Aug 25, 2006
ANLA Has Successful Annual MeetingSource: ANLA

On July 11-16, 2006, the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) held its annual meeting and conference in Vail, Colo. The meeting had great success by electing new board members, having some interesting sessions and handing out scholarships. Overall, the event was a hit.

New Leaders On Board Of Directors

ANLA’s board is comprised of regional representatives in addition to the president, president-elect and the immediate past president. Three new board members, Matt Horn, Matterhorn Nursery, Spring Valley, N.Y.; Bliss Nicholson, The Bruce Company of Wisconsin, Middleton, Wis.; and Robert Terry, Fisher Farms LLC, Gaston, Ore. were elected by ANLA’s Senate. They join newly elected president-elect Dwight Hughes, Jr., Dwight Hughes Nursery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and President Joanne Kostecky, Joanne Kostecky Garden Design, Inc., Allentown, Pa.

Kostecky Joins HRI’s Heritage Circle

The Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) and its Endowment Fund, the research arm of ANLA, recently announced that Joanne Kostecky of Joanne Kostecky Garden Design, Inc., Allentown, Pa., has joined HRI’s Heritage Circle.

The Heritage Circle is comprised of members of the green industry that have made a bequest to HRI. During the HRI reception this summer in Vail, Colo., Kostecky shared with guests her desire to ensure her financial well being as well as to give back to the industry she has served.

“Making a bequest to HRI is easy. All it takes is a simple inclusion of HRI in a will or family trust. Having a will is an important matter not only for charitable giving but also to handle personal and financial matters that will safeguard the interests of you, your family and loved ones. Becoming a member of HRI’s Heritage Circle ensures your support of HRI and the future of the green industry. It is a lasting tribute to those who serve and have served this industry,” said Kostecky.

HRI Awards Scholarships

$25,000 Syngenta Contribution. HRI announced it received a donation from Syngenta in Greensboro, N.C., to move the Syngenta Professional Products Fund from the $25,000 Silver Circle to the $50,000 Gold Circle. Chuck Buffington, lawn and garden business strategy manager at Syngenta, announced the commitment during the HRI reception.

“We are pleased to continue our support of HRI and ANLA through this donation. Syngenta understands its corporate responsibility to contribute to research and to causes that further the industry. We are humbled and honored to fulfill that responsibility here and to be able to add value to and deepen our partnership with one of the industry’s most valuable associations,” said Buffington.

Bigelow Scholarship. HRI has awarded the 2006 Timothy Bigelow and Palmer W. Bigelow, Jr., Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 to Linda M. Justin.

Justin is a junior this fall at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I., where she is majoring in environmental horticulture. After a 3-year battle against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Justin decided to pursue her long desire to work with plants and within the green industry. Justin is a Rhode Island Certified Horticulturist and an employee at The Farmers Daughter, South Kingstown, R.I.

The Bigelow Scholarship was created in 1988 by the Palmer W. Bigelow family of Bigelow Nurseries in Northboro, Mass., to aid students from New England who seek a career in horticulture. The scholarship is dedicated to one of the family’s children, the late Timothy Bigelow, and to Palmer W. “Bill” Bigelow, who died in 1997. The Bigelow family considers student scholarships the most important commitment that the horticultural industry can make to ensure the growth and development of the nursery and landscape industry.

Scholarship applicants must be enrolled full time in a horticulture or related program and must be residents of New England.

Spring Meadow Scholarship. HRI has awarded the 2006, $2,000 Spring Meadow Scholarship to Skyler C. Westergard.

Westergard is enrolled at Brigham Young University, Rexburg, Idaho. Westergard is majoring in horticulture with an emphasis in landscape design/build and business management as a minor. In 2005, he completed an internship at Bailey Nurseries, Inc., Yamhill, Ore., and is currently working as a horticulture teacher’s assistant at Brigham Young University. Westergard is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society and the Metus Topiarius Horticulture Club at Brigham.

Bright, well-trained and qualified people are essential to the nursery industry, which is the reason Dale and Liz Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery initiated the Spring Meadow Scholarship Fund in 1999. This fund is dedicated to helping aspiring students from across the country obtain a degree in horticulture.

Usrey Family Scholarship. HRI has awarded the 2006, $2,000 Usrey Family Scholarship to Susan Malisch.

Malisch will be a senior this fall at Cal Poly State University, San Louis Obispo, Calif. She has majored in environmental horticultural science with a minor in soil science. She is a member of the Cal Poly State University Environmental Horticultural Science Club as well as a member of the California Native Plant Society.

Susie and Bruce Usrey of Monrovia Growers Inc., Azusa, Calif., established the Usrey Family Scholarship in 2001. The Usrey family considers graduating students in horticulture to be the lifeblood of the green industry. The scholarship is awarded annually to horticulture students enrolled in a California state university or college.

Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship. HRI has awarded the 2006, $2,000 Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship to Hannah Braycki.

Braycki is entering her junior year as a landscape horticulture major at Unity College, Unity, Maine. Braycki’s interest in horticulture was nurtured by her work at her parent’s retail garden center, The Great Outdoors Garden Center in Lynchburg, Va. Braycki is a participant in the Women’s Environmental Leadership program at Unity College as well as member of the Campus Improvement and Constructive Activists Club.

The Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship was established in 2002 by HRI and the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, Inc. (MANTS). This scholarship serves to memorialize Carville M. Akehurst who served the horticultural industry as one of the founders of MANTS. MANTS, an association formed from the state nursery and landscape associations of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, together with HRI, has established this scholarship with the belief that the strength and future success of the horticulture industry lies in the solid education of today’s students.

Founded in 1962, HRI has directed more than $4.2 million of industry funds to more than 600 research projects covering the full range of production, environmental and business issues important to the trade. HRI distributed $335,000 in grants and scholarships for 2006. Those wishing more information about HRI grant programs or making a gift to HRI should contact Teresa Jodon at (202) 789-2900. Those interested in applying should visit the HRI Web site at www.anla.org/research.

ANLA Legislative Conference 2007

ANLA has also announced it will be having its biennial Legislative Conference July 20-25, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. The conference brings together industry business owners and managers representing the growing, distribution, landscape and retail sectors as well as sister organizations with similar legislative agendas. Attendees are briefed on timely and important national legislative and regulatory issues and trained in grassroots advocacy techniques. They also meet with members of Congress.

As ANLA continues to advocate for a comprehensive solution to immigration reform this year, the 2007 Legislative Conference is strategically timed to follow up on any action, or inaction, by Congress this session. “Whether it’s the streamlining of the H-2A program, fixing the cap currently placed on the H-2B program, advocating for the expansion of funding to the Nursery-Floriculture Research Initiative or reforming our current tax system to lower the burdens on small business, the ANLA Legislative Conference affords our industry the opportunity to speak with one voice in Washington,” said John Farner, director of legislative relations for ANLA. “Next July’s Conference will play a key roll in shaping the ANLA’s legislative initiatives and victories for the next session.”

For more information, visit www.anla.org or call (202) 789-2900.