The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) congratulates the graduates of the Garden Center University (GCU) class of 2008. GCU, taught by “professor” Ian Baldwin, is a two-year program designed to train owners and managers to create a more profitable, efficient and customer friendly garden center. The program graduated 40 business professionals ranging from veteran garden center owners/managers to professionals relatively new to the industry.
“GCU is sort of a mini-MBA for garden centers,” says Ian Baldwin, program director.
GCU is a two year program, comprising five, weekend-long, semesters. The program is targeted at retail owners and managers, with companies with annual sales ranging from $500,000 to $5 million, who want to double or triple their size. In addition to class instruction by “professor” Ian Baldwin, participants experience a range of “field work,” including visits and networking with winning owners of super league stores, as well as get-togethers at trade shows and field trips to retail garden centers. The key learning areas in the program are strategy, fiscal management, operational management, interpersonal skills, and service and sales skills.
Class of 2008 graduates expressed great satisfaction with their GCU experience.
"GCU is the most intensive and business education I have experienced," says William D. McClenathan of Portland (Ore.) Nursery. "Each class brought me new and exciting concepts for garnering and maintaining success in this industry. Garden Center University should be considered mandatory for all owners and managers. Thanks to Ian and Lisa for their strong passion and vision for garden centers and their desire for everyone to achieve lasting success."
Tina Bemis of Bemis Farms Nursery (Massachusetts), encourages others to participate in the program.
"You don't have to own a big garden center to benefit from GCU. Between the instructor and the invaluable networking, I've gotten a remarkable return on my investment."
For more information about future classes of Garden Center university, contact Colleen Beirne at 202/789-2900.