The New England Nursery Association (NENA) is dedicated to providing landscaping  and nursery professionals with high quality information and an array of  services and professional development support to keep the region growing their  businesses and relationships, according to  www.newenglandnurseryassociation.org, the group’s website.  

 Since 1912, NENA has worked to benefit those in the business of growing and  selling green goods. Founded by New England industry members, the group boasts  a long and successful history of promoting and building relationships that  benefit both nursery professionals and their businesses. The association,  according to its website, provides an expanding array of informational services  that both facilitates and ensures an up-to-date understanding of consumer  needs, market demands and emerging trends. These are all essential factors in  ensuring profitability for member businesses and for building the New England  green industry.  

 Centennial Celebration

 The organization which has 110 members consists of a management team and a  president, vice president/treasurer plus a three-member Board of Directors.  Leading the way in 2013 are president Peter House of East Haven Landscape  Products in East Haven, Connecticut; Ed Bemis of Bemis Farms Nursery in Spencer, Massachusetts, who will be vice  president and treasurer, and the directors are Carol MacLeod of Evergreen  Gardens of Vermont in Waterbury Center, Vermont; Joe Majelka of Westcott  Perennials of Ashaway. Rhode Island; and Jake Pierson of Pierson Nurseries in  Biddeford, Maine.  

 NENA recently celebrated its 100th year anniversary this past September, with an  event at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. The members  swapped stories and toured the beautiful Tower Hill property, planting a  commemorative tree in honor of their anniversary.  

 Trade Show Partnership

 One of NENA’s most popular events is the New England Grows trade exposition, which took  place February 6-8, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center,  according to past president Robin Struck, the owner of D.R. Struck Landscape  Nursery in Winthrop, Maine. New England Grows is an educational partnership  between the New England Nursery Association, the Massachusetts Arborists  Association, the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals and the  Massachusetts Nursery & Landscape Association. Its co-sponsor network includes 40 allied green industry  organizations.