Dwight Hughes. Jr., owner of Dwight Hughes Nursery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assumed the presidency of the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) during the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Hughes enters his presidency with a legacy of driving innovation in this industry including the over 150 talks he has given around the country, and in Canada, on operational efficiency and mechanization, as well as his service on the board and as president of the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), ANLA’s research and development endowment.
“During my year as president, I will work to continue ANLA’s efforts to build our relationships with state associations," Hughes says. "Through the Lighthouse program, ANLA can now activate a grassroots network of more than 15,000 state association member businesses.”
In recent years, Hughes has worked diligently with ANLA’s Leadership and staff to build participation in the ANLA Lighthouse program. Through Lighthouse, state associations make a financial commitment and join the nursery and landscape industry’s national grassroots network, gaining access to policy briefs and receiving legislative calls-to-action on key industry issues. Hughes continues his commitment to the contribution that HRI has made to the continued viability and success of the nursery and landscape industry.
“HRI is now a $10.7 million endowment which gave $350,000 in the last year alone to fund research and scholarships,” he says.
Hughes’ presidency begins as his family landscape and growing business approaches its thirty year anniversary. The Hughes’ family’s relationship with ANLA, however, dates back to 1908, almost one hundred years, when Hughes’s grandfather established his firm and began growing trees. As a third generation nurseryman, Hughes is proud of his family’s continued involvement in the industry. Both his wife, Debra, and his son, Tom, work in the family business. Hughes' son, John, recently took a position with GK Machine, an equipment manufacturer in Oregon.