Northeast Greenhouse Conference will offer educational sessions on business management

Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo will feature these educational sessions on business management on November 3, 2021. 

• Let's Figure Out Gen X, Y & Z, Amanda Thomsen, Kiss My Aster 
• Applying a Lean Approach in Different Parts of the Business, Gerson” Gary” Cortes, Flow Vision 
• Mitigating May Madness, Amanda Thomsen, Kiss My Aster, Sue Adams, and Dan Snyder Fair Acre Farms 
• One Hour Strategic Plan, John Kennedy, John Kennedy Consulting 

Meet the presenters: 

Amanda Thomsen is a horticulturist, garden designer, keynote speaker, freelance writer, backyard consultant, and author living in suburban Chicago.  Amanda wants to help the world live more sustainably (but without a load of effort and twice the fun!). Amanda has been working in gardens, garden centers and landscaping for the last 20 years. Her focus is bringing rule-breaking fun, a little kitsch, and a lot of humor into an industry that is often thought of as stodgy and full of rules.  Amanda speaks and gives classes at all-sized events throughout the United States.

Gerson “Gary” Cortes has 36 years of Lean Flow Manufacturing experience includes actual implementations in factories where he worked at as well as guiding Lean Flow implementations in companies around the world. In 1998 Gary, with three other partners founded FlowVision, LLC, - The Lean Business & Supply Chain Consulting Group. He has implemented in companies that produce as few as 1 product a day in the semiconductor capital equipment industry to as many as 20 billion coins a year at the US Mint. Gary’s experience ranges from high tech, high volume to machine intensive, low volume, make to order industries. 

Sue Adams is vice-president of Adams Greenhouses, a five-acre operation in Poughkeepsie, NY. Their largest account is the family's four garden centers which they supply with over four million garden plants. Sue works closely with Adams' marketing department, creating special promotions, brochures, and website information. She is an award-winning container designer, graduate of Cornell University, serves on the New England Floriculture Board and is president of New York State Flower Industries. She is speaking for her company's merchandises who love talking to customers but are too shy to speak in front of a group. 

Dan Snyder is the Recruiting and Training Coordinator for a family-owned business of over 1300 employees, Adams Fairacre Farms. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from SUNY Oneonta while working at Adams throughout his college education.  When Dan graduated, he accepted an IT position with Adams to begin his professional career. After a year of working in IT, Dan transferred to HR as the Training Coordinator, eventually taking on Recruitment and has been doing so for the past six years.

John Kennedy presents to the green industry at a local, state, national and international level on all aspects of business—Customer Experience, Strategic & Succession Planning, Team Alignment, Productivity & Profitability, and Creating a Culture of Measurement & Metrics.  His consulting work has him in high demand among progressive companies and associations in North America, Australia, and the Caribbean… along with dozens of associations, garden centers, growers, and landscapers in the green industry.  Visit John on-line at www.johnkennedyconsulting.com to get a closer look at his topics, videos, and clients. 

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

Exhibit space and sponsorship opportunities are available. Learn more or reserve your space here.  Contact Karen Forbes at [email protected].  The full program will be posted on the NEGC website in August.    Attendee registration will also open in August.