PRESIDENT’S TURF A Strong Future

2017-2018 TPI Board of Trustees

I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as your Pres As TPI enters our 51st year, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come as an association and an industry.

esiden

Jimmy Fox ent.

Yet we have an identity crisis. As turfgrass sod producers we should be the leader in championing natural grass.

Te Lawn Institute (TLI), TPI’s foundation, offers an array of resources and many do go to TLI for information. Yet a lot of associations in the horticultural industry don’t know who we are and what we do.

Your Board of Trustees has developed a vision for TPI that can, and will, change that—with your help. We need your input and your support.

Action started with the introduction of the new logo created to help others visualize that natural grass is what we produce. It continued with the hiring of key staff members.

I’m excited to have Dr. Casey Reynolds as Executive Director and Karen Cooper as Associate Executive Director. Tey’re both very passionate about the turfgrass industry and the TPI vision. Tey’re eager to lead and support you, our members. Both have experience working with associations and teaming with Sandy Reynolds in the Director of Operations/Director of Meetings role will give them the insight into the TPI background and organizational structure that will keep TPI strong and moving forward.

Your leadership team is working to establish strong relationships with national allied industry associations to take on the challenges to natural grass. Tey are many, ranging from the turfgrass limitations with LEED to water issues across the world. While TPI does not have its own lobbyist, united with allied industries, we bring a strong voice to governmental policymakers.

Within the United States, we’ll be reaching out to the state associations. Internationally, we’ll be working to build and strengthen relationships with allied associations to better serve our international members.

We also will be building on the relationships TPI has already established. We’ll continue to network with the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) on multiple levels from the sharing of information to collaborative projects.

Tanks to the collective efforts of TLI, TPI, the Irrigation Association (IA), Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance (NHLA) and the leadership of the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), the 2017 National Lawn Care Month campaign promoted the importance of natural grass to a world-wide audience. We’ll be continuing that collaboration in 2018.

I thank God for the team of leaders who stepped up to guide TPI through challenging times. Special thanks go to Past President Linda Bradley for the great job she did of filling in the gaps during our lack of a full-time executive director and to incoming Vice President Eric Heuver for leading the executive director search committee.

May God continue to bless your family and your business.

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Officers President Jimmy Fox Evergreen Turf, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-480-456-1199 jimmy@evergreenturf.com

Vice President Eric Heuver Eagle Lake Professional Landscape Supply – CANADA +1-403-235-8873 eric@eaglelakelandscape.com

Secretary-Treasurer Hank Kerfoot Modern Turf – U.S.A. +1-803-713-8873 hank@modernturf.com

Past President Linda Pittillo Bradley Turf Mountain Sod, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-828-685-3642 turfmountain@bellsouth.net

Executive Director Casey Reynolds, PhD Turfgrass Producers International – U.S.A. +1-847-649-5555 creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org

Trustees John Coombs, Sr. Coombs Sod Farms, LLC – U.S.A. +1-856-358-4763 jhc@coombsfarms.com

Steve Griffen Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-518-664-5038 steve@saratogasod.com

Randy Jasperson Jasperson Sod Farm – U.S.A. +1-262-835-2826 rj@jaspersonsod.com

Jim Keeven SelecTurf, Inc – U.S.A. 1-573-634-3444 jim@selecturfsod.com

Mark Tribbett JB Instant Lawn, Inc. - U.S.A. +1-503-581-7823 mark@jbinstantlawn.net

Keith Wittig Central Turf Farms, Inc. – U.S.A. 1-979-657-1122 kwittig@centralturffarms.com

Tim Wollesen Sales Midwest, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-913-254-9560 tim@salesmidwest.com

Legal Counsel Monte B. Lake CJ Lake 525 Ninth Street, NW- Suite 800 Washington, DC – U.S.A. +1-202-789-8644

Science Advisor Dr. James B Beard International Sports Turf Institute College Station, Texas – U.S.A. +1-979-693-4066 isti@neo.tamu.edu

TPI Turf News July/August 2017