Bill Taylor will be a keynote speaker at New England Grows' Garden Center Success program

Bill Taylor, best-selling author, celebrated entrepreneur, and
co-founder of Fast Company magazine, will headline Garden
Center Success at New England Grows on Feb.1, 2012
in Boston.

New England Grows, a premier conference and trade exposition for green industry professionals held annually in Boston, today announced that Garden Center Success will return to the 2012 event. Garden Center Success, which debuted to rave reviews in 2011, will be held Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. This one-day intensive seminar is tailored to the specific needs of garden center professionals. 

This year’s Garden Center Success is focused on helping garden centers professionals buck retail market predictions and fight for their businesses in these turbulent times. Keynote speakers will include business leader and best-selling author Bill Taylor, who will share the tenets of his latest book, "Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry and Challenge Yourself."

Taylor shook up the business world with the launch of Fast Company magazine in 1995 and hasn’t stopped since –  inspiring champions of change and growth who are reinventing their companies. 

Taylor will be joined by other speakers, including garden center guru and marketing wizard Chad Harris, who together with his wife Beth, has crafted The Garden Gates in Southern Louisiana into one of the nation’s premier lifestyle stores. Even under the most adverse conditions --- the economy, Mother Nature, and more --- their business has thrived due in large part to Chad’s irreverent  “market like a mad man” strategy. Harris shares his ideas monthly as author of the Success Series column in Garden Center magazine.

Speaking about last year’s Garden Center Success, that had 1,000 registrants in its inaugural run, Nancy DuBrule-Clemente of Natureworks in Northford, Connecticut, said, “It was a totally amazing day. Thank you for getting the BEST speakers. I have already implemented many of the specific ideas they shared.”

Again this year, with the help of master facilitator Jon Hockman, Garden Center Success participants will gain an understanding of real world retail trends, learn from peers who are getting it done in their own independent garden centers, and develop an action plan to increase sales, optimize their merchandising, and keep their people in peak performance mode.

“Expect a high impact, result-driven learning experience,” said Rich Clark of Clark Farms in Wakefield, Rhode Island and New England Grows’ education chairman.  “If you’re a key player at an independent garden center, you need to be at Garden Center Success!”

New England Grows will celebrate its 20th anniversary year when the show runs Feb. 1-3 in Boston. In addition to a three-day line up of 30 business-building seminars, Grows 2012 will offer a trade exposition of more than 600 vendors showcasing solution-based products, technologies and services for the green industry.

There is no additional charge to participate in Garden Center Success, but seating is limited and advance registration is required.  New England Grows registration is $45 per person before Jan. 16 and $65 thereafter.  If you sign up four or more people from the same company before Jan. 16, the price per person is just $39.

Low registration fees, world-class education, and exclusive deals on the tradeshow floor make New England Grows the best place to do business this winter.  To learn more and to register visit: www.NewEnglandGrows.org.

Garden Center Success at New England Grows is presented in cooperation with Garden Center magazine.  New England Grows is an educational partnership between the New England Nursery Association, Massachusetts Arborists Association, Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals, Massachusetts Nursery & Landscape Association, and a network that includes more than 30 allied green industry organizations.