November 1st Conference Call

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