Two Industry Associations Join Forces

OFA - The Association of Horticulture Professionals and the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) are expanding on previous collaborations and forming a joint venture that involves the sharing of resources, including appropriate staff, to expand the capacity of the organizations to better support members and advocate the horticultural industry's interests before government and the general public.

According to the OFA website, the multi-faceted horticulture industry is undergoing dramatic changes. Economic strains, generational differences, and the changing interest in and need for gardening and landscape products are altering the way products and services are valued by consumers. Governmental activity and inactivity, financial uncertainty, and environmental changes are altering the way plants are being produced, bought and sold.

One solution is for trade associations to work together to build the capacity and governance structures to properly serve their members and the industry. To that end, the OFA/ANLA joint venture is expected to:

• Further increase participation in advocacy efforts
• Further expand and offer more robust educational programs
• Widen the outreach to consumers
• Nurture commerce opportunities in order to connect more industry buyers and sellers
• Enhance support for research and higher education
• Unite the thousands of member companies to create a stronger voice and vision for the industry.

Not a merger, for now at least. This is not a merger, the website states. But in several years, if both organizations see the joint venture as a value to their members and further collaboration will better serve members and the industry, the intention is to form a new, single premier horticulture organization serving North America.