After almost a year of talks, the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) and the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) have decided not to proceed with plans to merge the two organizations.
| ANLA/PLANET TIMELINE |
1/1/05 - The Association of Landscape Contractors of America and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America join to form the Professional Land Care Network 6/1/05 - The American Nursery and Landscape Association and PLANET evaluate a possible merger 8/3/05 - ANLA and PLANET sign a letter of intent to merge 11/7/05 - ANLA and PLANET say they're moving forward evaluating the possible merger 5/26/06 - ANLA and PLANET announce there will be no merger at this time |
The main reason for the halt in talks has to do with the fact that PLANET is still a relatively new organization and is not yet completely settled, says PLANET President John Gibson, CLT, Swingle Lawn, Tree, & Landscape Care, Denver.
The Association of Landscape Contractors of America and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America joined to form PLANET in January 2005.
The ANLA-PLANET merger task force embarked on a full-scale evaluation after determining last summer that there was sufficient reason to consider the creation of a single, national industry trade association. The current memberships of the two associations are largely based in different sectors of the green industry, and the merger would have brought together agricultural nursery production, wholesale distribution, retail garden centers, landscape design/build/installation, lawn care, landscape management, and interior plantscaping services.
The merger task force originally set January 2007 as the target date for a decision on the merger, but talks ended last week when it was decided the union isn't practical right now, Gibson says.
| PLANET SEEKS PRESIDENT |
PLANET is launching a search for a new CEO. The association held off on the search while talks of a merger with ANLA were alive, says PLANET President John Gibson. Now that the merger is not taking place, the search is on. There is no timeline in place, but the organization isn't rushing to fill the position. "We want to find the best possible candidate," Gibson says. In the interim, Tanya Tolpegin is filling the role, serving as both CEO and chief operating officer. |
“When you make this kind of investment — volunteer and staff time, as well as financial resources — it is critical to ensure that you are making the right decision at the right time for the good of both organizations,” says ANLA President Buzz Bertolero, Navlet’s Garden Centers, Pleasant Hill, Calif. “Our thorough investigation substantiated the potential of an ANLA-PLANET merger, and we plan to continue working together as green industry associations and re-examine this possibility in the future.”
The two groups will continue to cross paths and work together, Gibson says. During the merger talks, he learned that progress can be made when both groups work together.
"There is still an opportunity for both boards to into a future merger," he says, adding he doesn't know how far into the future a possible merger could be.
"It is still the goal to have the green industry under one national voice."
Jointly, the ANLA and PLANET represent more than 6,000 green industry business professionals nationwide that specialize in the growing, selling, installing and maintaining of plant material.