The state of the nursery and landscape industry in Ohio was transformed when a group of professionals joined together on Jan. 15, 1908 to form the Ohio Nurserymen's Association. A year later the fledging association had spent $11.70 of the $39 they had taken in.
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The non-profit trade association, which changed its name in 1994 to The Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA), represents the interests of the state's nursery, garden center and landscape industry, including nursery stock growers, landscape contractors and maintenance firms, garden centers, arborists and allied suppliers.
Today the ONLA, with headquarters in Westerville, near the state capital of Columbus, boasts a membership of nearly 1,700 and has a budget in excess of $1.8 million. In 1931 the Ohio Nurserymen's Association began holding its convention in conjunction with the annual Ohio State University Nursery Short Course, a program started by L.C. Chadwick, Ph.D., three years earlier. In 1958, Chadwick became the first author of the ONA's quarterly publication, The Buckeye Nurseryman, now a monthly magazine called The Buckeye. The Central Environmental Nursery Trade Show ("CENTS") sponsored by the ONLA is one of the largest and most respected trade shows in the industry, with exhibitors numbered in the thousands and attendance more than ten times that number.
The Ohio nursery industry's connection with The Ohio State University is long term and symbiotic. In the 1990s, OSU's Extension, Nursery, Landscape and Turf Team (ENLTT) was developed as a recognizable group in order to facilitate and support educational resources such as the OSU Short Course and production costs of the weekly Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (BYGL).
The ONLA's next century is being greeted with some administrative changes, as long time executive director Bill Stalter passes the baton to Gay Williams, who succeeds Stalter during an interim period prior to his retirement on February 29, 2008. Jennifer Gray, director of publications and education, will be assuming the position of assistant director, working with Roni Petersen, membership and certification coordinator, and Vivienne Patlovich, secretary/receptionist. The ONLA board of directors consists of nine voting members and two non-voting members, under the leadership of the association president -- Keith Manbeck of Decker's Nursery, Groveport is the current president, and Bob Hirth of Delhi Flower and Garden Centers, Cincinnati will take office as of Jan. 22, 2008.
Dollar for dollar, Ohio is one of the greenest states in the U.S., with $142.5 million of land and $140.8 million of structures and equipment in the state going to the support of the green industry. The nursery and landscape industry uses 296,024 acres of Ohio land for field production, 13,022 acres for greenhouse production and 10,865 acres for container production. Nearly a quarter of a million Ohioans are employed by the green industry on a full time, part time or seasonal basis.
The economic impact is substantial, and the industry is growing at an amazing pace. According to The Ohio State University Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Developmental Economics report on the economy, Ohio's green industry grew 48 percent between 2001 and 2005, with sales of $4.13 billion in 2005. These figures do not include florists, those in the sod industry, lawn care companies or chain stores. As the largest and oldest green industry association in the state, the ONLA has played a large part in this growth.
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One reason for the longevity and progress of the ONA and now the ONLA was the determination of its founding members to enhance the ethical and economic growth of the industry, stressing the advancement of fair and lawful trade practices, the improvement of nursery products, the support of improved techniques and research, and the cooperation of the industry with both governmental agencies and institutions of higher learning. The fact that many of the nurseries that helped form today's ONLA not only remain in business but are industry leaders who have continued to play an important part in the growth of the association is indicative of the success of this venture.
Paul S. Reiner is a past president of the ONLA and the 2000 recipient of the association's Distinguished Contribution Award. He is president of Oakland Nursery, Inc. with garden centers in Columbus, Delaware and Dublin as well as a landscape business, interiorscape, irrigation, landscape design and rewholesale services and Acorn Farms, a wholesale nursery operation with 800 acres in Zanesville, Knox County and Delaware County. Oakland Nursery was founded nearly 70 years ago, and has been a member of the ONLA since its very early days.
A lot has changed in the industry since then, Reiner explains.
"There have been radical changes since 1940," he says. "On the production end, where it used to be predominantly B&B material, a lot is now containerized. In those days the focus was on figuring out how to grow it and get it to market. In those days it was all done by hand, everything was hand dug - there was no mechanization or containerization, no Bobcats, no tree spades. Bobcats were not even introduced until the late 1960s or early 1970s. We still did hand digging until the 1970s. The introduction of Bobcats, tree spades, containerization and automatic irrigation gave the industry the ability to produce a better product.
"One of the big changes is in marketing the materials, as well as usage and diversification. If you look at the old catalogues, what was available was very limited and when it was available was also very limited. Now plant materials are available pretty much any time, and there is a hundredfold increase in the type of plant materials - there is a plant for every location and occasion. Improvements on the production side have really extended the season. You can put plants into the landscape and garden center virtually year round, and there are thousands of types of plants compared to what was available even forty or fifty years ago.
"The green industry has matured a lot over the last 50 years. With the greening of America, there is a greater appreciation for landscaping and the aesthetics. Pricing has really not kept up with inflation -- consumers are probably getting better value now than in 1940," Reiner observes. "We have become a very color conscious society. People want color -- they demand color. They are into seasonality and are willing to change spring colors for fall colors. There is peer pressure across the board, so places like gas stations and fast food restaurants are nicely landscaped now. The cost is miniscule compared to the return so it's very cost effective. People's expectations have grown -- they now expect a parking lot to be cut up and planted, which is also good environmentally.
"The labor force is also different than it was back then. It used to be highly specialized people who could dig trees. We still have that but mechanization has really opened the eyes of the industry. Labor has been greatly reduced and the consumer is getting a better product -- back then, there were issues with the viability of B&B plants, while the packaging is much better now. People can still kill a plant but now it's more likely to be through negligence or over-watering, but if you treat it properly, it will grow. There was more risk when a larger tree was hand dug -- the product is better now.
"There have been unbelievably radical changes in plant materials, but that is slowing while the interest in color is getting broader and broader," says Reiner, who feels color will continue to be one of the strongest trends in the future. "Ash problems, other problems -- I think those will be overcome. I look at color and annuals and see changes, people moving to containers, looking for a finished product in a pot instead of digging a hole to plant annuals."
Reiner feels that the biggest benefit to the industry is that outdoor living has become an extension of the living area, whether it includes a patio, pool, built-in grill, outdoor kitchen area or something similar.
"People who spend all their time in an office want to be outside when they get home," he says. "Money is not being spent so much on curb appeal, although that is still important, but where the big money is being spent is in the back, an integral part of the outdoor living space. Some people want privacy, their own little utopia. This is a very large movement, even with the softening of the real estate market -- people who have been in their house a few years are prepared to reinvest, and it takes a few years of living in a house to understand what you want and how you want to live outdoors.
"At the commercial end, for retailers, apartment complexes, curb appeal is very important. This type of landscaping wasn't even in existence years ago but now there is a demand for clean, seasonal color. Chicago has always carried a banner over the rest -- the city has planters of all sorts with color combinations and variations of materials that are done well and maintained well. The tree plantings are really extensive -- that's what makes the neighborhoods. Chicago has taken it up a notch this year -- they have the realization of how important it is to draw people to the shopping area. Chicago is setting a standard -- these plantings are now part of the lifestyle.
Another change in the industry is at the retail level, Reiner notes.
"In the past, if you went into a garden center you would find bags of fertilizer and pesticides on the shelf and a few plants outside," Reiner recalls. "While some garden centers are going out of business because of the impact of the big box stores, others are attracting a little different clientele. They now focus on outdoor living and some do it magnificently, like European and English centers have done for years. Some even feature delis and cafes." All of these changes speak to the ability of the green industry in Ohio and other states to change with the times -- to give the customers what they want and to offer them possibilities they might never have considered. As Reiner observes, "The industry has wonderful opportunities ahead."
Bryan Champion started working for Herman Losely & Son in Perry as a field laborer shortly after he graduated from Ohio State University about 20 years ago. He has been president of the company since 2005. Brian had more than a passing acquaintance with the green industry before he joined Losely, though. As far back as 1923, Bryan's great-grandfather Arthur N. Champion of Champion Nursery in Perry was president of the Ohio Nurserymen's Association. His grandfather, Clyde R. Champion, was association president in 1946. Bryan was four years old when Champion Nursery went out of business due to eminent domain, when the land was needed for a nuclear power plant.
His father, Dennis, co-owner of Berryhill Nursery in Springfield, was ONA president in 1982. Just three years later, while Bryan was still in college, Dennis died of cancer at the age of 43.
Berryhill Nursery changed hands and eventually became a division of Monrovia Nursery. Although Bryan did internships with Monrovia and with J. Frank Schmidt Nursery in Oregon, he went to work for Herman Losely & Son right out of college and has spent his entire career working there. Like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him, Bryan served as president of the ONLA in 1999. In 2005 he received the ONLA's Distinguished Contribution Award. (Edward Losely of Herman Losely & Sons, an ONLA past president, received the same award the year Bryan joined the company, and his son Karl was ONLA president in 2006.) Bryan is still active with the ONLA on a state level and with the ANLA, where is board member of the division of wholesale growers, on a national level.
It is no accident that Bryan was and is so active in these industry associations.
"Volunteer work is a business concern," he explains. "Karl [Losely] and I run the business -- if someone doesn't speak up, some other interest will, and it could affect us in a negative way. Volunteer work is a necessary requirement to keep the business going. Usually the two main issues are legislative or regulatory, on a state and national level. On the state level, I am on a committee made up of past ONLA presidents called the budget policy review committee. On a national level I am charged with monitoring all issues that could affect the grower."
While the industry has become much more modern, Bryan says, "We are first of all farmers, so we are affected by the weather. We lost in excess of $250,000 due to flooding last fall, and several growers lost materials to a freeze this spring. But every time you turn around there are new legislative issues -- immigration is one -- you could ignore it and accept Capitol Hill, or fight for manual labor.
"There are always ups and downs in the industry, it's basically supply and demand based on the economy. We've always moved about the same number of plants but it was price driven, the price would rise or fall based on increased government regulations and public perceptions. We couldn't continue to do things the same way -- states were banning invasive plants, we were faced with diseases such as Emerald Ash Borer -- things like this have made us seek out new plants. The green industry is now a more mature market, which could be due to the baby boomers pushing into their sixties. The younger generation doesn't have time, even though they like landscaping. The industry is reidentifying itself -- it will still be successful.
"[At Losely] our expertise has always been large B&B material -- we have a niche that will probably never go away, but who knows? Land may become so valuable that we'll have to do it on fewer acres. Our labor source is severely threatened -- that is the biggest issue affecting the industry. Some people are trying to compare this to child labor issues of the past, but I don't think so."
Kyle Natorp is president of W.A. Natorp Company in Mason; his father Ken is CEO and his brother Craig is vice president. The company was incorporated in 1916 and has played an integral part in the development of the ONA and later the ONLA. A Natorp employee, Thomas Medlyn, was ONA president in 1933, Kyle's great-grandfather, William A. Natorp, was president of the ONA in 1937, his father, Ken, was president in 1985, Ron Wilson of Natorp's was the ONLA president in 1997 and Kyle was president of the ONLA in 2003.
Natorp's had an eight-acre nursery in 1920, eventually adding retail garden centers and a wholesale operation. Today the company's services include retail, landscape design/build, landscape maintenance and a wholesale nursery.
"We have a garden center in Mason and one in Florence, Ky., a wholesale distribution center in Newtown, and nurseries in Mason, Lebanon and Caesar's Creek (Wilmington)," Kyle says. "Seventy percent of what we grow, we grow for someone else -- that's the fastest growing part of the business."
Kyle and his brother Craig represent the fourth generation of Natorps in the business. "My grandfather came from Germany in 1916," he explains. "He didn't have ties to anyone here; he came over on an apprenticeship as a landscape architect. He fell in love with Cincinnati and decided to stay here. When he couldn't find the plants he needed, he got into the nursery business, which led to retail. Things have changed from growing things in the field to growing them in pots, a change that happened quite rapidly over the past 30 years -- now almost anything can be grown in pots. There is more of a manufacturing mentality today, processing and warehousing is much more mechanized, crops have a defined timeline. There is still a lot grown in fields but the biggest growth is in containerization. It's easier for the customer and for the nursery, but it goes back to less land, less labor and faster production."
Kyle believes that his volunteer work in the ONLA is a commitment of membership.
"I believe it has gone on so long because it is not as cut throat as some organizations -- it's more of a community," he explains. "It's family business based and people are willing to work together and share ideas. I think that's why it's gone on for so long. The key to the ONLA's success is the strength and power of the CENTS show. It's been one of the top in the country for a long time, and we can use the money it brings in for scholarships, for classes, seminars, training, databases and publications that help with marketing for the industry. The research funding helps collectively, and working with government issues helps make sure that some bills on the table aren't detrimental to the industry -- the ONLA has played a big part in that.
"For the most part, the association is made up of smaller companies, many of them family-owned businesses and it can be a challenge. It's tougher now to get the next generation involved in the association. Sharing information is a lot easier now -- in the past, meetings were at trade shows where people exchanged information. Trade shows are struggling now, trying to re-invent themselves. The ONLA is still fairly strong but it needs to stay on the cutting edge. Here and in the future, the ONLA has to do some strategic planning to keep it going.
Kyle feels that one of the most immediate problems facing the industry will be finding people to do the work. "Seasonal businesses are a challenge, add in physical hard work in harsh weather conditions, plus this is historically not a high paying industry," he observes. "It's a lot more competitive now, the big national lawn care companies do a good job and have business savvy, and the big box stores are taking business from individual garden centers, making it harder for small companies to compete.
Bill Hendricks received the ONLA's Distinguished Contribution Award in 1998, and he continues to play a strong role on many levels in the industry. He has been on the Green Industry board of directors, president of the Lake County Nurserymen's Association, president of Klyn Nurseries, Inc. in Perry for 20 years and for more than 30 years he has chaired the Program Short Course Committee. The mission of this committee is to "develop with The Ohio State University a plan for a high-quality educational program for the green industry."
As the ONLA celebrates its 100th anniversary in January 2008, the Nursery Short Course is gearing up to celebrate its 85th anniversary in 2009. The association has always put on a trade show, and for most of its history, the trade show has been accompanied by the short course, a symbiotic relationship initiated and developed by Chadwick. Bill Hendricks has always been passionate about the Short Course program and the association's connection with OSU - he recalls that his first contact with Bill Stalter, the long-time ONLA executive director, it was when he wrote a three page letter arguing short course versus trade show hours.
"As the "CENTS" show has grown, so has the Short Course," Hendricks says. "It's the wonderful combination that makes it strong."
In his role as chair of the Program Short Course Committee, Hendricks says that his committee is "the eyes and mouth of the industry" giving input to Ohio State University.
"It's networking, the university takes this information and they put the program together and contact the speakers - it's a lot of work," he says. "All we do is give them suggestions as to what the industry would like to hear, based on input from other committees. Also my committee has reps from other entities within the industry, plus other professionals and educators. Now everything is set up on related tracks, with up to eight or nine sessions going on at a time - the education has grown as the trade show has grown."
Hendrick's involvement with the industry started when he was about 2½ years old. "I was in my grandfather's greenhouse with him," he explains. "My mother (who died in June at age 90) found me sitting on a bench, fascinated."
That event may have set his path for life, he says.
"I have never held a job outside of horticulture."
One of his jobs was with Lake County Nursery, when it was still a very small company back in 1968, and Bill was the only English-speaking employee there. He stayed with Lake County Nursery for 20 years, when he had the urge to try something new.
"I was not looking to go with a successful company," he says. "I was looking for something I could build."
He approached Jack Klyn, owner of Klyn Nurseries in Perry, a longtime friend who he thought was losing interest in the business. That meeting resulted in a partnership that has gone on for twenty years and counting -- Bill started with Klyn Nurseries at 8 a.m. on August 3, 1987. Today Bill is corporate president of the company while Jack Klyn is still a partner as well as the major stockholder.
Although Klyn Nursery, which was founded in 1921 by Gerard Klyn, was always wholesale, in the early days the focus was on roses. By the mid-1950s the nursery was the second largest rose nursery in the country. Later Taxus production was added, while the rose production dwindled and finally disappeared.
The company has seen a lot of changes in the past 20 years. The year Bill joined Klyn Nurseries, their catalogue was seven pages long and featured 85 varieties of plants. There were 14 employees, two of which are still with the company today (death and retirement took others). Of two to three hundred tillable acres, only 50 acres were planted with viable nursery stock/ Today the catalogue is 322 pages long and lists 1,800 varieties of plants, and there are about 150 employees. Today the nursery, which is strictly wholesale, has 500 planted acres and 40 acres of containers. Klyn Nurseries specializes in a diversity of plant material, supplying the landscape industry with 80% of their materials going to the landscape industry and 20 percent going to retail garden centers, no box stores.
In addition to his role as president of Klyn Nurseries and chair of the ONLA's Program Short Course Committee, Bill is active as a lecturer to the industry and the public, giving an average of 30 lectures a year. Earlier this year he was honored to be invited to give the key welcome talk opening the celebration of the PPA's 25th anniversary. He also lectures at the Short Course and is a frequent lecturer at Master Gardener conferences.
A century ago, long before the term "green industry" had been coined, the threads that make the industry strong in the 21st century are the result of a process that has woven those threads together through education, networking and a commitment to provide the best products and services available. There is a reason that the old saying "May you live in interesting times" was considered a curse, as the green industry is learning. The ONLA and its members represent the green industry at its core, able to respond to the changing needs of its customers while keeping pace with environmental policies, increased government regulation and an ever more competitive marketplace. The future of the ONLA is sure to be "interesting," at the very least.
Becke Davis wrote this story for the ONLA.
SOURCES:
Historical and statistical information featured at www.onla.org
"The Ohio State University ENLTT," OSU Extension Research Bulletin, Special Circular 152-96
"Report of 2005 Ohio Landscape & Nursery Economic Impact Study," OSU Extension Publication AEDE-RP-0060-06