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You are here: Home / Archives for Columns / President's Message

A matter of trust

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted April 21, 2025

What makes NWREC special isn’t just the research — It’s the spirit of cooperation that drives it forward.

Filed Under: President's Message

Make the first move

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted March 25, 2025

The most important lesson I learn during my visit to JLPN is to be proactive with your customers.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: Business

Sometimes new ideas come from watching and learning

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted February 24, 2025

Sometimes opportunities to solve a problem can present themselves if you’re paying attention.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: OAN Members

President’s Message: Where the rubber meets the bug

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted January 27, 2025

Inspiration from the automotive industry leads industry veteran at Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas to an innovative and low cost solution to replacement rubber gaskets for beneficial insect colony container lids.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: pests and dieases

President’s message: Linkage and flow

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted January 7, 2025

It is always good to get off the farm. Every time I visit a nursery, I come back with new ideas and fresh energy. I’d like to use this column to share some of those ideas and introduce you to the people who inspired them. It’s a blustery morning today in western Oregon. The driving […]

Filed Under: Columns, President's Message

President’s Message: Effective communication

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted November 21, 2024

Over the next year. I’d like to use this column to share some of those ideas and introduce you to the people who inspired them. My first foray brings me to Smith Gardens in Aurora, Oregon, where I learned a lesson in effective communication.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: OAN, OAN Members

Growth means more when it’s a team

By Ben Verhoeven — Posted October 24, 2024

When you think about growing, what comes to mind? Root structure and branching? Fertility and weed management? Perhaps it is personal growth. Greenhouse structures and irrigation design? Or business and community? For me it is cultural growth — how a group solves problems together, makes small, meaningful improvements, how they interact with the outside world, […]

Filed Under: Columns, President's Message

Thanks for the memories

By Amanda Staehely — Posted September 26, 2024

It is hard for me to believe that a year has already gone by since I wrote my first President’s Message. What an incredible year it was!

Filed Under: President's Message

Excited for a new season and a new year

By Amanda Staehely — Posted September 10, 2024

Fall is almost here, and I can feel the change happening. To me it is always the most obvious that seasonal change is upon us first thing every day. There is nothing like that cool, crisp morning with a beautiful sunrise and a light layer of fog covering the ground. I thoroughly welcome that change […]

Filed Under: President's Message

Farwest has value now, and for future generations

By Amanda Staehely — Posted July 29, 2024

I believe many of us who were lucky enough to grow up within this industry have a few special memories or events that stand out to them. For me, and I am sure many others, the Farwest Show is almost nostalgic for that reason. Getting to work in the Simnitt Nursery booth was a highlight […]

Filed Under: Farwest Show, President's Message

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NURSERY NEWS

Bailey Nurseries removed dams to build environmental resilience

The new NurseryGuide.com powers up with new features

Terra Gardens owner’s gesture for his mother opens the door to other wheelchair-bound gardeners

OAN announces 2025 Friends of Nurseries award winners

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

In memoriam: Bill Van Belle

Longtime employee buys Heritage Seedlings and Liners

More Nursery News

From the pages of Digger

August 2026 Digger: Farwest Show Edition

July 2026

June: The Shrubs Issue

May 2026: the Sustainability Issue

April: The Tree Issue

More issues of Digger

Pests and Diseases

Box tree moths pose a threat to Oregon nurseries

Managing Phytophthora: timing, temperature and emerging threats

Managing slugs and snails in Pacific Northwest nurseries

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

Prioritizing nursery pest challenges

More articles

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

2026 Farwest Show issues calls for speakers

Excitement, optimism prevail at 2025 Farwest Show

Dazzling plants, products garner Retailer’s Choice Awards

Youngblood Nursery wins Best in Show booth honors at the 2025 Farwest Show

Glow Sticks Fescue wins top honors from judges at Farwest Show’s New Varieties Showcase 

More Updates from Farwest

The Value of Membership

OAN members see benefits and rewards from serving ag industry organizations

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

OAN honors industry leaders at 2025 Convention

More member stories

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