Can you believe another year has come and gone?  If you're like me, you're thinking each year that goes by does so faster and faster! Well, let's see if I can update you on the happenings at NENA:

We're making good progress with our new strategic model for the association. We're working closely with HRI to form a new endowment fund that will better provide for our local industry for years to come. The HRI board is very supportive and excited about this new alliance, as it is expected to become the model for many other associations in the future. Right now the final language of our agreement is being crafted and we are pushing to have it completed by year's end.

NENA is a founding partner of New England Grows and as such receives an educational grant each year.  In addition to an absolutely stellar line up for speakers and a jam packed exhibit hall, we are excited about many new features planned for 2014 including: a new show "App" you can download on iTunes or Google Play; live entertainment, "Dining with the Speakers" program, and much more.  Be sure to visit NENA's Learning Hub on the tradeshow floor.  We'll be hosting a "Save the Pollinators" display that I think you'll find fascinating.  I also heard the first 50 people to register for the show get a free snow shovel.... just in case! Of course that's just a rumor and won't be necessary since we paid our weather dues in full last year. All kidding aside, registration for Grows 2014 is open, so be sure to sign up soon!

NENA's Annual Breakfast Meeting will be held during New England Grows on Friday, February 7 from 7:30 a.m. -8:30 a.m.   This important meeting will feature NENA updates, election of officers, and our popular business book club.  Join us for a great breakfast and a chance to catch up with old friends away from the hustle and bustle of the show floor.  Watch for your invitation shortly and register online today.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you for staying loyal to NENA as we embark on a new chapter. It has been a process where everyone has strong opinions about what is best for the association and not everyone thinks the same.  Rest assured that the entire board of directors has taken these strategic decisions extremely seriously.  The current path - with member input and years of great consideration - is one we unanimously support.

Change doesn't come easily to most.  It is very exciting, however, to look to a future where NENA can support and add meaningful value to our local green industry. Vision is not about today... it is about the future and NENA is leading the way forward.

 

Thank You,

 

Peter House

NENA President

In addition to an outstanding line up for industry experts presenting at seminars throughout the three-day event (pages 8 - 13 in the Guide), our Grows' representatives--- Rich Clark, Carol MacLeod, and Ed Bemis ---share their top picks for "must attend" activities at Grows 2014:

* Garden Center Success on Wednesday (see page 14)
* Dining with the Speakers (page 18)
* Save the Pollinators Learning Hub, sponsored by NENA (page 15)
* Tech Hub/App Bar (page 15)
* Daily Idea Swaps (page 6)

Grows Mobile App
Be one of the first to download the new Grows mobile App from iTunes or Google Play and be entered to win a $500 VISA card.  This customized app was created specifically to help you pre-plan and navigate the show to get the most out of your Grows' experience.  Check out page 6 of your Guide to Grows for all the details.

Energized Exposition
Grows' exposition will be jam-packed with the hottest new plants, equipment, technology, and more!  Check out the New England Grows website for a complete list of the hundreds of leading suppliers ready to do business...and get ready for savings!  There will be plenty of deals to be made on the tradeshow floor. (Click here to be linked to Grows' exhibitor search.)

Enjoy special savings for early registration - $49 for all three days - when you sign up by January 15.  The early registration price drops to just $45 per person when four or more people from the same company register together.  Affordable admission fees, combined with exclusive deals on the expansive tradeshow floor, make New England Grows the best place to do business!

Proceeds from New England Grows go directly back to the industry to support the work of NENA and other green industry organizations, including annual research grants to the region's Cooperative Extension programs. Funds from the show also support related community-based programs, such as the Boston Schoolyard Initiative and vocational schools. So, when you participate in New England Grows you benefit your business as well as our local industry!

 

 

NENA Annual Meeting & Election of Officers 

 

Dale Pierson named IPPS Fellow - Congratulations to NENA past president Dale Pierson, co-owner of Pierson Nurseries, Inc. in Dayton, Maine.  Dale was elected as a Fellow of the Eastern Region of the International Plant Propagators' Society at their 2013 annual meeting in Chicago.  The Fellow Award is an honor the Region awards to its members for exceptional service to the Society and to the advancement of the field of propagation and production.  To read more, click here.

CNLA's Bob Heffernan Retires - The CNLA officers and board of directors announced that Executive Secretary Bob Heffernan has left the post he's held since 1998 to become an innkeeper at the Sugarbush ski area in Vermont. Bob accomplished much and was admired by many during his 15 years of service.  With his guidance, the association experienced much progress and modernization. We wish Bob the very best. A search committee is recruiting his replacement.

Our friend and colleague, Jonathan Bardzik, of the American Nursery & Landscape Association, has released his first cookbook, Simple Summer: A Recipe for Cooking and Entertaining with Ease - a collection of recipes, stories, music and drink recommendations chosen from more than 300 recipes he has created for his  weekly, live cooking demonstrations at Washington, D.C.'s historic Eastern Market. Jonathan's book paints a picture of easy summer living, including the plants and flowers that make it beautiful.   Learn more about Simple Summer at www.jonathanbardzik.com. 

SNA Announces Release of BMP Version 3.0 - The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) announced the release of the Best Management Practices: Guide for Producing Nursery Crops Version 3.0.  For the first time, the manual is available as a reference tool online on the SNA website.  Visit www.sna.org. Printed manuals will be available in late fall.

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid Quarantine - As of September 2013, the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) quarantine area in Maine was expanded to include three entire counties and 29 additional towns.  In Maine, hemlocks are the third most valuable harvested trees, trailing only spruce firs and white pines.  For more information about the quarantine, and for a general fact sheet, click here.

The CT Agricultural Experiment Station Announces New Director - Ted Andreadis, a veteran staffer at the Station with 35 years of experience there in entomology, will succeed Lou Magnarelli, who died recently.  Andreadis becomes Connecticut's chief plant regulator.  The Station's current Vice Director, Kirby Stafford, will resume being the Head of Entomology and the State Entomologist.