National Green Centre starts Sunday

ST. LOUIS – The National Green Centre convention for the horticulture and green industries, will take place Jan. 9-10 in St. Louis, attracting garden center, nursery, grower, breeder, landscape architecture, design and contractor professionals.

Centre’s signature event is the Sweet Melissa Fashion Show, which highlights the trendiest new plants in horticulture. The fashion show benefits the Sweet Melissa Fund, which provides financial assistance to lung transplant recipients and their families.

Centre also features 90 hours of educational sessions, including:

State of the Industry – Sunday, Jan. 9, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
What sort of shape is the horticulture industry in? Yale Yongblood, editor of Garden Center, and colleagues Kelli Rodda, editor of Nursery Management; Chuck Bowen, editor and associate publisher of Lawn & Landscape, and Mike Zawacki, editor of Snow Magazine, will share their thoughts on the state of the industry based on the people they talk to and write about on a daily basis.

Benchmarking Your Business – Sunday, Jan. 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Lawn & Landscape Editor and Associate Publisher Chuck Bowen will provide insight on budgeting, management ideas, sales predictions and 2011 forecasts based on the magazine’s annual Benchmarking Your Business survey.

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill – Sunday, Jan. 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Garden Center Publisher and Editor Yale Youngblood will lead a discussion about Underhill’s book “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping.” If you know why consumers buy, you’ll have a better idea of how to sell to them.

With Change Comes Opportunity – Jan. 10, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
John Ossa, founder of Irrigation Essentials and Lawn & Landscape columnist, will talk about how businesses and the industry can leverage recent changes (economic instability, water mandates, ect.) to grow and evolve.

The State of the Snow Removal Industry – Monday, Jan. 10, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Snow Magazine Editor Mike Zawacki will provide attendees an insider’s view on the challenges facing commercial and residential snow fighters. His talk will cover the economic pressures impacting the North American snow market, industry innovations and how to gain effectiveness and efficiency to improve business.

For more information on the National Green Centre, click here.