies would have 9 new or returning companies that had not attended in a few years. A huge appreciation to all the volunteers and staff for making this a very well-attended 2023 IGE. Yes, with all precheck on various equipment employed that worked great until the curtain opened, there will always be a few snafus, but most were resolved in quick time or entered Plan B, Plan C, etc., or just make do with what you have to keep the show-going atmosphere. We tried a few new items such as the concession stand inside the exhibit hall and various talks on the trade show floor this year. It appears they were popular enough to see about employing for next year. By the way, the 2024 Indiana Green Expo goes back to Halls D & E, January 16-19, 2024. We were able to secure an extra day to move exhibitors in, and we also will be utilizing The Westin as our host hotel. I would like to touch on a negative regarding the 2023 IGE as we did not meet our commitment regarding the hotel block for 2023. This only adds an additional cost to the actual income when others utilize a different hotel chain during our show time frame.

In this edition of the Indiana Nursery and Landscape Newsletter, you will find a couple of new ventures for the INLA. One is to hopefully assist businesses with a new partnership regarding software to help not only day-to-day operations, including estimating, job costing, as well as educating your employees pertaining to safety. There are many other benefits to this partnership, which the INLA has had for a number of years, just not to the level we have decided to venture in. It is a partnership with LMN Pro and Greenius. In this edition, you will see a listing of what they have offered to INLA Members only. While I feel each individual company may have their program that is catered to their aspects of business with the Greenius side, it also helps for the employee's training as well. See more on page 29-30.

The other new ventures include the continuation spearheaded by our Summer Committee and INEF Shooting for Scholarship committee to offer more opportunities to visit various companies and aspects of our industry. While it is still in the planning stages of completing the itinerary for 2023, which is hoping to plan on 2-day (August 2&3) tours in Southern Indiana with the Shooting for Scholarships taking place on August 4. Also, you will find a mention of what is planned for 2024 in the Michiana area on page 9, just to hopefully raise awareness to the members in that locale who would want to have a visit from our engaging membership.

In closing this rendition and reflection of my Executive Director letter, I would be remiss not to mention with the changing of our INLA Board and Officers, how much I have appreciated the following:

David LaFara, leaving the Past President officership. Dave, you would openly interject ideas that would make for a better association during your tenure as President and Past President. I truly hope you continue to keep grounded and recommend other options.

Mark O’Brien, you have no idea how much of a pleasure I had having a person on the board that assisted with your intelligence and scientific aptitude regarding questions of invasive status when dealing with legislation and my continuance on the Indiana Invasive Species Council.

Dean Ricci, now becoming Past President of the INLA. The wealth of knowledge of the benefits you shared regarding retention of employees compared to the cost associated with recruiting employees was insurmountable. Also, applying these same aspects with everyday life and willingness to share your time to help improve overall quality of life, and not dwell on the “small” elements that can drive a person into a pigeonhole.

I also welcome Gabriel Gluesenkamp, taking over the reins of the Presidency and the energetic youthfulness of keeping things moving forward. It will be a great honor to see how much further we can take the association through creativity and accountability. Those were 2 of the same aspects your mom and dad had while we were on the board together 17 plus years ago.

Bob Wasson, I have already learned how much of a passion you have for our industry with helping get a vision of what can be done through Social Media platforms and creating a vision of our next years ahead.

To the two newest board members: Carlos Reichman (Schuetz Insurance Services) and Jason Fritz (Stantec/Cardno Native Plant Nursery). I look forward to having more engaging participation within the INLA as your individual dedication to your craft demonstrates each of you will offer many avenues of growth within our great association.

Keep it Green,

Rick Haggard - Executive Director

Phone 317-889-2382 email: rhaggard@inla1.org

ACTIVE MEMBERS:

Aquatic Designs & Supplies Inc

Dan Lamberson

Ph: (317) 996-3106

445 N Chestnut St

Monrovia, IN 46157

Nature Rocks Design

Karl Koenig

Ph: (317) 995-7368

4040 Carllton Ave

Indianapolis, IN 46205

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS:

Express Management

Jeff Compton

Ph: (812) 204-2474

7939 Bell Oaks Dr

Newburgh, IN 47630

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Jason Stewart

Ph: (317) 492-6532

4790 W 16th St

Indianapolis, IN 46222

Wright Implement

Mayme Hunt

Ph: (812) 522-1922

1250 W 2nd St

Seymour, IN 47274

@inla_indiana

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