Staying Current
36 November 2014 Business Planning Guide www.greenmediaonline.com
This column usually provides updates about important issues
facing our industry. Please indulge me this month as I stray
from that to instead stress the important role you play in doing
something about those issues, because just talking about them and
reading about them won't change them. Everyone in the industry
has to work together to make an impact.
PLANET recently surveyed hundreds of landscape and lawn
care professionals about the most important thing PLANET can
do to help them. In addition to providing top-notch education,
people want us to advocate for the industry with legislators,
and they want us to help change the perception of the industry:
highlighting the professionalism in the industry, promoting
careers in the industry, and increasing the public's level of respect
and desire for managed landscapes.
PLANET is working to change the public and legislator's
perception of our industry, but we can't do it alone. Why should you
care? These issues affect your bottom line. If a local government bans
a common pesticide, it will have an impact on the quality of work you
can provide to clients. If the local HOA hires the lowest-priced person
on Craig's List, it makes it hard to compete.
What can you do to help change perceptions? There's a lot
you can do. You can do positive things in your community, like
participating in PLANET Day of Service and doing other volunteer
projects in the community year-round so people can differentiate
your company from the "mow and blows," and understand that
your company is a partner in the community. You can show up at
city council and state hearings on bills that will be good or bad for
business. Take time to communicate your opinion on proposed
laws and regulations with those who represent you. It is really
important to meet with your legislators in their home districts.
Participate in Legislative Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C.,
and join in when your state associations have legislative events.
Educate your peers to correct bad practices. A good offense is
often the best defense when it comes to winning public support.
Unfortunately, our industry has activists and detractors
working against our interests, and they have well-planned-out
strategies to win the battle for their agendas. They become the
squeaky wheels that lawmakers want to satisfy. An example of this
is the anti-pesticide groups that have taken up the bee/pollinator
issue with half truths about declining bee populations as a way
to get a class of pesticide banned and to get local governments or
states to stop using them. They are even going to college campuses
to involve students in getting the products banned from use on
their campuses. We need to own this issue, tell the full story, and
show what we do to encourage pollinator habitats.
So, my message is to think about your role in influencing the
public and your legislators as an important part of your business
plan and as integral to your company's long-term success.
Tom Delaney, is director of government affairs at the Professional
Landcare Network (PLANET). He can be reached via e-mail at
TomDelaney@landcarenetwork.org.
■ By tom Delaney
Are You and Your Company Helping
to Advance the Industry?
ILLUSTRATION ABOve ©ISTOckphOTO.cOm/SmARTBOy10
Why should you care? These issues
affect your bottom line. If a local
government bans a common pesticide,
it will have an impact on the quality of
work you can provide to clients.
