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!
2026 Upcoming Events
With a theme of Better Businesses through Better Planning, Technology, and Collaboration, the Northern MI Nursery & Landscape Association's Board of Directors is pleased to present this line-up of education and events.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
3rd Annual NMNLA Golf Outing
Held at Antrim Dells, 12352 Antrim Dells Dr., Ellsworth, MI 49729
Pricing (100% of the proceeds go towards the Green Industry Scholarship Fund) :
$115 per golfer/$460 per foursome
Click the button to register online, or click on the form below to open up the PDF.
September 24–26, 2026
Great Lakes Great Plant Symposium
Hosted by The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park
More details and registration information coming soon!
December 2026
Year-End Celebration & Winter Learning
Date and location coming soon!
2026 Event Recaps
April
We had two great education programs in April, Marketing that Works! and our annual Spring Training.
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Marketing that Works! for Contractors that Don’t Have Time for Marketing was held on April 9 at Manthei Supply in Traverse City. This session was led by Kelly Dowell of OnLawn who provided insight to help owners and managers simplify their marketing, to stop wasting time on things that don’t move the needle, and to focus on a minimum effective marketing approach that actually works. It was a great learning session and we appreciate Kelly’s insights and the information she shared with our members. Our appreciation to Manthei Supply, Traverse City for hosting this event!
NMNLA Spring Training was held April 21 at Four Season Nursery in Traverse City. This was a unique hands-on learning experience led by Brian Zimmerman and included hands-on demonstrations and instruction that included proper tool selection, pruning, proper planting techniques, and how to properly handle, care, load, and transplant plant material. In addition, there was a Plant ID Contest that featured native and rare plant specimens from Four Season Nursery. It was a great learning experience for all that attended and our appreciation goes to Brian Zimmerman and his team for hosting and sharing their love of plants and Matthew Ross for his efforts that made this an inspiring spring training event!
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:
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Richard Angell, Todd's Services
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Travis Noel, Drost Landscape
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Dustin Flaska, Flaska Landscaping
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Jordan Valdmanis, Old Mission Associates, LLC
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Jeff Elshoff, Twin Bay Landscaping
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Jon Bull, Great Lakes Landscape Supply
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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.
Contest Winners
Men’s Longest Drive, winning a set of Carbide Chisels donated by Twin Bay Landscaping: Jon Boger (accepting Jon’s prize is Bob Munroe).
Women’s Longest Drive, winning a $50 Cash Prize: Morgan Rydzewski (accepting Morgan’s prize is Richard Angell).
Longest Putt, winning a Fire Pit donated by Manthei Supply: Dan Worm
Closest to the Pin, winning a Redmax Back Pack Blower donated by Old Mission Associates: Phil Schutte
Closest to the Pin, winning a CAT Cooler donated by MacAllister CAT/ MacAllister Rentals: Brad Backus
Closest to the Pin, winning a Round of Golf donated by Antrim Dells Golf Course: Scott Naumes
Closest to the Pin, winning a Spring Lake Trout Fishing Charter for Four donated by True Blue Charters/Flaska Landscaping: Phil Schutte
50/50 Raffle Winner: Jason Rybinski