CEO DATELINE - Southern Nursery Association to shutter
CEO DATELINE - Southern Nursery Association to shutter
- January 28, 2021 |
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Kathryn Walson
The Southern Nursery Association's board voted unanimously to cease operations of the regional trade association, according to a statement posted Monday to the group's website. The board's decision followed the cancellation of SNA's virtual conference, which had been scheduled for February.
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"Since the conference is the main source of income and with declining membership, the board determined that the association cannot be sustained," SNA stated.
The Acworth, Ga.-based group reported $60,000 in revenue in 2019 and 2018 and had no paid employees. It has represented the horticulture industry in the southeastern U.S. since 1899, according to its website.
"Although we are saddened that SNA will be closing its doors, SNA members can continue SNA's mission to protect and advance our industry by becoming active members of their state horticulture association and AmericanHort, our industry's national association," SNA stated.
AmericanHort, based in Columbus, Ohio, is offering a special rate of $189 for the first year of membership to current SNA members through June 30.
SNA produced one of the horticulture industry's largest trade shows from 1950 to 2009, the SNA Research Conference from 1955 to 2020, and the SNA Plant Conference from 1991 to 2020, according to its website.
SNA will transfer more than 3,000 research titles to the website of the Horticultural Research Institute, part of the AmericanHort Foundation.
Two SNA funds, which are part of the Horticultural Research Institute Endowment Fund, will be combined, totaling about $300,000, and renamed the Southern Nursery Association Legacy Fund. It will award funding for horticultural research in the southeast U.S.
The Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment Fund, which SNA created in 1989 and currently has a balance of nearly $1 million, will not be impacted, according to the statement. The scholarship fund is a 501(c)(3) organization that is independent of SNA, and the fund will continue to award academic scholarships to horticulture students.
"The Southern Nursery Association wishes to express gratitude to the members, exhibitors, attendees, researchers, students, and volunteers who have been a part of the SNA experience for so many years. It is difficult to estimate the size and scope of the SNA community over the decades," its website stated.
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