Mike Hiller
OAN President
Welcome to our Farwest Edition of Digger magazine.
The Farwest Show is a time for our members to showcase what is new and display all of the high-quality plant material from the Northwest.
I hope you have already made your plans to attend, but if not, I hope you will consider coming to see the show. The Farwest Show is a great opportunity to surround yourself with other nursery professionals, learn, and build new connections.
I am looking forward to many different things at the show, and one of them is the stellar lineup of speakers. This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Charlie Hall, is a professor of economics and Ellison Chair of International Floriculture at Texas A&M University. He will give his informed viewpoint on where he thinks our industry is going and how to position your business for the future. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.
I also note that this year’s Farwest Show will offer eight seminars in Spanish. Personally, I am excited for this because it gives support to a large percentage of the nursery industry members who produce our high-quality plant material. This material is what brings in buyers from all over.
Seminarios en Español: El Farwest Show de este año ofrecerá ocho seminarios en español. Por mi parte, yo estoy entusiasmada porque esto apoya a un gran porcentaje de los miembros de la industria de viveros que producen nuestro material vegetal de alta calidad. Este material es lo que atrae a compradores de todas partes.
If you are new to attending this show or have not ventured out West before, one of the best things you can do is sign up for one of the official Farwest Tours through the Farwest website. They will take place on Wednesday, August 20, one day before the trade show itself begins.
The Farwest Tours are a great opportunity to see a snapshot of what Oregon — the gateway to Nursery Country — has to offer. They are also a great way to interact with nursery professionals. After talking to some of them, you will be sure to find what you are looking for, or they will at least point you in the right direction for your journey.
Whether your are looking for products and services to build your business, education to enhance your career, industry networking events for Women in Horticulture and Emergents, or the ever popular Farwest Happy Hour and the Pub Crawl, you will find it all at Farwest.
Hopefully, after reading this, you will go to the Farwest website (FarwestShow.com) to find out more about this show. The Farwest committee and OAN staff have done a great job in organizing this show and can answer any questions that you might have.
See you at the Farwest Show this year!