EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Simon Gomme

President, NGIV

Craig Taberner

CEO, NGIV

Welcome 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.

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 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

BOOK NOW ONLINE

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

Upon the completion of this Project, the Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria will generate:

» A clear understanding of the contribution our industry makes to the Victorian economy from a whole of supply chain point of view

» Robust information on the current and projected performance of related businesses across Victoria

» Identification of workforce gaps, current workforce, and future development needs

» Recommendations about the technology, and business strategy, necessary to support the industry in realising future growth

» Opportunities for additional domestic and international market growth for the industry

I was also invited by the Agriculture Minister, The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas, to participate in the Horticulture Round Table 2021 – Securing Victoria’s future seasonal workforce, held in July. Being able to contribute through such forums, and represent the interests our members, is invaluable to our industry, and comes as a result of our ongoing advocacy work.

It’s fantastic to hear that our Victorian Schools Garden Program (VSGP) received another record-breaking number of entries. In 2021 the VSGP will distribute a total of $62,500 worth of nursery vouchers through our Grant and Award programs to Victorian schools, all of which will be spent at NGIV full retailer member stores.

In the last decade, VSGP has distributed vouchers to the value of nearly $400,000 to be spent with NGIV full retail members! We’d encourage our retail members to establish relationships with your local gardening school. School garden programs provides many children the only opportunity to learn about gardening and are crucial in breathing new life into our industry.

Finally, I wanted to offer my best wishes and sympathies to our members that were impacted by the storms in June. For many of us it took a while to grasp the full extent of the damage and it sounded truly frightening for some. Our industry is made up of some truly resilient individuals and I have no doubt hose impacted will brush themselves off and go again. NGIV presented a report detailing the damage experienced by our members to Agriculture Victoria, who have since offered Disaster Assistance Payments. Make sure you apply if eligible. We will continue to provide updates through our communication channels.

Simon Gomme

President, NGIV Powerplants Australia

Craig Taberner

CEO, NGIV