President’s Message

Continuing A Legacy

As many of you know by now, Jeff Miller passed away unexpectedly on August 5th. Jeff was the VNLA’s executive director for 30 years and was instrumental in the success of our organization. His leadership and knowledge of the industry helped to grow our organization’s membership to the level and diversity it is today.

We will always remember Jeff for the substantial VNLA magazines that he published under his leadership. In fact, we strive to bring back the variety of research and content from around the horticulture industry. Jeff also worked diligently to serve as the voice of VNLA and the green industry. He served as the industry representative before the Virginia General Assembly and was active within the Virginia Agribusiness Council and other organizations in policy making to ensure the green industry had a place at the table. As we look forward to future legislative sessions, Field Days, MANTS trade shows, and more, Jeff will always be remembered as critical to moving forward VNLA’s voice and the raising the bar for the association.

This year, we held our annual Field Day at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and despite some rain, we had very good attendance! Attendees heard from speakers on a wide range of industry topics, toured the trial gardens as well as participated in demonstrations of sprayers and drone flights. Friday’s tours of the Brock Environmental Center and the Norfolk Botanical Gardens were a great opportunity to see some truly beautiful gardens as well as learn about how we can protect our Chesapeake Bay. I would like to thank the Field Day Committee for putting together an amazing program as well as Katie Hellebush and her team for putting it all together!

Finally, I hope you all have a wonderful fall season. If we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself, Katie Hellebush or any of your board members.

Jason Stern

VNLA President