Trainings & Events | Northern Michigan Nu

Training and Events

The Northern Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association hosts its own events, including networking meetings, planning meetings, educational presentations, fundraising events, board meetings, and more. If you would like to help organize, host, or support one of these events please reach out to Matthew Ross at matthew@thebotanicgarden.org and/or Kristin Trojanowski at kristin@flaskalandscaping.com. If you would like to attend a Board meeting, please contact us to be added to the agenda. Questions about upcoming events? Contact us today!

Upcoming Events in 2026

Thursday, April 9, 2026 • 10:30am-1:00pm

Marketing that Works! For Contractors Who Don't Have Time for Marketing

Hosted by Manthei Supply, Traverse City (1423 Sawyer Rd., Traverse City, MI 49685)

Presented by Kelly Dowell of OnLawn

About Kelly:

Kelly Dowell has over 15 years of experience working in one of St. Louis’s largest residential lawn maintenance companies. She's worked in all areas of the business including admin, operations, sales, account management, and HR. In 2017 she won Lawn and Landscape Magazine’s Emerging Leader Award which encouraged her to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams of creating a digital marketing and consulting agency. She wakes up excited to help companies use technology to develop sales, marketing, and recruiting solutions that fit their needs. Business leaders who desire to grow their businesses using the people and technology around them will find Kelly’s knowledge and expertise to be invaluable. Kelly holds a BA degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from Lindenwood University as well as several certifications from NALP, Hubspot, Google, and more. She resides in St. Petersburg, Florida with her dog Broozer.

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Pricing (includes Workshop and Lunch) :

NMNLA Member – $15/person

Non-Member – $30/person

Earn 2.5 CGIP Credits!

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 • 8:30-11:30am

NMNLA Spring Training at Four Season Nursery

Sponsored by Brian Zimmeran & Team, Four Season Nursery

Held at Four Season Nursery, 7557 E Harrys Rd, Traverse City, MI 49684

Pricing (includes hands-on Workshop and refreshments) :

NMNLA Member – $15/person

Non-Member – $30/person

Approved for 3 CGIP CEUs!

2025 Event Recaps

January: Education Exchange – Learn, Share, Connect

On January 9, NMNLA professionals gathered for an afternoon of learning, networking, and fun. Hosted by Manthei Supply in their newest location located at 1423 Sawyer Rd. in Traverse City, this event featured Matt Bulloch, CEO/President of TentCraft, who shared how they’ve implemented lean manufacturing into their business to drive efficiency, the unique methods they use to attract talent to their company, and the quick decision-making the company went through during COVID, shifting gears in their product line – and how important that has been to the ongoing success of the company. In addition, attendees heard legislative and regulatory updates, enjoyed refreshments, and received fun raffle giveaways.

Our appreciation goes to Manthei Supply for their hospitality and to all the firms that donated gifts to the raffle.

March: NMNLA Education Workshop: Benchmarking

On March 13, NMNLA professionals participated in an impactful afternoon with Sean Baxter of Jeffrey Scott Company. Hosted by Vidosh North, LLC in Petoskey, Sean presented benchmarking data based on the aggregated 2024 data from the 380 companies in their peer group network. The data presented was a segment of the content featured in their Financial Master Class. Sean presented this information in the context of how the attendee’s company compared to “low”, “high” and “top” performing Green Industry businesses from around the country.

Our appreciation goes to all at Vidosh North, LLC for hosting and to Sean Baxter, Founder of Lawn & Landscape Solutions and Member Jeffrey Scott Consulting, Kansas City, MO for this informative afternoon.

August: 2nd Annual NMNLA golf outing a swinging success!

The 2nd Annual NMNLA Golf Outing was held on Wednesday, August 27th at the beautiful Antrim Dells Golf Course in Ellsworth, MI. The weather was perfect and 96 Green Industry professionals gathered for this annual event. Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day of fun and camaraderie with a sponsored beverage cart and snack table, awards for 1st Place Men's and Mixed Teams, SKINS, hole contests, and an awards banquet with a delicious barbeque dinner and prizes.

Our Appreciation!

Thank you to all of the teams and sponsors of the 2nd Annual NMNLA Golf Outing! Our Sponsors are:

Beverage Ticket Sponsor:

Drost Landscape

Snack Table Sponsor:

Flaska Landscaping

Hole Contest Gift Sponsors:

Antrim Dells Golf Course

MacAllister CAT/MacAllister Rentals

Manthei Supply

Old Mission Associates

True Blue Charters/Flaska Landscaping

Twin Bay Landscaping

Tee Sponsors:

Belden Architectural Elements

Blue Star Landscape Supply

Emmet Brick & Block

Great Lakes Landscape Supply

Harrell's

J.P. Landscape & Irrigation

Legacy Labor, Inc.

MacAllister CAT/MacAllister Rentals

McHutchison

North Star Stone, LLC

Old Mission Associates

Pure Property Management

SiteOne

Sustainable Landscapes

Twin Bay Landscaping

Unilock Michigan, Inc.

Our appreciation goes to this year's Golf Committee for their efforts to make this a successful event for all who attended:

Richard Angell, Todd's Services
Travis Noel, Drost Landscape
Dustin Flaska, Flaska Landscaping
Jordan Valdmanis, Old Mission Associates, LLC
Jeff Elshoff, Twin Bay Landscaping
Jon Bull, Great Lakes Landscape Supply
Ryan McFarlan, J.P. Landscape & Irrigation, Inc.

Congratulations to the Winning Teams!

1st Place Winners

In the Men's Flight, with a score of 63 (10 under par!) the 2025 winning team was the J.P. Landscape & Irrigation Team that included Ryan McFarlan, Brent Maike, Anthony Joyce, and Justin Chrysler. J.P. Landscape & Irrigation will have their name engraved on the NMNLA Golf Outing traveling trophy and will display it until next year's outing.

For the Mixed Flight, with a score of 64 the 2025 winning team was the Old Mission Associates, LLC Team that included Zach Wood, Blake Begin, Jay Strabel, and Gina Bey.