PLANET/ANLA Merger Moving Forward

Just 10 months after the official January 2005 formation of the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), the organization has moved another step closer to expanding its industry reach. In June 2005, PLANET and the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) announced that they were evaluating a possible merger. In August, the two groups signed a letter of intent to merge, allowing both associations to continue their due diligence.

Driving the research, planning and development of the merger is the PLANET/ANLA Merger Evaluation Task Force, made up of four officers from each association, as well as Tanya Tolpegin, PLANET’s chief operating officer and Bob Dolibois, executive vice president of ANLA. This week, at its media luncheon during the Green Industry Conference, PLANET representatives shared the status of the merger. Kurt Kluznik, co-chair of PLANET’s Merger Evaluation Task Force sat down with Lawn & Landscape magazine during the Green Industry Expo (GIE) to give some details on the merger talks.

“The letter of intent to merge was signed in August and approved unanimously by both the PLANET board and the ANLA Senate,” Kluznik says. “Since then, we’ve been having a lot of conference calls and doing a lot of prepwork to lay the foundation for what a new association would look like. Tanya (Tolpegin) and Bob (Dolibois) have both been working hard with the Task Force to make sure every issue is considered and discussed.”

Managing a merger is more than just discussing grand ideas of what a new association could be. Task Force participants discuss every aspect of each organization’s operations and brainstorm how best to combine them. “We’re communicating as a team every month or two and we’re talking about everything from governance and bylaws to corporate structure and member dues,” Kluznik says. “It’s really about creating a picture of what this new association will look like and how it will operate so we have a viable plan to present to our boards of directors.”

Helping the Task Forces through the merger discussions is Max Stark, a Cleveland, Ohio-based strategic planning and executive coach, who is serving as a facilitator. “Max had worked with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), one of the PLANET legacy associations, when we were doing our strategic planning,” Kluznik says. “He also helped us through the ALCA merger with the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), and we brought him back again for this merger evaluation. Having a facilitator take part in our meetings really helps manage the process and maximize the value of the time we spend as a team. There’s a challenge getting eight to 10 people together so when we do find time we want to make the most of it. If we run into issues during our discussions or start getting off track, Max helps make sure we stay on-topic and finish the project at hand before we move on.”

While PLANET and ANLA’s membership dues are structured differently (PLANET goes by sales volume, while ANLA looks at a company’s green goods volume), Kluznik says the merger discussions are productive and will continue. Dolibois says he agrees and applauds both organizations’ leadership for their investment of time and energy. “The Merger Evaluation Task Force completed a face-to-face meeting a couple of weeks ago where many of the initial building blocks that had been discussed, such as governance, were reaffirmed,” Dolibois told Lawn & Landscape. “That’s encouraging because it tells us that our initial thinking was correct and that there truly is an opportunity to build a firm foundation for what would become a combined association.”

Dolibois, who is in attendance at the Green Industry Expo (GIE) this year, says he’s impressed with the event and looks forward to the advanced networking opportunities that a merger would bring to both ANLA and PLANET. “It’s great to see the enthusiasm and quest for professionalism at this show,” he says. “I know that’s something both associations try to fulfill for their members. Green Industry Conference component of GIE is akin to our ANLA Management Clinic. As it is, each event has a separate audience, but they’re tied together by the industry they’re in. Should a merger take place, there could be a strong overlap with each event, which would further industry education for all members.”

Currently, PLANET and ANLA have not published a deadline to finalize their merger discussions. Dolibois and Kluznik note that taking time to go through discussions at a more diligent and measured pace will benefit all members of each organization and also give PLANET time to continue settling into its own new state as a unified body. “Right now, our next deadline is Saturday (Nov. 5, 2005) where the PLANET task force will present our latest updates to the board of directors,” Kluznik says. “We’re working with great momentum because of the education we received during the ALCA/PLCAA merger, and we’re going in with the confidence that both boards will continue accepting the plans that the Task Force outlines. In the meantime, we’re always eager to hear from our members to get their feedback and ideas. The associations are here to serve the members, so we want to make sure we meet their needs as much as possible.”