Rising To The Challenge

That was the resounding theme of both speakers and attendees alike who attended the 11th annual meeting of the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) last week. The meeting brought together basic manufacturers, formulators and distributors with user groups, lobbyists and others for frank discussions on promoting a consistent message about the benefits of specialty pesticides.

But reciting the benefits of pesticides and identifying pests as the problem may not be enough. The industry needs to go further in educating the customers of lawn care and pest control firms and in the control of pests such as mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus.

Equally important, the industry needs to be more aggressive in its efforts to defend the use of its products and defend efforts to curb or eliminate use of specialty products.

To address these topics, an interesting array of speakers addressed the attendees of the RISE meeting, including Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace; Kendal Frazier of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Susan Moore of the American Plastics Council and Nick Nichols, author of "Rules for Corporate Warriors."

Dr. Patrick Moore said he spent 15 years of his life against four or five things on a daily basis, but he woke up one day and decided it was finally time to be for something. He told the crowd that "environmental extremists are anti-human" and that environmentalism in the 21st Century should take the middle of the road based on science and logic.

He outlined six steps critical to improved environmentalism:

• Move toward renewable energy and material resources;
• Voluntary population management;
• Develop logically consistent global analysis;
• Learn to be better gardeners of the Earth;
• Control urban sprawl; and
• Reverse deforestation in the tropics.

Nichols, a crisis management expert, urged the specialty pesticide industry to fight back. "Your products are your best defense in attacks from environmental extremists," he said. "If consumers believe in the benefits of a product, they will fight to keep them.

Nichols said the "Crisis Creation Industry" - made up of anti-technology, anti-pesticide, radical environmentalists, etc. - spends $22 billion worldwide per year in its role as attackers, and the specialty pesticide industry needs to fight back.

He encouraged RISE attendees to gather intelligence, build allied coalitions, execute offensive strategies, respond rapidly and launch surprise attacks when possible.

Representatives from both the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the American Plastics Council lent perspective from their industry’s risk management/risk communications battles. Keeping problems like Mad Cow disease out of the United States and managing consumer confidence over the country’s beef supply represents a full-time job for Frazier. "Go out and find out what’s on the minds of your customer and keep the lines of communication open," he encouraged the crowd.

Likewise, Susan Moore and the American Plastics Council deal with the chronic public perception that plastics are overfilling the country’s landfills. "Our job is to generate positive perceptions and to reduce negative impressions," she said. "It’s crucial that you respond to every challenge."

RISE and its constituents have repeatedly stood up to challenges from the Environmental Protection Agency and representatives from Congress and the Senate most notably in the area of children’s health.

Outgoing chairman, Keelan Pulliam of Syngenta, commented that the issues the new board will face are not all that different from the issues he faced two years ago upon acceptance of the chairmanship, "Our industry is under fire and it always will be. Our political base has eroded over the last few years and 2001 may have raised a red flag, but the industry is healthy and our association is strong."

He cited four primary issues that have and are affecting the specialty pesticide industry:

• Children’s health
• FQPA (Food Quality and Protection Act)
• Right-to-Know
• Water Quality

RISE membership reached an all-time high of 165 in 2001, and the board approved a record budget of $1.5 million, up from $750,000 three years ago.

New members include basic manufacturers BASF, Syngenta, Baker Petrolite and EcoSMART; distributors UAP Timberland and Gardex Chemicals; formulator Diversified Waterscapes and associate members Iowa Turfgrass Institute, Nu-Gro Technologies, The Davey Tree Expert Co., Bartlett Tree and Green Industry Consulting.

New RISE officers include: Laurie Treu, Uniroyal Chemical, chairman; John Bolanas, Vopak USA, treasurer; Bill Culpepper, SePro Corp., vice chair; and Keelan Pulliam, Syngenta; past chair.

New board members include: Terry Higgins, Olympic Horticultural Products; Dan Untiedt, McLaughlin Gormley King; Steve Higgins, Top Pro Specialties; Mike McDermott, Aventis; Elin Miller, Dow AgroSciences; and Bill Burke, The Scotts Co.