ANLA, PLANET Evaluating Possible Merger

Washington, D.C. – The American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) and the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) have announced that the two associations are evaluating a possible merger. This announcement follows seven months of discussions and exploration by a joint task force of volunteer leaders from both organizations. If adopted, this would be the second merger of national green industry associations in as many years. In 2004, PLANET was formed when the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) merged.

“With all the challenges and opportunities faced by the green industry, it makes sense for our national associations to be working smarter, not just harder,” says Peter Orum, ANLA president. “Bringing these two leading associations together would dramatically increase the industry’s lobbying profile in Washington, D.C.”

PLANET leadership agrees. “When PLANET was formed in 2004, our leadership hoped that it would be the first step in a process to expand the scope and capabilities of a single, larger national association for the industry,” explained Dan Foley, PLANET president. “These discussions with ANLA are an encouragement that ALCA and PLCAA were on to something.” 

MERGER BENEFITS. Combining PLANET and ANLA would result in a national association with annual revenue of more than $9 million and a staff of 48, a resource base that is larger than about 75 percent of all trade associations in the United States. The combined membership of the two organizations would exceed 6,000.

Because the current memberships of the two associations are largely based in different sectors of the green industry, a potential merged association would represent business interests across the full spectrum of the industry. Members would include individuals and companies involved in lawn and landscape maintenance, agricultural nursery production, lawn care, wholesale distribution, retail garden centers, landscape design and installation, interior plantscape services, snow removal, irrigation and more.

Currently, approximately 150 companies hold membership in both PLANET and ANLA. In addition to opening each association’s membership to numerous crossover opportunities educationally, the associations have noted several benefits to the merger.

“A merger of ANLA and PLANET could build on the benefits and momentum gained by the formation of PLANET,” ANLA noted, “It would combine two strong, full-service trade associations that currently address largely discrete, but contiguous sectors of the green industry.” Cited merger benefits include:

• Strong Membership/Financial Base. With a combined membership of 6,000 and a combined annual budget exceeding $9 million, the merged association would have a more balanced and stable range of member dues and non-dues sources of revenue, the associations note. Operational efficiencies would result in more member benefits for their dues investment.
• More Educational and Business Services. Many member businesses have activities that overlap or sell to the sectors represented by PLANET and ANLA. There would be an immediate increase in access to, participation in, and support of the education and business services provided by both associations.
• More Political Influence. The merger would add strength and numbers to the continuum of agricultural-suburban-urban business interests that ANLA notes has been a key to its government representation effectiveness. Moreover, PLANET’s representation expertise in local and regional environmental issues, retained from the PLCAA legacy organization, complements ANLA’s more limited representation in this area. A merged organization would become the dominant voice of the green industry and be positioned to monitor and affect government-related issues far more effectively.
• Public Marketing Outreach. PLANET’s public and consumer outreach can be strengthened by the network of ANLA’s retail and landscape businesses.
• Collaboration with Other Associations. The combined association would resemble the dual nature of most of the industyr’s state and regional counterpart associations. This similarity will enhance collaboration with these groups and eliminate the potential for competition and duplication by two national organizations.

IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS. As it stands, both associations’ boards of directors have agreed to sign a letter of intent to merge – the first step toward brining the groups together. The associations already are performing due diligence and beginning preliminary research into merger possibilities. The organizations plan to officially sign the letter of intent in July when leadership from both ANLA and PLANET are together in Washington, D.C. for joint legislative days. Signing the letter of intent to merger will allow the associations to begin more thorough evaluations without putting either association’s privacy at risk.

Additionally, ANLA’s delegate body, the ANLA Senate also must approve and sign the letter of intent in order for the process to move forward. If the ANLA Senate agrees at its meeting in July, then both organizations will begin a more formal and extensive evaluation. Depending on the evaluation’s conclusions, a final vote to merge by PLANET members and the ANLA Senate – with ANLA member input – would occur later this fall. An official merger would likely take place some time in 2006.

Representatives from ANLA note that at this early stage, an ANLA-PLANET merger looks promising. “Historically, there have been points of collaboration between ANLA and especially with PLANET’s legacy association ALCA particularly on the legislative side, so that side is there,” the association told Lawn & Landscape. “We’ve also collaborated on publications throughout the years, so our circles have overlapped. Right now there’s an extraordinary degree of candor and exchange of information going on between the two organizations and a willingness to put members first.”