From the CEO: One Year In

One Year In…My Thanks to You Green Industry

AS I BEGAN THIS COLUMN, IT DAWNED ON ME THAT MY

one-year anniversary of working for this great industry is almost over. As I reflect on that, I am very grateful for all the wonderful people I have had a chance to get to know in my first year. I am also grateful to the leaders in this industry who have stepped forward to help lead and shape NALP to assist our members and the industry as a whole as we navigated through COVID-19. This has really been a team effort this year and I want to take a moment to recognize some of the great work that got done this year.

One of the first things I learned in this industry is that a lot of you enjoy seeing other lawn or landscape facilities. However, with no in-person meetings this year we had to figure out a new way to get you the learning and sights you craved. The solution was something we call On Tour. On Tour is a videotaped segment that shares insights into how a company lays out their facilities, but it also features the unique ways they run their businesses. Producing an On Tour segment takes quite a bit of time from an owner and their team and it also asks them to share some of their secrets, so getting worthy participants was a concern. With that said, I am so grateful to both Krisjan Berzins and Jeff Rossen for allowing us to do an in-depth dive into their businesses. If you haven’t had a chance to catch an On Tour yet, just go to our website and check them out.

When COVID swept into all our lives in March, it forced us at NALP to put everything on hold and focus on keeping the industry working. Led by Andrew Bray and his team, NALP was able to get the lawn and landscapes industry included on the Department of Homeland Security CISA essential businesses list. This enabled us to leverage this national recognition with the state governments and ensure that we could keep all our industry working. I would be remiss if I did not thank our partners at the state associations, as well as our members in those states, who lobbied vigorously to ensure that our industry would be able to continue providing beautiful lawns and landscapes that have helped America cope with COVID.

I also want to thank the NALP Board for their leadership this year. They took on some tough issues and made hard decisions that positioned NALP to better serve this industry. Specifically, their decision to begin hosting our own NALP Annual Meeting in 2022, as well as their decision to take more of a leadership role in our industry’s diversity and inclusion efforts demonstrated their commitment to making NALP a better association to serve this industry.

Hosting our own Annual Meeting will allow NALP to move locations, reaching members where they are as opposed to making them come to the same location each year. Establishing a Diversity and Inclusion Council that is empowered to help guide NALP in its diversity and inclusion efforts helps position NALP to make real impact in our industry and hopefully provide a new source of labor for our industry.

There are so many more people I would like to thank for their support in this first year but let me thank two groups in particular: The NALP Executive Committee who provided me with guidance and wisdom. Andrew, Jeff, Shayne and Bob, thank you for your support and your leadership. And finally, I want to thank the NALP team: Carol, Andrew, Heather, Lisa, Corey, Scott, Stacia, Bob, Cheryl, Jenn, Tony, Margo, Melissa, Pam, Laurie, Amy, Nitesh, Jill, Page, Sharon, Tracey, Valerie, Kristen, Courtney, Kayla and Jennifer. You’re a great team and I am lucky to work with you. lucky to work with you.

Britt Wood, CEO