Director’s Corner

Diamond Members and Suppliers Make a Difference!

I am taking chance of mistakenly omitting a company but am going forward and recognizing our Diamond Members and several Suppliers. Each of the persons and companies have significantly worked with us in our service to the Green Industry.

DIAMOND MEMBERS

TruGreen

This company’s financial assistance enables our strong legislative outreach. Jeff Fedorchak of TruGreen is a major supporter! Many pieces of legislation were directed against us during the current session of the General Assembly. TruGreen enabled us to modify or eliminate those items. Also, over the past years, TruGreen has provided us with 50,000 packets of Flowering Pollinator Seeds to distribute to legislators and other persons whose decisions affect our industry. Next on the agenda is developing a portable urban runoff demonstration unit that will clearly show the value of turfgrass.

Lawns And Gardens Plus

It is not an overstatement to assert that Come to the Bay and our Virginia Beach Service Projects are only possible because of Wes Bray’s very generous support. His company provides financial resources and during each of our Service Projects the entire crew has spent hours preparing the sites and working diligently on the day of each event.

Landscape Supply

The vast support provided by Landscape Supply, a Diamond Member, is detailed below under Suppliers.

Agronomic Lawn Management

Craig Zeigler has provided extensive financial assistance. They are not only Diamond Members but ALM also is a top-tier sponsor of many of our events.

WeedMan

WeedMan’s contributions go far beyond providing finances. Bruce Sheppard is on our Board of Directors and serves as chair of the Legislative Committee. He provides much needed direction!

SUPPLIERS

Landscape Supply

The support provided by Landscape Supply, a Diamond Member, is difficult to place in the space allowed. Allow me to mention two: One, they provided twenty of the coir logs needed for the recent service project (the logs were huge – about 18" in diameter and were about 8' to 10' long), delivering them on a Landscape Supply flatbed truck on the morning of the project; and two, they brought the VTC in as a partner in their highly successful spring pesticide recertification webinar. That event attracts over 900 attendees.

McGill Compost

Each of our Service Projects required compost. Not only did McGill provide what we needed but David Holcomb regularly donated his time and muscle on the day of the projects.

Advanced Turf Solutions

Through T.J. Skirsky, VTC Board Member and long-time supporter of the industry, Advanced Turf Solutions designed our Environmental Institute logo.

Trinity Turf

We needed bags of seed for our Legislative Seed Distribution. Kurt Fellenstein not only provided 300 custom bags of fescue seed, he also delivered those seeds to the General Assembly Building on the day of distribution AND when we needed 30 more, he provided and delivered them a week later.

SiteOne Landscape Supply

For over a decade, Barry Kessler has been a tremendous supporter of our industry. Recently, he provided the remaining coir logs needed for the recent service project. He also provides space at the local branch to promote the VTC and the Environmental Institute.

We are thriving and serving our great industry because of our membership and the persons and companies listed above. Please forgive me if I mistakenly omitted you or your company.

Tom Tracy, Ph.D.

VTC Executive Director