Executive update
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Simon Gomme President, NGIV
elcome to our first bi-monthly edition of Groundswell; delivering all the latest news from the Victorian horticulture industry. I’d like to encourage all NGIV full members to make use of the magazine to promote your business and provide updates to your industry peers. Whether your business has reached a significant milestone, you want to celebrate the impact of a longstanding employee, you’ve upgraded your infrastructure or you’ve changed your business offering; contact matt@ngiv.com.au to find out how you can share your news through Groundswell I want to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has continued to support our Trade Day. I’m very proud of the NGIV team, as well as our stand holders and buyers, for embracing the transition to KCC Park and getting behind it. It was fantastic to bring the industry together for the first time at the new venue in July. Overall, the day was a big success, and along with the Trade Day Committee, the NGIV team will come together to ensure it’s even better moving forward.
Craig Taberner CEO, NGIV
I appreciate that the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 and the change of venue could have been viewed as a deterrent, but the support we’ve received from our members throughout this process has been outstanding. Trade Day is very much key to our culture and history, not to mention our financial wellbeing. I also strongly believe that it benefits the whole industry in so many ways. In late June, NGIV President, Simon Gomme, CEO, Craig Taberner and Technical Manager, David Reid, delivered a horticultural tour to a number of senior figures from Agriculture Victoria. The purpose of the tour was to highlight the breadth of our sector and outline the challenges
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and opportunities for industry and our member businesses. Matt Lowe, CEO of Agriculture Victoria, accompanied, Sze Flett (Director of Horticulture Services), Julie Simons (Executive Director Seasonal Workforce), and Steve Gartlan (A/Director Agriculture Industry & Rural Transition), joined us for a wonderful tour of four of our member sites. A big thank you to Flemings Nursery Group, Garden City Plastics, Ball Australia, Mansfield’s Propagation Nursery and Tissue Culture Australia, for making yourselves and your sites available, and bringing what you do to life. We were delighted with the tour, and we know that those representatives from Agriculture Victoria left with a true understanding of our industry, impressed by the scale of what we do and aware of the challenges and opportunities we face. We enjoy a close working relationship with Agriculture Victoria and are thrilled to have just received two grants from them that will benefit our members and the industry as a whole. We will commence a Seasonal Workforce Project, to establish and implement a framework and process that helps industry connect with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. This will bolster the seasonal workforce today and into the future, through the promotion of horticultural employment and career opportunities. We will also undertake a statistical project: Realisation of Growth Opportunities with the Nursery & Garden Industry Victoria
ngiv gala Dinner Join the Nursery and Garden Industry of Victoria for our 116th Annual Gala Dinner celebrationat the prestigious Park Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne. The dinner is an opportunity to acknowledge the support of our industry partners and present our industry awards. Saturday 9 October, 2021 Park Hyatt Hotel, 1 Parliament Place, Melbourne
For more information call NGIV on 9576 0599 04
GROUNDSWELL AUGUST 2021
