Guest blogger Jim Campanella, past-president of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America, PLCAA, shares his perspective on the change in branding from PLANET to the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
As you all know by now, we are The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). There has been some controversy and questions as to why lawn was excluded in the name. As an owner of a lawn care company, and the last full-term President of the Professional Lawn Care Association (PLCAA), I felt compelled to share my thoughts.
In 2004, I served on the merger team for PLCAA negotiating and successfully completing a merger with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), creating PLANET. The name was logical at the time because those of us involved on the merger team had a vision for PLANET to be the ultimate green industry association. We had planned to immediately go out and merge with other green industry related associations. For many reasons, this vision was never realized.
So we spent the last 10 years working with a name that was difficult to communicate, difficult to understand, and really didn’t align with the existing vision of the association and our members. I applaud Sabeena Hickman, Jim McCutcheon, and the entire PLANET board for taking action.
Yes, I would rather the name include lawn, but that is a personal preference and in no way affects my confidence that NALP will continue to represent our interests. Just look at the overall improved focus by way of the 3 pillars; education, advocacy and professionalism. The name will not define the effectiveness of the organization; the actions of the staff and board will. I have recently been installed on the first board of directors under the new name. I commit to doing my part to help protect and enhance our industry.
