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AmericanHort Leaders Sound Off on the State of Labor, the Political Environment, and More

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Nov 20, 2023

AmericanHort Leaders Sound Off on the State of Labor, the Political Environment, and More

It’s great to know that, while you’re busy running the day-to-day operations of your greenhouse, nursery, or retail business, there are people and organizations working on your behalf to improve the

It’s great to know that, while you’re busy running the day-to-day operations of your greenhouse, nursery, or retail business, there are people and organizations working on your behalf to improve the present and future state of the industry. This was on full display during a State of the Industry keynote presentation from the AmericanHort leadership team at Cultivate’23.

We already reported on Dr. Charlie Hall’s economic outlook for the green industry during the presentation. Now, here are some insights from AmericanHort President and CEO Ken Fisher and Executive Vice President of Advocacy, Research, & Industry Relations Craig Regelbrugge on the challenges and opportunities the horticulture industry is facing, and how AmericanHort is addressing them.

Fisher began with a reminder that AmericanHort remains focused on those hard-to-notice business threats that can have big consequences for your business. For example, continuing labor challenges can make it hard for anyone to run a business.

“We need a bipartisan solution that includes comprehensive immigration reform,” Fisher says. “The challenge is that a perfect solution doesn’t exist, and if we don’t address the hurdles of H-2A and E-verify, things might get worse.”

After highlighting a few other positives (the housing market) and negatives (water shortages) in the market, Fisher closed by cautioning about an overreliance on digital communication.

“Social media has many benefits, but we also need to maintain personal relationships,” Fisher said, a fitting comment during one of the industry’s largest in-person gatherings.

Following Fisher’s remarks, Regelbrugge provided a regulatory and political update, with brief overviews of the work taking place behind the scenes at AmericanHort.

Brian D. Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and GreenhouseGrower.com. See all author stories here.