NMNLA President's Message 

First, I am extremely proud to represent you for the next year as President of the Northern Michigan Chapter of the MNLA. I, along with our Board members, want to become the “go-to” organization for you and your firm. In order to be this, we need your help to define the future of our profession and of the NMNLA. 

 

So, I ask you…how can you help define the future of the NMNLA and our Profession? What will it look like? What does the future hold for ourselves, our businesses, and our teams? I invite you to join together with us to help figure this out.

   

Our Northern Michigan website has just launched and is a toolbox of information to hopefully help you by implementing solutions and generating alternatives, and it is available to assist our member companies. Go to www.NMNLA.org to check out the resources including Design Case Studies, Blogs, Plant Profiles, Trainings & Events, Vendors, and Advocacy. Remember to check back often as we’re planning monthly updates and refreshes.

 

Increased diversity within our profession will hopefully make us better professionals, especially if we are willing to share our knowledge and histories with one another. The future of our profession is linked to our workforce, so let me ask you…how can we encourage more people to enter horticulture? What does the Landscape company of the future look for in the workforce? What are the skills needed to hire in the future? 

 

As we seek answers to these questions please remember that it is said that the workforce of the future is looking for five things:

A.    Future workers want to be part of a company culture in which they feel valued and           listened to,

B.    They want a clear path and access to peers who they can exchange ideas with and               connect as a support network,

C.    Future workers want an environment that values and promotes teamwork, 

D.    They want to feel a part of a bigger purpose and feel their job has meaning, and 

E.    Compensation will be important, but not as important as all of the above.  

 

We need to think about how information technology, customer relationship management, data analytics, finance, production and operations, and brand management will affect our bottom line. We need your help and input to lead the technological innovations and education for the future of the industry. Let us know what you need to make our futures brighter and finding better ways to carry out the missions of our organizations.

 

In closing, we should be incredibly proud of the work we do to enhance, protect, beautify, nurture, and steward the land; now how can we do it better and within a smaller footprint? Join us to make the future the best it can be.

 

We look forward to your input, discussions, ideas and knowledge.  Please feel free to reach out to me at RAngell@GreatLakesLandscapeSupply.com.