EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Simon Gomme

President, NGIV

Craig Taberner

CEO, NGIV Welcome everyone to our August Groundswell, NGIV’s bi-monthly magazine, delivering all the latest news from Victoria’s horticulture industry, along with feature articles, profiles, technical advice, and business tips.

We’d like to start by thanking all our members for renewing their memberships and their ongoing support to NGIV and the broader industry.

We are committed to helping member businesses and the State’s horticulture industry to grow, from promoting careers in horticulture and advocating on behalf of the industry to key decision makers to delivering a calendar of horticultural events and promoting the industry through our communication channels, but we could not do that without your help.

Together, we are Australia’s horticultural powerhouse, and we are dedicated to continual growth and excellence.

Thank you also to our Industry Partners who chose to renew. NGIV has more partners than ever before, which is a sign of the strength, solidarity and support of our industry. Our partners are industry leaders, innovators, and initiators of best horticultural practice, and it’s an honour to work with them to benefit the horticulture industry across Victoria.

We would also like to welcome Oasis Horticulture and WorkSafe Victoria, who both join this elite network of businesses, as Gold Partners. Also, a big thank you to Moshie Enterprise Coaching & Development and All Green Nursery & Garden, who have both jumped from Bronze to Gold Partners.

As an industry we are collectively indebted to our partners and the work they do; that’s why we would ask that our members seek out opportunities to work with them.

The NGIV Team and Board, participated in strategy days in July. They served as a wonderful reminder of how much we’ve achieved in the past 12 months, and it’s exciting to lay the strategic foundations for the year ahead. I’d like to thank the NGIV Board and team for their ongoing commitment, enthusiasm, and ingenuity.

Two events which do a great deal to raise the profile of our industry are just around the corner.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been welcomed to host another Horticultural Showcase in Queens Hall at Parliament House between 29th August – 2nd September 2022. The Showcase was sponsored by the former Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas who has now moved into the Health portfolio.

The event will provide Members of Parliament with a greater understanding of the strength of our industry and its benefits to Victoria’s economy, environment, liveability, and wellbeing. It’s an opportunity to share our Policy Priorities and put our industry right in front of Victoria’s decision makers. You can find out more about how we’re Advocating for Victoria’s horticulture industry and our members businesses to all levels of Government on page 8.

NGIV are also starting to prepare for Australian Horticultural Trials Week 2022 taking place between 6-9 December. We’re proud to partner with some of Australia’s top breeders, growers, and allied businesses for this prestigious horticultural event. Trials Week is all about experiencing exciting new lines, visiting some of Australia’s finest propagators, growers and allied businesses, and enjoying networking with industry colleagues from all over Australia and overseas. Reach out to ngiv@ngiv.com.au if you’d be interested in exhibiting this year or visit horticulturaltrials.com to find out more about Trials Week.

From August to December NGIV will deliver a series of free webinars hosted by our industrial relations consultant, Sheena Kane, for HR Managers, Business Owners, and Team Leaders/ Supervisors of NGIV Member businesses. The webinar series will provide our members with key insights and information across the following topics: drugs and alcohol in the workplace, personal/sick leave, unfair dismissal, sexual harassment and Christmas parties. We’ve shared registration details in our weekly e-newsletter, and we hope it’s another value add for our members.

After a year of bedding into its new home at KCC Park, NGIV will commence a big, ongoing promotional push to bring more buyers to

Trade Day. With the venue consistently full of Australia’s leading growers and allied businesses filling out the stands, we’re focused on attracting new buyers.

At June’s Trade Day, a videographer was engaged who has put together a series of videos to entice buyers to KCC Park for what is Australia’s largest wholesale plantlife market. We’ve shared the videos through our communications channels and provided copies to our members if they wish to do the same. We’ve also share promotional social media tiles.

In July and August we attended the Melbourne Gift Fair, Australia’s biggest coming together of retailers, to invite them to experience the benefits of Trade Day. We will also reach out to former visitors and lapsed Trade Day Buyer to welcome them back with a complimentary visit. We have also purchased retail databases and will extend the same offer to them.

We believe that once they experience Trade Day, with the finest quality greenlife and allied products at the best wholesale prices under one roof; they’ll be filling up their trolleys each month as Trade Day regulars.

Since October 2022, the Partners in Wellbeing program has been serving the mental health and wellbeing needs of NGIV members. It supported businesses and their employees as Victoria reopened following extended lockdowns, and has continued to attend to their needs since. NGIV’s dedicated mental health clinician/consultant, Gerard Tan, has assisted people seeking support directly, as well as through managers seeking to better support their employees.

Partners in Wellbeing has also provided weekly reflections on mental health and wellbeing advice through the NGIV newsletter. Most recently, Partners in Wellbeing supported NGIV in developing and implementing the Creating Mentally Healthy Workplaces workshops for business owners and senior managers. Gerard is NGIV’s dedicated mental health clinician/ consultant. We’d encourage members to connect with him at gerard.tan@each.com.au to book a chat. It’s free!

As we move towards the end of the winter months, we look forward to what we believe will be a bumper spring, as public demand for plantlife increases. We wish all our member businesses a prosperous end of winter and start to spring, and if you need our support please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Simon Gomme

President, NGIV Powerplants Australia

Craig Taberner

CEO, NGIV