PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE Emily Showalter, Willoway Nurseries, Inc. Our Responsibility to Educate
Early statistics of just how much the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our industry are astounding. Research from economists and garden center groups report that somewhere in the range of 30 million new consumers entered the “gardening” sector in 2020. New interest in horticulture, house plants, improving curb appeal, upgrading/renovating your backyard for staycations, edible gardening, cut flowers, and related green industry activities have become the focus of many consumers’ free time throughout the pandemic. I wrote about the silver lining of COVID-19 in The Buckeye last month and I am happy to report that many of our ONLA members continue to see increased sales and profits as we enter month 5 of battling the virus in the US. What do we do now? It is the responsibility of our industry, ONLA members, and green industry business owners to keep the foot on the gas pedal. We can do this through education. These approximate 30 million new garden enthusiasts have our attention. We must keep them engaged in their newfound love of plants by educating end consumers on the health, well-being, and economic benefits of plants. I will not argue that plants are beautiful but the facts surrounding why consumers need plants in their lives is very powerful and must be promoted by every ONLA member, right now.
Most employees will be open to learning the numbers and you will find that many of them had no idea of the actual costs of running the company. But once they are informed, they will be able to help make better daily decisions and ultimately impact your bottom line. There has been and will continue to be an economic downturn in response to the pandemic. The future is filled with unknowns. Does anyone remember that the only industry to experience increased spending during the Great Recession in 2008–2009? The answer is…pets! I love my dog dearly, but plants have so much more to offer than pets in the areas of increased health, well-being, and economic impact. (As far as I know, owning a dog does provide a 109% ROI on my home.) The green industry can continue to compete for consumer business through the pandemic as long as we do our part to capture our new audience through education. And no Ohio State football this fall means more time to garden! Stay strong as we continue to navigate this stressful time. Please reach out to anyone at the ONLA for assistance, questions, comments or concerns. We are in this together and are here to help or just listen. B
Education material related to the benefits of plants can be found in many places, including the #PlantsDoThat infographics at consumerhort.org. Some ideas to promote this material include: place the infographics around your nursery, garden center, or on the back of your landscape crews’ clipboards. Share the information in your company newsletter or at your next department or company meeting. Email the infographics to your friends and families. Post the links on social media— frequently. Include facts on the back of your invoice, quote, or statement to customers. Encourage your customers to share the benefits with their customers. Ask the local newspaper to publish the material, too. Making sure your staff understand the purpose behind why we do what we do is of the utmost importance. Once the staff understands their impact on the environment they will buy in and promote the benefits of our products without even thinking about it. While you are educating your staff about the true positive impact of our products (above and beyond beauty) this also opens the door for increased transparency in other facets of your business. If your employees do not know the input costs to run your business, they surely do not understand the value of the products when installed in the landscape or sold at the Garden Center. Start by teaching some of the numbers including cost of labor (general summary, not individual salaries), cost to run your fleet (fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc.), cost of health insurance or other employee perks, and other inputs such as soil, pots, utilities, equipment, tools, etc. onla.org
Emily can be contacted at eshowalter@wwninc.com September/October 2020
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