Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/251509
36 WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION INDUSTRY NEWS BRANDT ACQUIRES LEADING TURFGRASS COMPANY BRANDT, a leading manufacturer of agricul- tural specialty products, completed its ac- quisition of Grigg Brothers, a premier brand in the golf and sports turf industry since 1995. Grigg will become part of BRANDT's Specialty Formulations division, under the direction of Vice President Bill Engel. BRANDT, a leading manufacturer of agricul- tural specialty products, announced today that it has a definitive letter of intent to acquire Grigg Brothers, a leader in the golf and sports turf industry since 1995. "As a family company, we welcome the Grigg Brothers' employees to the BRANDT family," said Rick Brandt, CEO and President of BRANDT. "I'm excited about teaming up with Grigg. With the caliber of people who are joining us, and our combined resources, we will be a key player in the growing turf category." The acquisition of Grigg Brothers fits BRANDT's aggressive corporate strategy of providing superior products throughout the world. The combined company has sales in 48 US states and 45 countries and will be a national and international leader in turf nutrient products. BRANDT offers a broad range of specialty products for the agriculture, sustainable and ornamental markets, including plant nutrients, adjuvants, lawn and garden products, sustain- able controls and soil amendments. Though long-term business plans are still being formulated, Grigg Brothers will become part of BRANDT's Specialty Formulations division, under the leadership of Vice President, Bill Engel. "It's truly an honor to join forces with Mark and Gary Grigg," said Engel. "The intellectual capital, knowledge and relationships they bring to our existing T&O capabilities, making us an undisputed leader in the turfgrass business. I can't wait for the Golf Industry Show to really start to work together." Both Mark and Gary Grigg will become part of the BRANDT team. Mark Grigg, current CEO of Grigg Brothers, will continue to provide strategic operations management and key account leadership. "I am proud of the company we built," said Grigg, "But I am truly excited about our future together with BRANDT. This transaction will give us access to a wide range of world class people and products." WCTA WCTA NEWS BY WCTA STAFF CEC PROGRAM UPGRADES IN PLANNING STAGE After significant focus on administrative improvements over the last four years that included upgrades to accounting, information management, email communication and record-keeping systems, the WCTA Board is turning its attention toward the BC Pesticide Certificate Continuing Education Credit (CEC) tracking and education delivery program. Since 2004, the WCTA has tracked landscape category CEC's for its members as an alterna- tive to re-writing the pesticide certificate test every five years. According to former Provincial Pesticide Licence Officer Bob Lucy, government favors an ongoing educational approach versus periodic testing for a variety of reasons including better potential for pesti- cide application safety when applicators stay current, and because the Ministry does not have the resources to update exams as often as they would like to keep up with change. "With proposed IPM Regulatory amendments expected as early as spring 2014, I'm glad we're now able to work on this project," stated Keith Lyall, WCTA President. "I'm very happy to see great results from large-scale administrative improvements over the last few years and with CEC program changes the WCTA has already been able to make, for example, convincing MOE to allow credits for first aid certification. It's certainly time we focus and invest in bettering this program and this is why the Board has approved program expansion to include members of the BCGSA." Unlike other provinces where government either performs this service or sub-contracts it out, since the BC IPM Act came into effect in 2004, management responsibility has fallen upon industry organizations like the WCTA. The program began small but has grown to include over 250 subscribers or approximately 30 percent of the membership plus several dozen BC Landscape and Nursery Association members. Also growing over time is the quantity of educational opportunities available. In any given year, approximately 150 seminar applications are submitted to the Ministry of Environment for approval and the association liaises with each seminar organizer to ensure a high level of accuracy throughout the process. "The CEC program requires significant resources to operate and manage," stated WCTA Executive Director, Jerry Rousseau. "We need to make improvements from both efficiency and delivery perspectives so that a far more powerful and interactive experi- ence is available for everyone enrolled in the program." In addition, Rousseau commented, "Tracking points is a big part of the program but as credit coordinator, the key is to provide enough educational opportunities annually for people to recertify. The Ministry expects the WCTA to deliver these at our annual conference but the bulk of the approvals we process are from other seminar organizers. By doing do, the WCTA ensures as wide a range of education options as possible in various locations and times so it's conve- nient and cost-effective for members to participate." "Features like online access, profile updat- ing, automated record sending, a mobile app and more are definitely on the radar," added Lyall, "and the WCTA is currently discussing options with software developers in hopes of establishing a timeline by early 2014. If you know anything about the CEC program, you're probably aware it's chock full of idiosyncrasies and we'll definitely want to take the appropriate amount of time so that it becomes a much simpler process." Rousseau agrees adding, "The WCTA Board first needs to create a comprehensive guide and policy for the program. This will help establish the initial criteria for a new system and will be given to the developer to assess. The WCTA will also need to consider program changes being mandated by the Ministry such as expansion of the point categories and limiting the allowable points related to fertility training. The good news is that the technology exists and is nowhere near as costly as it once was to implement." WCTA