Published by North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. 968 Trinity Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
NCNLA Staff Richard Lawhun Executive Vice President Kathryn Stansbury Director of Business Development Victoria Torino Chief Financial Officer Cindy Whitt Director of Marketing & Communications Christine Wilks Director of Lifelong Learning Nursery & Landscape Notes is published quarterly by the North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. especially for nursery production, nursery research, interior and exterior maintenance and design build contractors in the landscape industry. The publication is distributed to approximately 1,200 horticulture producers, landscape professionals and industry suppliers. NURSERY & LANDSCAPE NOTES is provided as a member service.
2020 NCNLA Board of Directors Hugh Crump President Greenline Design, Inc. Charlotte, NC Leslie Herndon Vice President/Secretary/ Treasurer Greenscape, Inc. Holly Springs, NC Jamie Thomas Past President Swift Creek Nursery Clayton, NC Jeff Allegood Old Courthouse Nursery, LLC Warsaw, NC
Kevin Cagle Greenthumb Nursery, LLC Ether, NC Tim Johnson, II Tim Johnson Landscaping Statesville, NC Trey Warrick Scottree & Shelby Nursery, Inc. Shelby, NC William "Bill" Bynam SiteOne Landscape Supply Pineville, NC John Clark Pro Green, Inc. Morganton, NC
Educational Advisors Justin Snyder Alamance Community College Graham, NC
Dr. Joe Neal NC State University Raleigh, NC
Advertising
For advertising inquiries and publication schedule, please contact Cindy Whitt at cwhitt@ncnla.com or 919-819-9119, ext. 1002. The inclusion of products or brand names in this publication is not an endorsement by the editor, or the North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association.
Mission: To provide essential value to our members through education, marketing and advocacy.
Vision: To promote and protect the interests of North Carolina's Green Industry.
Connect with NCNLA
facebook.com/NCNurseryandLandscapeAssociation/ twitter.com/tweet_ncnla instagram.com/ncnla ncnla.com | BuyNCPlants.com GreenandGrowin.com | NCGreenprints.com
NCNLA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
W
e are nearing the end of a year full of challenges and new norms. The pandemic touched almost all aspects of our lives, including how we do business, how we stay in touch with each other and how we learn. For most of the year, NCNLA board meetings were held on Zoom, so we have all become accustomed to communicating with each other through a computer screen. As an industry we have always learned to adapt as circumstance dictates, and this is an extreme version of that. We may miss seeing each other in person, shaking hands and catching up face-to-face, but right now it’s best to keep the health and safety of the people in our industry a priority, as many of you do daily with your family, staff and customers.
Hugh Crump Greenline Design, Inc. Charlotte, NC
As you are already aware, we made the difficult decision to cancel Green & Growin’ Marketplace after reviewing feedback from members, and to modify the in-person education conference due to meeting restrictions on large groups. This was especially tough for several reasons. First, this is our flagship event for business, networking and education. The event is one of the premiere green industry trade shows and education conferences in the country, and it provides the funds to fuel the year-round operations and support we all have come to expect from NCNLA. From a financial perspective this is a devastating loss of revenue, but we have begun to trim and adjust budgets to best deal with the challenges. Thankfully, the organization is in a strong financial position, but no business or association plans to lose 75% of its revenue. We owe a great deal of gratitude to past leadership and for the members’ faithful support in creating a (limited) long-term reserve fund to help offset unforeseen situations like this. I prefer to deal with tough issues in a direct and transparent style. We will be asking for your help and assistance to help overcome an anticipated revenue shortfall that budget cuts and available reserve funds will not cover. Thank you in advance for your support and assistance. When the NCNLA board made the decision to cancel the Marketplace, we knew a bright spot in the situation was our ability to pivot our in-person education conference to an online program. We all have preferences for how we develop professionally, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Unfortunately, this year we don’t have as many options for continuing professional education, so let’s focus on the advantages. With the Green & Growin’ 21 Virtual Education conference, attendees will have access to the quality programming they expect from NCNLA, but with more flexibility. If registered attendees cannot join the live sessions held Jan. 11-13, 2021, they will have access to the recorded sessions until April 30, 2021. Virtual Education has other advantages, too. The time and expenses involved with an event are lessened, and attendees will have time to take classes of interest to them instead of focusing solely on credits for licensure. Rest assured, in-person events will never go away at NCNLA, but online education has been part of plans to offer additional member benefits. We hope that you will give it a chance because we are positive there is something available for everyone, just as in past years. When things go back to “normal,” we plan to resume in-person events with the addition of virtual components so that we can continue to offer a greater variety of educational information in more convenient ways.
©2020 NCNLA.
FALL 2020 | NURSERY & LANDSCAPE NOTES | 5
