Feb 23, 2014

What Will You Grow This July? By Tim Hodson

If you plan to grow your business this year and for years to come, you need to continually cultivate ALL of your resources.

For 85 years, the horticulture industry has relied on OFA Short Course as the place to do that.

Well, that is going to change this July.

Last week, AmericanHort announced that Short Course now has a new name and an expanded mission – it is an evolutionary name and mission to reflect where our industry is today.

The new name is Cultivate ““ An AmericanHort Experience. Its mission is to provide “a dynamic experience designed to offer interactive learning and community building, and it celebrates all of horticulture,” says Mark Foertmeyer, AmericanHort’s chairman of the board.

Cultivate’14 will take place in the traditional time slot and location where OFA Short Course has taken place – July 12-15, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Just like Short Course, Cultivate’14 will continue to offer premier educational and networking experiences, and more than seven acres of trade show exhibits including technology, new products and services and new plant varieties.

But as the industry has evolved, AmericanHort’s event is evolving too – and expanding. Cultivate’14 will see the addition of many new educational sessions, products and services for retailers, nursery production and landscaping – including the new Retail Terrace.

The Retail Terrace is designed for those retailers looking for solutions for their garden centers. It is completely separate exhibit hall, where attendees will find all of the hard goods and services they need to round out their inventory and meet the needs of their customers.

If you would like to learn more about this “new” event and help cultivate the many different resources of your business, go to www.cultivate14.org.

I hope I see you in C-bus in July.

– Tim