magazine, the official publication of STMA, supplying many articles, including: “Crumb Rubber: Seeing is believing but what if no one can see it?” and “10 Questions to Ask Your Turfgrass Provider.” Sports Turf magazine also has requested and reprinted several articles that originally appeared in Turf News.

Te TPI E-Newsletter and Turf News regularly work with STMA’s public relations agency to feature STMA news such as the election of officers and board members, award and scholarship recipients, and special events, including the annual Conference.

Jimmy Fox (left) TPI Vice President and Randy Jasperson (right) TPI Board of Trustees member man the TPI TLI booth in a great location, at the entrance to the STMA Trade Show. Photo by David Bradley

amount of turfgrass to 40 percent of landscaped areas without any consideration for the type of turfgrass, the climate, the soil properties or even the grading.

Te proponents of the turfgrass limits offer no technical justification to support limiting the planting of turfgrass. TPI, along with the other Greenscapes Alliance partners, have offered dozens of research papers demonstrating the value that turfgrasses provide.

In addition, Ralph Egues, Executive Director of partner NHLA, presented “It’s a new day in America … Now what?” at the 2017 TPI International Education Conference & Field Day in Tampa, Florida. Addressing the new U.S. administration in the Oval Office and Federal Departments, he provided a fresh perspective on the policy debates that most affect green industry livelihoods and the keys to making a difference locally and nationally. Editor’s note: Tis presentation is available through the Turfgrass Educational Center (TEC) which can be accessed on the TPI website www.TurfGrassSod.org. TEC is a multi-channel video platform developed to inform, educate and inspire turfgrass professionals like you, and help improve your knowledge, skills and business best practices.

Collaborations

Another strong TPI ally is the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA). STMA members come from all segments of the sports field industry, from school systems and municipalities to universities and professional sports— significant components of many sod producers’ customers. TPI and TLI regularly jointly exhibit at STMA’s annual Conference. Tis past January, STMA provided TPI a premium booth at the entrance to their trade show.

In a meeting with the STMA staff and Board members during that conference, TPI Vice President Jimmy Fox shared some of the cooperative efforts of the two associations and reinforced the bond of working together. TPI Communications Manager Jim Novak has worked with Eric Schroder, editorial director of Sports Turf

Two of the presenters at the STMA 2017 Conference have provided articles for this issue of Turf News based on their presentations. (See “Managing Stress and Avoiding Burnout” by Lisa Goatley on Pages 23-27 and “In Season Sodding” by Tony Leonard on Pages 42-45.)

TPI also works closely with Project EverGreen www.ProjectEverGreen.org, with Jim Novak and Steve Trusty, Turf News co-editor, serving on their advisory council. Project EverGreen is a national non-profit organization committed to creating a greener, cooler earth by supporting the creation, renovation and revitalization of managed recreational and athletic green spaces that result in healthier, happier people. Along with GreenCare for Troops and SnowCare for Troops, Project EverGreen’s initiatives include “Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids.”™ which has, since its inception in 2015, renovated more than 750,000 sq. ft. of green spaces.

In January of 2016, TPI and its members joined with Project EverGreen to partner with Houston Habitat for Humanity in providing the sod harvested during the TPI Conference Field Day for the lawns of new Habitat homes. As a Project EverGreen press release reported, “Creating viable green spaces in the city also contributes to an improved environmental profile lowering the urban heat island effect (turf can be up 14 degrees cooler than bare soil), removing pollutants from the air and creating a positive feeling and increased interaction among residents.”

Jim Novak and Steve and Suz Trusty also are members of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) which is comprised of over 250 green industry professionals and is a networking resource that fosters the opportunity for interaction and an open exchange of information with communicators with other associations, publications, public relations firms, manufacturers and suppliers.

In addition, TPI is reaching out to many other industry groups and international, national and regional turfgrass organizations many of which allow TPI to work with and through them for outreach to their members and their communities. Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News

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