The COVID-19 pandemic has forced me to work at home, isolated in what I have started calling “the 64th Avenue Bunker.” As a result, my family has gained a deeper understanding of my severe technological deficits. They commonly hear me uttering phrases like, “I just want it to work!” I am not quite to the […]
About Jeff Stone
Director’s Desk: We have your back
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Gardening is not canceled. Oregon’s nursery, greenhouse, retail and supply chains are open for business. Our state and governor could have mandated full closures and declared our businesses non-essential. The fact they didn’t do this is a credit to the OAN’s leadership and its advocacy team. They were the perfect picture of vision, pure effort […]
Rationality is our friend
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The COVID-19 virus will most certainly impact families, friends and businesses. It is already causing tremendous disruption in the economy, not to mention knocking our daily lives off auto-pilot. In mid-March, I communicated with our membership the need to embrace that fear is not our friend — rationality is. We provided reliable resources people can […]
Sticking together on big pest issues
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Nursery and greenhouse operators face an ever-increasing set of opportunities and challenges. Few are more daunting, or more of a game changer, than pest and disease issues. Oregon has a stellar reputation of producing quality plant material, which is shipped throughout the Pacific Northwest, the nation and internationally. Faced with uncertainty regarding the spread of […]
Success is the sum of many parts
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The nursery and greenhouse industry is chock full of successful operations — companies that have grown with the industry over time. To achieve that kind of lasting success requires a strong vision, as well as an ability to build a sound team to execute it. I’ve been fortunate to participate in successful teams multiple times […]
Growing a vision for the future
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Many of us grew up watching Hollywood’s idea of what the year 2020 might look like. “Back to the Future” (1985) thrilled us with 21st Century visions of flying cars and hovering skateboards, while “Blade Runner” (1982) took us into a bleak world, populated by synthetic humans working on colonized planets. Now that we’ve arrived […]
Cumulative impacts have consequences
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The nursery and greenhouse industry is once again Oregon’s top agricultural commodity by value, according to a sales estimate for 2018. High-quality plants and green goods continue to be in demand here and abroad. With this momentum at our back, we now must turn the page to 2020. The new year promises a tumultuous presidential […]
Turning protectors into producers
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Veteran’s Day is our yearly opportunity to thank all those who have served in our armed forces. OAN members have proudly served our country, and those in my family have done so as well. Originally known as Armistice Day, it is a day dedicated to honoring those who have served in the United States Armed […]
Your success is OAN’s mission
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I have served as your executive director for more than nine years now and have been a steadfast advocate for the best people I have ever met. If you include my time as your government relations director prior to that, I have seen 14 years of ups and downs in our industry. When Kristin VanHoose […]
Labor at a crisis point
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Marking the transition from summer to fall, Americans celebrate Labor Day with parades, picnics, barbecues and festivals. For many, including the Stone family, the day signals that children will head back to school. My oldest daughter will enter her junior year at Western Oregon University and my youngest will kick off her senior year at […]
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