PLANET Convenes Interiorscape Industry Coalition

An interiorscape industry summit was convened last Thursday in Atlanta, Ga. The meeting was initiated and attended by the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) Interior Specialty Group Chair Chris Raimondi, CLP, and moderated by Terry Anderson, CLP, of the National Interiorscape Network.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen several interior groups emerge,” Raimondi explains. “We wanted to pull in everyone to see how we can all best work together to optimize resources and eliminate duplication.”

Attendees of the meeting were Norah Hunter, faculty at Brigham Young University; Mike Lewis, CLP, president elect of Green Plants for Green Buildings; Stephen Schell, chair of Interiorscape Group, and Sally Harvey, CLP, CHT, manager of education and labor, with Landscape Ontario; Joe Cialone, CLP, president of the National Foliage Foundation; Dick Ott, CCLP, director of the National Interiorscape Network; Rich Batcho, CLT, Interior Plantscape chair for the Association of Floriculture Professionals; Mary Golden, executive director, Plantscape Industry Alliance; Tony Caruso, president of Plantscape Industry Alliance; James H. Johnson, staff liaison with PLANET; Linda Adams, associate vice president of FNGLA and representative of the Tropical Plant Industry Exposition (TPIE).

Other invited guests not in attendance included Jeff Morey of Interiorscape Magazine; John Akehurst of the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association; Denise Calabre of the Pennsylvania Floral Industry Alliance; and PLANET President Jason Cupp, CLP, who could not attend due to illness.

The group named itself the Interiorscape Industry Coalition (IIC) and defined its mission, as follows:

To increase interiorscaping industry awareness, raise industry professionalism, and promote inclusion of plants in the interior environment through collaborative efforts of participating organizations.

The group agreed that the various associations should work together in partnering and sharing opportunities and in raising awareness of the industry. It also agreed to collaborate on increasing professionalism within the industry and advocating the use of plants in interior environments.

“There was a genuine spirit of unity in the industry that we haven’t seen before,” Raimondi said. “Hopefully this is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue that will uncover exciting possibilities for all of us to work together to educate industry professionals, and create a better, common understanding of the industry as a whole for everyone who is a part of it.”

The IIC will meet again during TPIE 2009 and will be working on strategies and action items at that time. Any interested organization dealing with the interiorscape industry can contact Chris Raimondi at 201/445-1299.