ANLA member attends White House town hall meeting

The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) participated in a town hall meeting with President Barak Obama yesterday. Member Gary Blondell, owner of Gary’s Gardens in Severna Park, Md., represented ANLA at a meeting in the East Room of the White House.

“It was an exciting opportunity to be actively involved in ANLA’s legislative efforts. I don’t have to look any farther than the nurseries whose plants are critical to my business’ success, to recognize that these issues directly impact my bottom line,” Blondell said.

During the meeting, President Obama addressed questions that were submitted over the Internet in addition to several questions asked from audience members. Mr. Blondell was briefed before hand on ANLA’s current efforts to shift recognition for the value of plants beyond solely ornamental appeal to the environmental services they deliver, such as energy savings and carbon sequestration.

“Gaining recognition that plants deliver ecosystems services, measureable in hard dollars just like Energy Star appliances, represents the next frontier in increasing both the sales and profitability of plants and the managed landscape,” said Corey Connors, ANLA’s Director of Government Relations.

-- Sarah