Taking the Lead

Chuck Buffington, head of sales, Flowers Pro for Syngenta, addresses the crowd during the inaugural presentation of the Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards at the OFA Short Course in July. Syngenta’s Lawn & Garden division, consisting of Syngenta, Fafard and Syngenta Flowers, sponsored the event.

Last summer, the GIE Media Horticultural Group introduced the Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards (HILA), honoring representatives of each state along with five national winners who displayed extraordinary leadership qualities at their respective businesses. The program culminated in a July awards presentation sponsored by Syngenta, Fafard, and Syngenta Flowers and held at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio. The following profile, on Georgia winner Stuart Cofer, typifies the inspirational stories of the various winners—all of whom set a high bar for 2012, when the program will introduce a new set of outstanding leaders.

Four years ago, Stuart Cofer's business was hung out to dry —literally. Cofer's Home & Garden Showplace is in Athens, Ga., a state that spent part of the past decade mired in a brutal drought. By 2008, the Georgia Green Industry Association estimated that 35,000 of 80,000 industry professionals had lost jobs. In turn, dozens of growing, retailing and landscaping businesses either shut down operations temporarily or shut down for good.

Cofer, his store hanging by a very dry thread, determined to fight back. His foe, however, wasn't just the drought; another "industry killer" was legislation that all but totally curtailed watering among residents—the ultimate dagger for garden centers. Armed with all he could learn about water conservation, he lobbied government officials. He leaned his store to the bone and started a customer-education blitz, all in the hopes that he could wait out the drought.

Stuart Cofer

"We showed customers how to minimize their watering regimens," he said. "And we pointed them to plants that require less maintenance. It was tough, but we convinced our customers that they didn't have to give up on plants."

Eventually, rain clouds returned to the Athens area, bringing with them an incredible silver lining for Cofer and his garden center. "Yeah," he said, "we're still here. I don't think anyone would have bet on that a few years ago."
 

The 2012 HILAs will be presented at next year's OFA Short Course. If you work with someone who has shown outstanding leadership qualities at the business or in the community/industry, and would like to nominate him or her, please e-mail your choice with a brief testimonial about the person to editor Yale Youngblood at yyoungblood@gie.net.