The MTC is for Everyone!

When I took a seat at my first Board of Directors Meeting for the Maryland Turfgrass Council, I looked around a table filled with other turfgrass professionals and people who really cared about what they were doing. Like the others in the room, I loved working on golf courses and managing turfgrass, but I really didn’t understand fully what the Maryland Turfgrass Council (MTC) did. All I knew about the MTC was that they hosted an annual educational conference, had a quarterly magazine, and they supported turfgrass research. If this was all that I knew as a board member, then I could only image what other turfgrass professionals thought of or knew about the MTC.

The Maryland Turfgrass Council is comprised of and supports everyone in the turfgrass industry in Maryland! You don’t have to own a business or be the highestranking manager at your company to be a member. The current MTC Board of Directors consists of turfgrass professionals including Golf Course Superintendents, Landscape Managers, Sport Turf Professionals, Sales Representatives and Managers, Business Owners, and Sod Farmers that are all working collaboratively to provide support to you, the turfgrass professionals in Maryland. The MTC sponsors educational events for turfgrass and agriculture, assists in providing funding for turfgrass research at the UMD Paint Branch Turf Research Farm, support for legislation, pesticide and professional re-certification classes, and hosts the annual Maryland Turfgrass Conference, just to name some of our functions.

Over the next few months we will be trying to communicate better with our members and supporters. If you see something wrong or you feel we should be aware of something, please let us know. Communication and transparency are some of the key ingredients I am trying to implement as we all move forward into 2020.

Thank you to all our attendees and sponsors of the 2019 Maryland Turf Conference. We had an amazing attendee turnout with some top-notch education.

I am happy to serve as the new Maryland Turfgrass Council President. Working with our Vice President Brandon Sands, Executive Director Vernon Cooper, and the entire MTC Board, we are diligently working to support you, our turfgrass professionals in Maryland and are all looking forward to 2020.

Ben Ellis

Maryland Turfgrass Council, President

Ben Ellis, Maryland Turfgrass Council President