2010 Management Clinic Wrap Up
from ANLA
A successful 2010 Management Clinic has come to a close. It would be impossible to capture all the incredible energy and optimism, but we did get some of the sessions on audio and video and will be adding them into the ANLA Knowledge Center online over the coming months. Want to be sure that you find out about the latest info as it's released? Become a FAN of the ANLA Knowledge Center on Facebook and we'll keep a steady stream of interesting knowledge tidbits coming to your desktop!  More
 

Immigration Reform: Ag Leaders Meet with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
from ANLA
A delegation of state agricultural leaders, farm worker advocates, and employer representatives met last Friday with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to discuss the farm labor crisis and the outlook for comprehensive immigration reform. The diverse and bipartisan delegation, which included the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR) and the United Farm Workers (UFW), met with Vilsack at the mid-year meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) in Washington, D.C. NASDA president and Delaware agriculture secretary Ed Kee presented examples of why the current farm labor crisis and immigration is a serious issue affecting the industry.  More
 

Why Generation Y Isn't Buying Your Products
from Retail Customer Experience
While they may seem fickle, limited and spoiled to most retail professionals, Gen Y is quite the contrary. Their lifestyle and shopping habits will determine the sales revenue of the retail industry, affecting everyone from big-box retailers to mom-and-pop stores, for the next 15 years.  More
 

MasterTag Introduces Two New Nursery Tags MasterTag introduces two new nursery tags. Available as a folding or card style tag. Large landscape photos and detailed inset of key attributes such as flower, leaf color or fruit. Text information is based on extensive consumer research. Available with or without bar code, price and D.O.R. Comprehensive variety listing.

Coupon Use Hits Record Highs
from Inc.
After nearly two decades in decline, the coupon is back. Thanks to the recession, in 2009 consumers used coupons at a faster clip than they did the year before - the first increase in coupon redemption in 17 years, says a new study.  More
 

Water Efficient Landscaping: Strategies for Maximizing LEED Points
from Green Buildings
The LEED Reference Guide states specifically that to maximize irrigation water efficiency, landscaping should be designed with climate-tolerant plants that can survive on natural rainfall and to minimize the area covered with conventional turf grass, etc.  More
 

Product Showcase:    EARTHSCAPES landscape design software   Plug into profits with EARTHSCAPES! The EARTHSCAPES software is a great tool when creating striking landscape designs but it also compliments many of the other unique services your company offers. For example, did you know EARTHSCAPES also creates night light and holiday décor designs? Learn more! Call 330-259-7662 or email sales@visualimpactimaging.com

Social Media Marketing Best Practices
from eMarketer
Social media is no longer a trend for marketers; it is a reality. eMarketer forecasts that social network ad spending will reach $2.5 billion worldwide in 2010 and $1.3 billion in the U.S. About 64 percent of U.S. Internet users will interact with user-generated content this year, and 26 million U.S. adults will use Twitter at least monthly. Mobile social networks will reach 223 million people around the world.   More
 

Metrics: Overmeasuring Our Way to Management
from BusinessWeek
Business has caught a terrible case of the measurement flu. Companies seem more focused on performance indicators than on the actual health of what they are trying to measure. Beyond this confusion of measurement, there are side effects: depersonalization, a decrease in trust, and a false sense that costs and risks are actually being managed. All three are evident in business in the last decade, and not just on Wall Street.  More
 

SBI Handheld Inventory Control & Handheld Order Pulling for Wholesale Growers Designed specifically for the green industry, the SBI handheld applications give growers unmatched inventory visibility to sell more. Learn more!

Business Intelligence: Key to Supply Chain Visibility
from Supply Chain Management Review
Supply chain performance is an important, strategic and competitive factor for every company, however this area faces lot of challenges due to non-availability of information at the right time. This challenge could be effectively met by integrating Supply Chain Management (SCM) to Business Intelligence (BI).  More
 

Apiarists Hope to Breed a Better Bee
from Contra Costa Times
After losing as many as a third of their bees in the past two years, some of California's beekeepers are taking radical steps - including breeding a better bee - to save their remaining hives from destruction. "The shift in population has been staggeringly negative," said M.E.A. McNeil-Draper, a San Anselmo beekeeper. "We need to be more vigilant about what we're doing, in less chemical ways."  More
 

Product Showcase:    Enhance Your Soil with EternaGreen™ BioChar BioChar "is much more efficient at enhancing soil quality than any other organic soil amendment" and a "more environmentally conscious use of existing resources" (Lehmann and Joseph, 2009). More info

California: Limits on Pumping Are Lifted
from The New York Times
A federal judge has temporarily lifted pumping limits designed to protect endangered wild salmon in order to speed more irrigation water to California’s drought-parched fields.  More
 

Avoid Pansy Production Problems
from Greehouse Management Pro
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Recovery: Not for the Faint Hearted
from Big Grower
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How Small Businesses Can Avoid a Tax Time Train Wreck
from Lawn & Landscape
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Spring Flings to Make Your Register Ring
from Garden Chic
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