FROM THE BOARD 



Professional Plant Growers Association: 



Your Voice for the Horticultural Industry 



Henry Huntington 



FOR AN ACTIVE MEMBER of 

 the greenhouse industry, ques- 

 tions always arise on different 

 issues and aspects of our busi- 

 ness. How can a better poinsettia 

 be grown? Where can help be 

 found for marketing products? 

 How does a grower conform to 

 all the new government regula- 

 tions? PPGA provides the answers 

 to these questions and much 

 more. 



The Professional Plant Growers 

 Association is the national trade 

 association for the greenhouse in- 

 dustry. PPGA is made up of over 

 2,500 greenhouse and allied trades 

 people from across the United 

 States, Canada, and around the 

 world. 



In 1991, I was elected by 

 the membership to the Board of 

 Directors for the association. 

 The board consists of 18 elected 

 grower-member directors and 9-12 

 appointed directors representing 

 the allied trades. As a director, I 

 have travelled around the country 

 to attend director meetings. The 

 board meets to set policies for 

 the association and to discuss 

 and implement new and ongoing 

 programs. The directors meet 

 three times each year; in January, 

 June, and at our annual confer- 

 ence in late September or 

 October. 



When the Board meets, we 

 review current programs and 

 develop new programs to answer 

 the questions asked by growers 

 and business owners. One of the 

 goals of the Education and Re- 

 search Committee is to give our 

 members information for their 

 growing questions. We have 

 books and videos available to 

 answer your "how to grow" ques- 

 tions. We also correspond with 

 our state universities and colleges 

 to express our viewpoint on the 

 directions of their programs. 



The Market Development and 



Promotions Committee helps find 

 better ways to market our prod- 

 ucts. This committee has made a 

 significant financial commitment 

 to the Garden Council. The Gar- 

 den Council is a national market- 

 ing association whose goal is to 

 promote the horticulture industry 

 contributions through a voluntary 

 check-off program. The Marketing 

 Committee also develops videos 

 such as The Flowering Plants 

 Video, which demonstrates to a 

 retailer how to display and care 

 for flowering plants in a retail 

 setting. As a member of the Mar- 

 keting Committee, I am person- 

 ally working on a program to 

 develop a "Growers Shipping Kit." 

 Included in this kit is a label to 

 be printed on shipping cartons 

 and instructions to guide buyers 

 on how to receive plant material. 

 The committee also contracts 

 garden writers for articles to 

 promote our products in national 

 gardening magazines. 



The Government Affairs Com- 

 mittee keeps their eye on what 

 is going on in Washington and 

 at the state government level. 

 We work as a coalition with sev- 

 eral associations, such as SAP and 

 the Farm Bureau to lobby mem- 

 bers of Congress on the issues 

 that concern us as growers and 

 business people. We are currently 

 preparing a manual on how to 

 comply with the new worker 

 protection standards. These regu- 

 lations deal with the handling of 

 all the hazardous materials we 

 use, re-entry intervals, and much 

 more. This manual will attempt 

 to make these regulations easier 

 to interpret and follow. The 

 Water Quality Action Manual 

 foi Greenhouse and Nursery 

 Growers was also developed 

 through a coalition with other 

 associations. This manual focuses 

 on all issues dealing with water 

 quality, runoff, recycling, and 



December 1992 & January 1993 

 3 



other water issues. PPGA has 

 also been very active in the 

 fight regarding Quarantine 37. 

 Q-37 deal with the importation 

 of potted plant material into the 

 U.S. PPGA has been strongly 

 opposed to reducing these regu- 

 lations due to the possibility of 

 importing foreign pests and dis- 

 eases. 



The Annual Conference and 

 Trade Show is an opportunity 

 for growers to meet other mem- 

 bers of the industry. The confer- 

 ence is packed full of seminars 

 and lectures on all subjects. 

 Each year the conference is held 

 in a different city around the 

 U.S. in order to give all growers 

 an opportunity to attend. 



PPGA sponsors trips to differ- 

 ent parts of the world. This year 

 a tour is scheduled to Great 

 Britain. While in Great Britain, 

 we will tour the countryside as 

 well as visit growing operations 

 and retail garden centers. This 

 is a great opportunity to see 

 what our European neighbors 

 are doing. We also sponsor mini 

 technical tours to different parts 

 of the U.S. 



These are just a sampling of 

 the programs that PPGA pro- 

 vides for our industry. PPGA 

 promotes our products and helps 

 us learn how to grow those 

 products. PPGA needs your sup- 

 port to continue offering all 

 these benefits. 



For information on becoming 

 a member of PPGA, call me, 

 Henry Huntington (603-435- 

 8361) or call Kathy Kochendorfer 

 at the PPGA office (517-694- 

 7700). 



Join the Professional Plant 

 Growers Association. It is an 

 investment in your future and 

 in the future of our industry. 



Henry Huntington is a co-owner 

 and operator of Pleasant View 

 Gardens, Pittsfield, NH. >* 



