The Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) won five awards in the recent Ohio Society of Association Executives (OSAE) Achievement Awards Program, which recognizes excellence in the association profession. The awards were judged by a panel of professionals from the fields of business communications, marketing and association management. Of the 25 awards given, the ONLA received the most of any association with the following:
- “The Buckeye,” ONLA’s 56-page monthly magazine, won in the category of Serial Publication
- BuckeyeGardening.com, a free resource for Ohio’s gardening community, won in the Technology category
- The publication “2004 Landscape Awards Program: Honoring Excellence in the Landscape Profession” received an award in the category of One-Time Publication. The ONLA publication features photos and descriptions of award-winning landscape projects from around the state
- ONLA’s “Joe Pro Marketing Campaign” won in the category of Public Relations. The campaign features a series of 30-second commercials promoting ONLA’s marketing message and making the industry more recognizable
- ONLA’s Hispanic Relations Committee received an award in the Diversity category. This category recognizes association efforts in servicing underrepresented groups.
ONLA Executive Director Bill Stalter tells Lawn & Landscape that the organization has participated in this awards program for 10 years. This year, ONLA earned two awards that it had not earned in the past: The Diversity category is new this year, with ONLA being the first recipient. Additionally, ONLA entered the Public Relations category for the first time this year and won.
“Whenever ONLA wins awards like these, we try to talk about them every time we have an opportunity,” Stalter tells Lawn & Landscape. “We hope it says to our membership and our future members that the publications and other items we’re turning out on their behalf are professional and award-winning.”
The awards, Stalter says, also give the association increased credibility as a professional organization. “The OSAE is a professional association for associations the same way ONLA is a professional association for landscape and nursery professionals in Ohio,” he explains. “We want to make sure our membership recognizes that ONLA makes these affiliations for the same reasons that they join our organization – for the networking, the education, and the camaraderie. The fact that ONLA is professional enough to be recognized by an organization of its peers, we hope will resonate with green industry professionals in our state.”
The ONLA is a state association representing more than 1,600 nursery stock growers, landscape contractors, garden centers, landscape maintenance firms and allied suppliers. For more information, check out www.onla.org.