Meeting Minutes

Attending: Rick Durham, Tom Underwood, Debbie Hamrick, Margaret Pooler, Pam Bennett, Suzi McCoy, Clint Albin, Ellen Bauske, Shannon Spurlock, Julie Weisenhorn, Casey Sclar

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1. Grant Report

   • It was submitted on the 11.14.16. Abstract and listed of letter writers will be posted.

2. Committee Reports. Debbie, Pam and Julie met via conference call Nov. 7. Discussed individual committee work/focuses and building efficiencies across the three committees.

   • Economic (Debbie reported). Group meet every two weeks. {Planning work for 2017). They are planning work for 2017 and focusing on a project with will have a quick output that will inform future work. There will be an update of Hall’s article on Economic, Environmental, and Health/Well-Being Benefits Associated with Green Industry Products and Services: A Review
     • http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/hall/publications/JEH%2029(2)%2096-103.pdf
     • Focusing on project with will have a quick output and inform future work.
   • Community Report (Pam reported). Have meet, discussed lit review. Met with economic and environment committees to talk about dividing literature reviews; since there is overlap, Debbie said she needs to check with Charlie Hall’s grad student to see when her work will be done and let Pam know. They meet monthly, first Monday at 2:00 to accommodate all members.
   • Environmental Report (Julie reported). Committee has met and they are looking at goals, reviewing the literature and searching out one or two things to focus on. Planning lit review to support priority project.
   • Marketing Committee is officially recognized. We not have four committees and three councils.
   • Councils are in the process of gathering members.

3. Short term goal of Economic Committee: Seeking a method to present information about the significance of Consumer Hort to internal and external stake holders. Proposed creation of an info graphic.

   • Reasoning: This is an opportunity to present us so that those that are in positions of power in influence can see how important we are they will want to support us.
   • Clint asked: Why are we left out, overlooked?
   • Answer: Historical reasons. Not on the radar screen. Just don’t think of the plant side till the very end. Only interface with plant material through a contractor (third party).
   • Project that will show some success. Like a starter home, not where you end up but a great place to start. The info graphic will be based on what we have collected. Direct and indirect benefits “Catalytic Benefits.”
   • Who will help? Pro-bono graphics work. Suzi may be able to do something very simple. We need graphic expertise to really do it well. Tom U. may have the talent in the organization. Suzi outline the benefits of one number. Can this all be boiled down into one number? Jobs, tourism, production, health all in one number? Maybe.
   • Maybe someone can donate the skill for the info graphic. Also need help to vet the graphic and get buy in.
   • Clint suggested pitching this as story for the trade press, help industry – how the graphic was created. Communication committee can take this the magazines. If the magazines write the story, it will be stronger than a press release.
   • Graphic must be Pragmatic and Centrist. Opportunity to present this info to garden center meeting in January – Clint will lead. Very good support for this project from the committee. General consensus is “GO, GO, GO, GO!
   • 
   • Example: CH catalyzes benefits back to Place – improved landscape, more expensive property, improved tax basis, creative people want to live there.

4. Update on-pager. Get committee on it. Rick and Margaret are co-chairs fix that. Add Marketing Committee to that section. Suzi is the chair. Update Councils.

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Debbie’s Notes on Info graphic:

Direct and indirect industry benefits

Plant production and all of the pre-production and post-production economic activity associated with the plant’s development, production, sale and use by the buyer/consumer; Plants in the landscape: Public gardens and arboreta; Serviced managed landscapes; Urban agriculture/community gardens

Catalytic benefits

Place

• Higher property tax revenues
• Greater sales prices for properties
• Higher incomes because of landscape (Toronto/10 more trees per block=$10,000)
• Greater retail sales
• Communities that attract the creative class of workers
• Creation of place-based functional landscapes (Atlanta’s 4th Ward Park) that attracts investment
• Creation of welcoming spaces that foster community and social connection and interaction
• Less crime
• Place and provenance identity and creation
• Aesthetics
• Greater tourism

Health

• Greater population general health through proximity and accessibility to green space
• Reduced healthcare costs because of higher air quality
• Access to healthy local foods
• Improved worker productivity
• Improved psychological health and wellbeing for individuals and communities
• Improved cardiac health
• Increased physical activity through gardening and being in natural/horticultural spaces
• Faster recovery
• Reduced death in heat waves
• Less aggression and more focus in children/adolescents
• Enhanced sports field safety

Environmental/Ecosystems services

• Stormwater management through plant interception; infiltration; transpiration; retention resulting in less volume of runoff that contains less pollution
• Less flooding of built infrastructure
• Soil erosion control
• Groundwater recharge
• Sewage treatment
• Food production in urban spaces proximate to population centers—urban agriculture and community gardens/agriculture
• Wildlife habitat
• Pollinator habitat
• Higher air quality: Particulate matter and oxygen generation
• Temperature moderation through shade, transpiration and blocking winds
• UV radiation interception resulting in built surfaces with longer life
• Less urban glare and reflection
• Urban Heat Island moderation
• Reduced noise levels
• Increased biodiversity
• Carbon sequestration
• Reduced pollution

Attending: Pam Bennett, Debbie Hamrick, Clint Albin, Rick Durham, Casey Sclar, Suzi McCoy, Julie Weisenhorn, Shannon, Ellen, Tom Underwood, Penny, Margaret

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1. SCRI pre-proposal update

   • Status of pre-proposal: need list of committee members from the community committee and the environmental committee. We already have committee members from the economic committee.
     • Gail has sent out to NICH Executive Committee, this morning. Will send to David Close, after conference call.
     • Feedback ~ economic ## from Bruce Butterfield’s research are based on DIY gardener, and not services for hire. Casey will send Charlie Hall’s graphic for ## for the pre-proposal (must ask if we can utilize in full proposal).
     • Debbie will send HortTech 2015 citation to Ellen and Gail for ## for pre-proposal.
   • Status of letters of support (deadline to Ellen is November 5th)
     • Received: we have 10 letters, thus far: Ball Hort (Marvin), Garden Media Group (Dubow), McCorkle Nursery, NC Farm Bureau, Peachtree Farms, Pruning Guru, Slow Flowers (Prinzing), Tedeschi (not on letterhead), Georgia Agribusiness Council, Vertical Gardens
     • In Process: North Creek (needs to be signed), APLD (Dan Maffei, needs to be signed), Landscape Arboretum in Minnesota, up to four from Clint (Garden Center Group, Master Nursery Group, GrowIt), up to three from Julie (two from MNLA, Minn State Hort Society), Gail asked for letters from three (Timber Press, OLCA, OAN), asks have been made from Davey Tree Care, Georgia Arborists, Tom U. will ask Ed Snodgrass, Suzi will reach out to Monrovia
     • Needs: turf, non-profits (American Hort), tree care, geographic parity (PNW, CA lacking)
     • Proposal will be submitted November 14th, must be submitted to UGA grants office on November 7th, may be able to add letters up to November 12th
   • Status of industry relevance reviewers: letters for reviewers have been sent out from Tom B. (Shannon received one)
     • Last count from Tom B. was ~24 relevancy reviewers from our group
     • Debbie is a relevancy reviewer for NIFA. Review process is confidential. Can’t talk about reviews. Trainings address conflict of interest, and avoiding COI.
     • If you’re connected to this proposal, you will not be involved in the review of this proposal.

2. Expectations for and Role of NICH Committees

   • Community Committee talked about ‘low hanging fruit’ that could be accomplished within the next year, such as review of impact of hort on community health for HortTech; children’s garden initiative
     • Review for HortTech aligns with identifying research that has been done and identifying research gaps that exist
     • Community (Pam), Environmental (Julie), Economic (Debbie) committee chairs to conference call and discuss projects / approach, to be aware of what each committee is working on and avoid duplication of effort
   • Should committees work on creating and working on goals? Or should they wait until pre-proposal / proposal lends clarity or wait until next face
   • What is optimal committee size? Current size is about 15-16 people, which makes it a bit difficult to get real work done.
     • Can have a core group of people on each committee (~8-12), and then a larger group that is aware/involved, but not necessarily doing the core work of determining priorities and committee direction
   • Tom U. sent a great list of names of folks (involved in youth gardening) who should be aware of the work that NICH is doing. Maybe they shouldn’t be or don’t have time to be committee members, but they should be aware of what NICH is doing ~ or could be on subcommittees.
   • Google Docs spreadsheet ~ has not been kept up to date ~ but NICH E-committee should update, as they can [link redacted]
     • Contact Gail for link
   • Clint points out that trade press is ready and waiting for a press release from our group, directing folks back to the web site
     • One point for a press release would be if/when we receive the strategic planning grant (~March 2017?)
     • Suzi and Clint will get together to put together a press release with original NICH group: Ellen, Casey, Tom U., Rick, Lucy Bradley, Tom B. (addressing how this has worked in other industries)
       • Rick will email archived interview between Lucy and Tom B. to Suzi
       • Mary Wagner, who was with Wine and Table Grapes, is now with Starbucks

3. Denver workshop action item ~ Formalization/legal status of NICH [Tabled until next meeting]

   • Dialog regarding potential challenges and opportunities

Attending: Ellen, Debbie Hamrick, Penny, Margaret, Tom U., Clint, Pam, Gail, Julie, Suzi, Rick, Casey, Shannon

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1. Discuss role of NICH councils to overall NICH strategic efforts (Rick & Margaret)

a. Rick and Margaret are co-chairing government/university council

b. What should they be asking potential council members for, and what is the role of the councils? Should it be to make sure that the goals of NICH reflect what folks are seeing in their own university or government lab?

c. Shannon and Tom (co-chairs of the non-profit council) have discussed this and came up with 4 points

i. Asking folks to sign on and show support for NICH ~ so that we can say we have xx number of people that have signed on to NICH.

ii. Asking folks to serve in an advisory capacity

iii. Asking folks to contribute to the awareness of NICH, to help build our constituency

iv. Developing a pool of volunteers that can be called upon, as specific needs arise within the council (such as serving on a relevancy review panel)

d. Clint (industry council chair) ~

i. has been doing outreach to make them aware that NICH exists

ii. it is for consumers, so that it is non-competitive within industry

iii. we’re not asking for $$, we’re asking for time

iv. asking them to get the word out to get the widest # of people on the relevancy panel, where we’re asking for ~16 hours over a relatively short time span (between December 15th and January 14th)

e. Overall goals include:

i. building awareness,

ii. building support (such as folks who are willing to let us use their name as supporters, on grant proposals or other items)

iii. developing potential volunteers (such as on the relevancy review panel)

iv. expressing their needs and/or giving feedback on NICH efforts as a way to advise/guide NICH work importance of listening to stakeholders

f. Question on advocacy ~ what is the role of NICH members / stakeholders on advocacy?

i. Different branches of this group might advocate, in ways that don’t put the rest of the group at risk

ii. Academic/government sectors can not advocate ~ but can reach out and build awareness of NICH, build support for NICH (such as list of stakeholders who support grant proposals)

iii. At this point, we are not anticipating that any particular NICH group, committee or council will be involved in lobbying. May be easier to work with another group that already has a well-established presence in DC ~ let them do the advocacy work. This is the importance of getting industry members involved ~ who have needs that can be represented by these larger and longer established organizations.

g. When we have more specific ideas, which may come in the next two quarters, it may be easier for industry stakeholders to sign on to NICH (Clint).

h. Economic Committee (Debbie) ~ the committee is working on deliverables (e.g. infographic) to show collective economic impact of the industry. They are working to get this done by the end of the year.

i. Work flow between economic committee and industry council could include, for example, if the economic committee needs stats or figures that industry council reps could provide

2. Need current NICH committee and council members and their affiliations on our website (in advance of SCRI proposal) ~ Ellen

a. In the pre-proposal (to be submitted November 15th), we refer folks to the website, and want it to be as populated as possible, in advance of proposal review.

b. To Do for Committee and Council Chairs: Please send current list of NICH committee and council members, together with affiliations, to Ellen. Contact information not needed. Logos can be added, if they would like and if it is reasonable to do so.

c. Should there be a critical number of committee or council members per group before they are posted? Casey suggested 5+ people.

i. Chairs can work on recruitment over the next two weeks, in advance of Nov. 15th.

ii. Asking folks to be on an advisory council (or to serve in an advisory capacity on a committee) is an easier way to get folks on the list. From that list, a smaller subset can / will be more active volunteers.

3) SCRI pre-proposal update (Ellen and Gail):

a. Box File with Pre-Proposal Files: https://app.box.com/s/dkvhcwinl2ox0v08fxkafnfoyqr3ktby

b. To Do for All: Input on pre-proposal and letters of collaboration are due to Ellen BEFORE November 5th.

c. Pre-proposal draft is in Box. Please take a look, make changes (using track changes) or send suggestions to Ellen.

d. Draft of letter of collaboration is also in Box. Note that letters of support should not be from the same folks who are serving on the relevancy review panel or from the same folks who are listed as a collaborator/PI on the proposal. We thus don’t need letters from us (NICH Exec Committee). And, we don’t need letters from academics. But, folks who write draft letter of support can be from the same company as folks who serve on relevancy review panel. We should be aiming for 20+ letters of support from non-profits and industry. Letters should be on company or organizational letterhead.

i. Letters of support are one example of a relatively easy way for council members to participate in NICH.

e. Who will be asking stakeholders for letters? Our group should reach out to our (non-academic) networks for letters of support.

i. Debbie will ask Anna Ball for a letter. Good opportunity to express how different and complementary we are to Seed Your Future.

ii. If we each get five letters of support, we will have 60 letters of support.

iii. Letters tend to be more meaningful if they come from as high up in the chain, as possible.

f. How many relevancy reviewer names has Tom B. received? ~ two dozen, thus far.

Attending: Margaret, Cyndi, Clint, Casey, Tom U, Rick, Debbie, Ellen, Pam, Shannon, Suzi (others???? ~ I didn’t hear everyone who logged in)

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1. NIFA Strategic Planning Grant Readiness (Casey)

a. Call for SCRI proposals is out (RFPA, Request for Pre-Applications).

b. 4th quarter high level deadline: get relevancy review nominations to Tom B. by end of October.

c. Grant Preparation Task Force (Gail, Casey)

i. Call for Pre-Proposals Open

1. https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/rfa/FY%202017%20SCRI%20RFPA.pdf

2. Proposals are due November 15th

ii. Immediate next steps for proposal submission group (Gail and Ellen will conference call about deadlines and approach, this week)

1. Gail will put together a couple of form letters that can be used to solicit stakeholder support, as well as guidelines for soliciting feedback

a. David Close, Casey and Tom U. will be looped in, as well.

2. Tom U. asked if our group is exempt from the matching fund requirement? Ellen noted that we are exempt, since this will probably be going through a land-grant univ.

3. Casey noted that this proposal will be for a planning grant, to further hone our strategic planning process, which could pave the way for a larger grant, which could pave the way for farm bill impact and/or larger grant. Whether or not we get this grant is not a make or break for our group, but it is an important proof of concept.

2. Engagement

a. First Committee Meeting Dates Recap

i. Economic Committee has met (Debbie)

ii. Environmental Committee has met. (Cyndi)Cyndi has notes / minutes to meeting. Gail will post to Box (done)

iii. Social Committee has met (Pam)

iv. Industry Council will meet in next week (Clint)

v. Non-Profit Council will meet in the next 3-4 weeks (Shannon)

vi. Land Grant Research Council will meet in next month (Margaret)

vii. Suzi has been gathering marketing and PR people for the marketing committee

3. High-Level Planning Benchmarks (Suzi): Spreadsheet Available from Gail

a. Need to put together calendar of grant opportunities to fund activities

b. Tom B. noted grant funds would become available in March, we would finish our strategic planning in June of 2017.

c. Focused listening an important activity ~ to bring in folks from all sectors of industry, and to identify research gaps that could be the focus of future grant proposals

i. Debbie and Suzi mentioned that several groups are currently missing from current Farm Bill / SCRI: Urban Foresters Groups, ISA, AHS, Garden Centers of America, etc.

d. Congressional Research Services Report to 2014 Farm Bill outlined and gave great definition to groups that make up Farm Bill Alliance. 80% of monies that go out through this initiative can be categorized as ‘nutrition’. Subgroup 10 is horticulture and organic agriculture ~ there was a preference in distribution of this $$ to create a greater number of organic farmers. Ellen will send this document to Gail for posting / distribution.

e. Ultimate goal is to submit our BIG grant proposal (which Casey likened to ‘recognition in the Farm Bill’). Tandem with this, we will have our long list of supporters
ready to go. (by 4th quarter of 2018, we will)

f. High level timeline should be a living document ~ continually refined, as committees meet,

g. Economic Committee (Debbie) noted that there is a lot of work that has already been done. There is an academic group that meets quarterly to develop economic benchmarks for the industry. Economic committee would need to identify research gaps. What are compelling pieces of information that are needed to move our group forward in a systematic way?

h. Casey / Suzi noted that committee objectives will be revised, as we get more information from focused listening, as committees meet and decide which objectives they can strategically approach

i. Next steps for high level timeline:

i. Ask Tom Bewick: Where do we stand on relevancy reviewers?

ii. Each committee should do focused listening / survey of their stakeholder groups. We need to gather this information, and put it in a format that can be used.

iii. Clint asked if we have a way that folks can sign up as supporters of our group? Can we have a database of supporters?

iv. Margaret noted that it is possible that some could see that consumer horticulture is already well-represented in Farm Bill, but it is not in a single package. There is
nutrition, conservation, organic farming, scri, etc. What is significantly different about NICH’s ask? Do we want our own line item in the Farm Bill? We are in the farm bill, but it is so segmented that it doesn’t make sense to stakeholders. We need to unify our ask.

v. Shannon asked about aligning with other groups who are doing similar work. Suzi noted that it could be aligning with a group that is part of the Farm Bill Alliance. Debbie noted that it could be about aligning with a group that is not part of the Farm Bill Alliance. There needs to be a strategy to work with and not supersede other groups. And, there was a note that several Extension Horticulture groups are going after SNAP-Ed dollars.

vi. Action Item for All: If you haven’t done so, take a look at 1st committee meeting, and how it directly supports or inform the high level timeline. What are our strategic benchmarks, and who is responsible for the strategies.

4. Communication and Recruitment

a. All of our documents are housed on Box. All committee chairs and councils will have their own subfolder. Everyone has editorial access to the entire NICH folder . . . which may cause issues if someone accidentally deletes another group’s work. Gail will think about a way to organize subfolders, and give folks access to different subfolders, to avoid this issue.

b. How will we handle Advocacy? If your employer has limits on what you can do, in the realms of advocacy, please make that clear ~ especially if we have an ‘ask’ that you can not do. And at times, we may ask one council to take lead on an issue, if another council (such as Land-Grant / Federal Government) can not do, because of limits to their position.

5. Review Upcoming Action Steps (Floor) ~ skipped in the interest of time.

6. New Business (Floor) ~ skipped in the interest of time.

Attending: Gail Langellotto, Casey Sclar, Pam Bennett, Debbie Hamrick, Ellen Bauske, Clint Albin, Cynthia Haynes, Tom Underwood, Dave Close, Suzi McCoy, Julie Weisenhorn, Penny McBride, Rick Durham, Shannon Spurlock, Margaret Pooler

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1. NIFA Strategic Planning Grant Readiness:

a.    Status of nominations to pre-application relevance review panel for Tom B.: Tom B. not able to be on call, today. Mentioned that he has received ~10 names, thus far.

• this is a critical next step to the success of the initiative,

• Nominations/Contact lists: Tom and Suzi have put together a one-pager that folks can use to recruit industry relevance review panel members (as well as a short email invite). These documents can be found in the Box Folder, ‘NICH Outreach Documents’: https://app.box.com/s/y4mbul2ab5cutlgdp3zyena00mwwc0ye

• Is there a limit on the number of names to send Tom? No. He’s seeking names of qualified reviewers from the industry for all types of panels, and consumer hort should have a voice in the relevance review process.

• We ask potential relevance reviewers to serve ~ if they are willing/able to serve, then we/they get back to Tom with their contact information.

• To Do (Ellen): Link informational .pdf on website ~ a place where potential reviewers can go for more information.

• Deadline for sending out email invites and on-pagers: within the next two weeks (before the next NICH conference call)

• To Do: Ellen will send out the email on the NICH listserv, from the Exec Committee (please proofread before sending it out)

b.    Grant Preparation Task Force Members (Casey):

• This group will prepare the grant pre-proposal ($50k for one year) that will go to NIFA for review . . . will prepare full proposal if we are selected to submit a full proposal.

• Grant proposal will be used to fully develop the NICH strategic plan.

• Funds (probably) need to go through a land-grant university / federal sector ~ which land grant will submit; who will be PI or co-PIs? This will be one of the decisions that the task force will make.

• Folks who serve as relevancy reviewers can not serve on the grant preparation task force (or at the very least, they may need to recuse themselves from certain applications).

• Volunteers for task force: Tom, Julie, Ellen, Shannon (depending on timing), Casey, Gail, Cyndi, Dave Close

2. Engagement

a.    Upcoming Conferences/Presentations List: Tom U. developed a list of NICH visibility opportunities. The second part of the list is to document what actually happened, with regard to NICH outreach/visibility.

• If you have upcoming presentations, please send that information to Tom. Please follow up after presentation to report outcomes/what happened.

• Debbie can present at the Green and Growing Show.

• Is it possible to get article written for the Digger into other industry newsletters (good time would be ~ January).

• A cohesive NICH message should be going out, when we give these presentations ~ with a cohesive look and branding: Share these presentations on the Box site as a first step towards developing a 2-3 slide stock that folks can use for presentations.

• Action item: If you have items to add to Tom U’s list (upcoming presentations and/or outcomes), please send them his way

b.    First Committee Meeting Dates Goal (Casey)

• Has a firm date been set for first committee meetings? Goal was to have first committee meeting by the end of September.

• Environmental committee invite will be going out, today. Meeting will happen in the next couple of weeks.

• Economic committee tentatively scheduled to happen by the end of September.

• Social/Community committee will be meeting next Monday.

• Non-profit council and Industry Council are targeting early October for a meeting.

• Land Grant Council targeting sometime in September to touch base.

3. Road Map: Establishing Timelines and Priorities (Suzi, Casey)

a.     Action Item: Reminder to send 5 high-level benchmark deadlines to Suzi by EOD September 20, 2016.

• Suzi to compile and Gail to Communicate.

• There was a question about whether or not we should wait on this until committees have had a chance to meet? No ~ timeline is high-level, broad view outline of key dates, deadlines, goals. Timeline can be modified as needed.

• Look at goals/objectives, and think about what we need to do . . . key benchmarks to meet . . . in order to get there. Also, think not just about the work of your committee, but the big picture of NICH.

• In the future, can we map out a time to have committees/councils touch base with each other, to ensure that our efforts are coordinated? If we get the planning grant, this will be part of a retreat where we can start to map these things out.

• Can we post committee agendas/notes, so that we can all see them? Yes (we can do this on our Box working site).

• Clint, Suzi, Ellen, Casey to conference call to discuss high-level timeline.

4. Communication and Recruitment

a.    Seed Your Future: Casey met with Susan Yoder and Doug Needham(sp?) about Seed Your Future. Re-enforced that our efforts are complementary. Casey and Suzi are on the Seed Your Future Advisory Council. Susan will be a member of one of our groups.
b.    Final Update on Recruitment of Chairs: all chairs are recruited, with the exception of the Honorary Chair
• Honorary Chair: Suzi and Casey to conference on the honorary chair position ~ and will bring ideas back to the committee
c.     One-Pager Use and Distribution (Shannon, Suzi)

• Where to get it: Box File entitled ‘NICH Outreach Documents’ (direct link = https://app.box.com/s/y4mbul2ab5cutlgdp3zyena00mwwc0ye )

ii.     Key messages:

1.     Join our unified effort to make this happen

2.     Offer your expert advice

3.     Spread the message

• The one-pager is stand-alone. There is no accompanying email to go with it.

d.    Digger Article: Gail will send out updated draft (which incorporates Casey’s and Ellen’s comments) to all for review. Action Item: Deadline for getting comments back to Gail is this Friday.

• Debbie has copyright free photos of nursery production, landscape. These can be posted in the NICH Box file.

• Article can be used/modified for use in other newsletters ~ should have a strategy for communication/distribution. Suzi/Shannon and the communication team will develop a communication strategy. Action Item: if you have places where you want to see the article distributed, contact Suzi, who will be developing a list to foster coordinated communication.

• We need to also have a high quality copy of the NICH logo on the Box file.

e.     Other Marketing/Communications Team Updates (Suzi, Shannon)

Contact Gail for links to NICH Working Documents

Attending: Cindy, Suzi, Clint, Gail, Casey, Rick, Penny, Tom, Dave, Ellen, Julie, Tom, Penny

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1. Communication and Recruitment

   1. Final Update on Recruitment of Chairs (All):
      • Updating the Google Sheet for our Executive Committee to add Suzi as lead of the marketing team and Tom Bewick as our USDA Liaison.
      • Decision was made to call the different sectors (commercial, NGO, land grant) sectors councils. Decision made to call goals (social, environmental, economic) committees.
   2. Steering Key Members to the Right Committees (Casey)
      • We discussed a potential honorary chair for this committee. Suzi and Casey agreed to approach one potential honorary chair ~ when timing is right and when a job description is available.
      • Suzi and Casey had a phone conversation with Charlie Hall, who has been suggested as a powerful NICH ally. His agreed to working with Debbie on the Economic Committee.
      • Jenn T. was mentioned as someone to join the social goals committee or the NGO council. Tom U. will reach out to Jenn.
      • Suzi mentioned several folks that she reached out to. She will send the full list of contacts to the group.
      • Cindy H. will remain on the communications strategy team.
   3. Final Update on One-Pager (Shannon, Katie, Suzi):
      • Note that Katie will continue to serve on the marketing committee, but not the leadership team. Please drop her name from emails that go out to the leadership team.
      • One-pager is complete. Will be used as a recruitment and engagement tool. Share as a PDF.
      • Note that the advisory committee is being asked to do the first three things on the ‘how can I help’ part of the one-pager (e.g. ‘Join, Offer, Spread’).
   4. Other Communications (All)
      • Marketing Committee: first step is to put together a long-term marketing plan, with a goal of September.

2. Engagement

   1. ASHS Conference Report (Rick, Ellen, Lucy, Tom B., etc.)
      • Julie notes that the folks who presented on NICH at ASHS did a good job (so much so, that she joined the effort). Rick was recruited to the academic council at ASHS.
      • Katie presented at the GWA Next Gen Summit, and Garden Media Group have included NICH in their trend report.
   2. Upcoming Conferences/Presentations
      • Katie and Suzie will present NICH at New England Grows in November.
      • Rick will be giving presentation at the National Master Gardener Coordinators Conference in September.
      • Send Tom U. your additions to the list of conferences / presentations. This will be useful for marketing strategy, but also for annual reports.

3. NIFA Strategic Planning Grant Readiness (Casey)

   1. Status of nominations to review panel: Shannon has forwarded three names from CO. Suzi is willing to serve on the review panel, and will talk to others about joining.
      • Name of the review panel: industry relevance review panel. Tom will share information developed for SCRI. The goal is to keep the time commitment for industry reps as little as possible (20 hours or below)~ but there is a time commitment that needs to be made to: (1) to do the reviews, and (2): to participate in the conference call. Folks who agree to commit, must commit to do both. How many conference calls are there? How many applications must folks review? Tom will forward that information to Gail for sharing in NICH documents.
      • 20 hour time commitment includes: There is a 1-hour orientation webinar. You review 10-12 pre-applications (~1 hour per app), and then a 1 hour conference call to discuss the pre-applications that you reviewed.
        To Do: Every committee member should be sending names and contact information to Tom B.
   2. Grant Preparation Task Force Members: tabled for next call.

4. Road Map: Establishing Timelines and Priorities (Suzi, Casey)

   1. Committee Survey
   2. List of Priorities: think about what this group should prioritize and work to accomplish in short-, mid- and long-term timelines. To Do: send your list of high-level priorities (five, benchmark deadlines) for the next 12 months to Suzi, who will compile and bring results back to the full leadership team: 1st 6 months from now, next 6 months from now. Please send to Suzi by September 20th (end of working day). (draft 3 year calendar is part of this document, as appendix 1, pages 4-5 of this document)
   3. Casey will send out blank timeline that they’ve put together, for the next three year’s priorities.
   4. The planning grant would be to complete and prioritize the NICH strategic plan. Planning grant funds would be available (if we get it) in the spring of 2017. The planning process could be completed by the summer of 2017 (end of June).

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Appendix

ROAD MAP TO 2019

GOAL: CONSUMER HORTICULTURE INCLUSION IN 2019 FARM BILL

2018: Harvest the Garden

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

2017: Plant the Seeds

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

2016: Cultivate the Earth

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August