Clayton Ready to Grow PLCAA

Gary Clayton knows the lawn care industry from all sides. He has worked for industry suppliers, trade associations and even for lawn care operators before. Nearly 25 years of experience making the world a greener place has taught Clayton many lessons, and now he’s excited about putting his experience to work driving the Professional Lawn Care Association of America to new heights.

“I have a genuine passion for the industry and the menu of challenges this position requires,” Clayton said in an exclusive interview with Lawn & Landscape.

Clayton is honest about the fact that PLCAA faces its share of challenges, but he has seen enough to know that these issues aren’t unique to this association. “I think we’re somewhere in the middle in terms of the issues we’re dealing with,” he noted.

It’s too soon for Clayton to identify any specific goals he has for the association, but his primary initiatives aren’t hard to figure out. “One of our great opportunities is to increase the number of member companies and their awareness of the merit and value of belonging to this association,” he remarked. “We have to continually present that so they see that their dues are an investment in the defense and protection of the industry as well as in their business’ future.”

Tom Delaney spent the last four years as PLCAA’s executive director before taking on the title of vice president of government affairs when Clayton joined the association, and he’s confident these moves will enable the association to move forward. “We have to always be ahead of the curve,” Delaney explained. “We have to keep our eyes and ears open so we’re not operating in a vacuum. We need to react to issues before they’re a problem for our members, and that means knowing about the problems in their businesses.”

Clayton spent three years in the mid to late 1980s as PLCAA’s director of technical resources, and that role put him in a position to deal with a range of legislative issues. He recognizes that the number of these issues has multiplied since that time, which is why he’s excited about Delaney’s new role. “Part of the opportunity for PLCAA going forward is to recognize that legislative affairs are critical and so important that we need someone like Tom who can dedicate his talents in that direction,” he enthused. “Now we can let him focus on those issues that are coming or give him the chance to make sure we’re working preemptively, and I’ll worry about the other issues we’re dealing with.

“When I was here almost 20 years ago, we created the legislative position because we had increasing legislative activity,” Clayton recalled. “Those issues have all stayed around, and that’s a big issue for our member companies, whether they’re small business issues, workplace issues or specific lawn care issues.”

But Clayton knows that PLCAA’s focus has to be broader than legislative threats for the association to best serve its members. “We just need to make sure we’re listening to our members to find out what they need from us as their association,” he pointed out.

The author is Editor/Publisher for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at bwest@lawnandlandscape.com.