SHOW DATES: AUGUST 20-22, 2025 SHOW HOURS: Wednesday: 10am – 5pm | Thursday: 10am – 5pm | Friday: 10am – 2pm Contact: 503-682-5089

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Undercover Boss: Clues to Create a Team of Superheroes, Improve Culture and Decrease Attrition

Room B113

Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
If you become a frontline employee in your business for a day, what might you discover? Do you think there are items that could be changed or improved? What could you do with that information to create happier employees and an improved culture? It takes a special leader to be willing to take risks to discover what will make each employee part of your team of superheroes.

Registration Required

The New or Improved Greenhouse: Labor-Saving Technologies, Mechanization, Innovation, Design and Layout

Room B110

Speaker: Paul Golden, Commercial Greenhouse Sales Manager, Prospiant Inc (formerly Nexus and RBI Greenhouses)
For many producers and retailers, the past two years have led to record-breaking sales and new challenges that come along with rapid growth during a time of unprecedented supply chain issues. Present conditions require operations to have a fresh new look at how they are building their greenhouse business. The practices and strategies of the past might not apply to modern-day needs. With ever-increasing labor challenges operators are having to ask themselves if their existing greenhouses layout, design, equipment, and processes are most labor efficient and how they should design their new operations going forward? This session will cover changes in trends in wholesale greenhouse production as well as technological improvements.

Registration Required

Be an A.C.E. Garden Center: Eight Steps for Delivering the Astonishing Customer Experience for Your Retail Customers

Room B113

Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
Through the pandemic, customers have grown accustomed to online ordering. However, today you are trying creative ways to get customers back in the store. This seminar will focus on eight critical areas in your store to deliver that “astonishing” experience at every single touchpoint you have with your customer. The A.C.E. grading scale includes marketing, exterior and interior, employees, merchandising, and three additional areas you probably have never thought of. This session will help you deliver an A+ astonishing experience for your customers at every turn.

Registration Required

Cash Incentives for Energy Efficiency: Greenhouses, Nurseries, Orchards and Farms

Room B113

Speaker: Jessica Arnold, Outreach Manager, Industry + Agriculture, Energy Trust of Oregon
Cash incentives are available through Energy Trust of Oregon for eligible projects that save natural gas or electricity. Participating utilities include Portland General Electric (PGE), Pacific Power, Northwest Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, and Avista. Examples include projects from greenhouse shell and heating systems upgrades to controlled environmental agriculture optimization of HVAC, dehumidification, irrigation, lighting and more. Attend this session to learn all about the different programs, and get your questions answered.

Registration Required

On the Floor: A Merchandising GPS for Increased Sales

Room B113

Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
As customers return to physical stores, it’s the eye-catching displays that their attention and drive revenue. Has every product earned its right to be in your store? Are your lighting and décor drawing attention to your merchandise? Do you have an enticing floor plan? Are you struggling to create the “right” displays? This session will address the “new” ways to address your inventory and your store merchandising to receive a standing ovation from your customer.

Registration Required

(PANEL) Simple Improvement Projects Every Business Should Take On This Year

Room B116

Moderator: Elizabeth Peters, Vice President, The Peters Company
Panelists:
Mark Bigej, Al’s Garden & Home
John Lewis, JLPN
Chris Robinson, Robinson Nursery
Ben Verhoeven, Peoria Gardens

Lean is a set of business principles and practices that has transformed green industry companies here in the Pacific Northwest. This panel brings together a group of Oregon’s most effective nursery, greenhouse and garden center leaders who have applied Lean thinking to their businesses. They will share simple improvement projects, based on Lean principles, that you can take to your organization. Come and glean wisdom from these outstanding leaders, and bring your questions for the Q&A session afterward.

Registration Required

Improve Your Website With Data, Not Gut-feel

Room B113

Speaker: Timothy Howard, President/Founder, Clarity Connect, Inc.
With tools like A/B testing, screen recording, heat maps and Google Analytics, you can take the guesswork out of improving your website. The tools available are free, or very low cost, and give you the data you need to confidently improve your website.

Registration Required

Measuring for Change—the Lean Way

Room B116

Speakers: Rick Peters, President, The Peters Company | Elizabeth Peters, Vice President, The Peters Company
“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” This quote by W. Edwards Deming refers to the significance of data measurement in doing business. Why? Because measurements drive behavior; what you measure is what you get. How do we choose what to measure? Which metrics give us the best prospect of achieving our goals? How can we use data to manage and motivate labor effectively — and how do we use all this information to improve our business? This seminar looks at measures for different levels of a company. It also offers an approach to implementing metrics and common pitfalls to avoid.

Registration Required

Nowadays Tulipmania: Flower Bulb Extravaganza

Room B110

Speaker: Philipp Laagland, Country Manager USA, ADR Bulbs Inc.
Join internationally recognized flower bulb expert Philipp Laagland as he shares his knowledge about setting trends and current struggles within the industry. This session will examine the working flower bulb life circle from farmer to the homeowner in The United States and new landscape designs and retail concepts using flower bulbs.

Registration Required

Regenerative Landscaping: Small Changes, Large Impact – Protecting and Supporting Local Ecology

Room B110

Speaker: Nutmeg Minneboo, Lead Ecological Designer, SymbiOp Garden Shop and Landscaping
The way that we install and manage spaces in the landscaping industry has a large impact on the health and well-being of local ecology. Managing pests, plant diseases, water infiltration, and choosing plants for landscapes all directly affects local birds, pollinators, beneficial insects, and our local watershed. In this presentation, we will dive into ways we can learn to read the landscape. We will learn what to do when landscapes are out of balance and pests and diseases arise. Learning tips and tools for improving balance in a landscape naturally can help us protect local ecology.

Registration Required

(PANEL) Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain: Tips for Moving Forward

Room B113

Moderator:  Jeff Stone, Executive Director, OAN Panelists:

  • Jana Jarvis, President & CEO, Oregon Truckers Association
  • David Anzur, Founder, Anzur Logistics
  • Dale Parra, Sales Manager, Transportation Services
  • Keith Leavitt, Chief Trade and Equitable Development Officer, Port of Portland
Join our panel of industry experts as they share their recommendations and best practices for moving through these challenging times of inflation, driver shortages, and policy changes. Our panelists come from large diverse backgrounds, which will provide a foundation for attendees to gain excellent insight from a wide array of experiences. Strategies for freight will be shared from the trucking, railroad, and shipping perspectives. There will be time for Q&A, so come prepared with questions.
Registration Required

SPANISH ONLY – Case Study: Applying Lean Principles to Pulling Orders at JLPN

Room B119

Speaker: Carlos Vergara, Lean Manager, JLPN
In February 2022, JLPN hosted a rapid improvement event (Kaizen™) focused on its process of pulling customer orders. Prior to the event, the process varied for different crew members: communication was inconsistent and crew members had to search the farm for the needed products. Learn how the team applied Lean principles to reduce motion and defects and increase productivity while improving communication and teamwork in their order pulling process.

Registration Required

H-2A 101: What Your Business Needs to Know

Room B116

Speaker: Chelsea Ibarra, Deputy General Counsel, másLabor
Learn more about the program basics and the ever-changing landscape of the seasonal, non-immigrant worker program. This seminar will identify employer requirements, best practices, and important updates to the H-2A program. Come ready with questions whether you are just considering H-2A or are a seasoned participant.

FREE

Take Advantage of the Boom: Leverage Extra Cash for Long-Term Gains

Room B113

Speaker: Timothy Howard, President/Founder, Clarity Connect, Inc.
In today’s market, most growers and garden centers, are selling virtually every plant they have. It is somewhat counter-intuitive to invest in your business when you don’t need to. However, now is the perfect time to leverage extra cash for long-term gains. This presentation will demonstrate multiple ways growers and garden centers can upgrade their websites, invest in employees, purchase new technology and tools, and increase marketing efforts, to help secure customers for the long haul while making it easier on their operations.

Registration Required

Current Market Demands New Approaches to Container Growing

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Co-Presenters: Tom Springer, Chris Murphey, NurserySource
This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
NurserySource’s and RediRoot’s goal is to help nurseries and grow operations integrate new approaches to container production and gardening. Their markets span nursery, cannabis and home gardeners giving them a unique look into the ways all growers are learning from each other and improving their production. They see the pressure labor and regulatory costs have upon different operations and work to help clients mitigate those challenges. This seminar will briefly detail their observations and recommendations.

FREE

The Art and Science of Pricing Products

Room B110

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

There is more to pricing than simply calculating costs and mark-up. Bridget will discuss some pricing strategies and share some research-based findings on how consumers react to pricing in communications. Price increases are always a concern. The presentation includes some ways for you to consider increasing prices that consumers will accept.

Registration Required

Grow Profits Using Job Costing to Identify and Eliminate Waste in Your Company

Room B116

Speaker: Rich Thiebaud, Director of Sales, Landscape Management Network (LMN)

With more than 25 years of experience, Rich will bring a wealth of knowledge to this seminar giving an overview of the importance of job costing and how to keep it as simple and automated as possible. Most importantly, Rich will give an overview of the nine wastes of landscaping, which are the biggest reasons landscape companies lose efficiency and profitability, and how to snuff those wastes out for good.

Registration Required

20/24 Vision for Garden Retailing

Room B110

Speaker: Danny Summers, Managing Director/Chief Instigator, The Garden Center Group

Garden retailing has experienced major growth in new customers and sales since 2019. As we look forward to 2024, Danny will share insight of the The Group's 150+ Garden Centers performances and the Best Practices Benchmarks from The Group's Annual P&L Studies of 2020, 2021, and 2022 plus additional observations and trends to help you prepare for 2024–and beyond.

Registration Required

Transforming vs. Evolving: Turn Your Vision into Dramatic, Measurable Results Using Policy Deployment

Room B119

Speaker: Rick Peters, President, The Peters Company

Every leader faces the challenge of translating vision into results. Most have goals to achieve over the next 3–5 years; the difficulty is converting long-term goals into daily activities that can be measured. Oregon nurseries are using policy deployment ("Hoshin Kanri") to develop annual improvement targets that align and link with their long-term strategies. The process engages team members at every level. Each person understands how they can impact the organization's goals. Bring your leadership team for an introduction to this powerful tool. Learn how Robinson Nursery uses policy deployment to transform the business and achieve their mission of “growing people and plants to change the world.”

Registration Required

A Milkweed Contamination Study Spotlights Pollinator-Safe Growing – An Oregon Nursery Shows the Way

Room B113

Co-Presenters:
Sharon Selvaggio, Pesticide Program Specialist, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Sam Bidwell, Integrated Pest Manager, Log House Plants; Founder, Sunnyside Sam’s Wholesale

People across the country are working to help restore monarch butterflies by planting milkweed. A recent study showed that milkweed plants purchased from garden centers across the country contained a wide variety of pesticide residues, putting monarchs at risk. In this seminar, we invite a thoughtful conversation about how nurseries can use practices that result in pollinator-safe plants. We will present the findings and implications of the milkweed study and share examples of how a local nursery, Log House Plants, puts pollinator-safe growing into practice.

Registration Required

Keynote Address – Katie Tamony

C123-124

Speaker: Katie Tamony , Chief Marketing Officer, Monrovia Nursery Company and Former Editor-in-Chief of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books FREE to all registered Farwest Participants. Many of us have spent years in our industry, and it’s easy to forget what it’s like not to know what we know. It’s also natural to fall into habits of seeing problems and patterns a certain way. But holding a “beginner’s mindset” can help us solve problems more effectively, adapt to change more easily, and actually create more original ideas. So how do we change our perspective and see things with fresh eyes? Looking at the familiar in an unfamiliar way can help us be better leaders and refresh our teams and our approach to our business. Using examples from throughout a career where she has been forced to be a “beginner” operating at a high level, she will share some techniques and ways of leading and innovating with fresh perspective.

FREE to all registered Farwest Participants.

Fixing Workplace Conflict

Room B110

Speaker: Chris Sheesley, President, In-Accord

You're surrounded, but don't give up. Being a member of an organization inevitably places you in situations of conflict, but there are ways to reduce its negative impact on you and your coworkers. The savvy response to the uncomfortable messiness of workplace discord is to develop keener insights and skills. Through this engaging presentation, you'll gain easy-to-remember and easy-to-apply mindsets and tools to be an effective resolver whether you are a participant or in a position to be helpful to others.

Registration Required

Profiting With Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Mary Choate, Chief Operating Officer, Pest Wizard Brands LLC

Integrated Pest Management is good for the environment, but did you know it is also good for your bottom line? IPM is a great tool for improved profitability for Independent Garden Centers (IGCs) and for growers. Learn how to implement an effective IPM strategy in your greenhouse or nursery to reduce costs and decrease loss from pests. For IGC, we’ll discuss how IPM can be a key marketing strategy to improve sales through cross-marketing and upselling for your entire line, from irrigation to green goods.

FREE

Succession Planning 2-hour WORKSHOP

FREE WORKSHOP (open to all attendees)

Succession Planning, Part 1: Working with an Attorney 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Speaker: Maria Schmidlkofer, Attorney, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt Join attorney Maria Schmidlkofer for the first hour as she discusses engaging in estate planning early, elements of a successful succession plan and general timeline for implementation. She’ll talk through important information that you need to know about your operation to make the process run smoothly, legal tools that can help the succession process, and tips for mitigating Oregon estate tax. Stay for the second hour to take a deeper dive into conservation easements on working lands with Ivor Kincaide of Oregon Agricultural Trust and discuss how they can be used as a tool for succession.

Succession Planning, Part 2: Introduction to Conservation Easements on Working Lands 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Speaker: Ivor Kincaide, Farmland Program Director, Oregon Agricultural Trust (OAT) A growing number of Oregon farmers and ranchers are conveying easements in exchange for cash or tax benefits to help with succession or business expansion or to make the land more affordable to the next generation. Join Farmland Program Director Ivor Kincaide to learn more about conservation easements on working lands, the benefits of easements, the process of conveying an easement and how an easement can help with farmland succession. He'll discuss Oregon Agricultural Trust (OAT) and the role a Land Trust and other organizations such as NRCS plays in partnering with landholders to protect ag land in perpetuity.
FREE

Save Energy, Save Resources, Save Money: A Grower Panel Discussion About Efficiency Project Implementation

Room B119

Moderator: Whitney Rideout, Program Manager, Industry and Agriculture, Energy Trust of Oregon
Panelists:

  • Al's Garden & Home / Mark Bigej
  • Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas Inc. / Kyle Fessler
  • Robinson Nursery Inc. / Chris Robinson

This panel discussion includes growers and retailers who have improved their bottom line through a wide range of energy efficiency projects, from lighting, to boilers, to watering systems. This discussion will provide real-world insights about these projects, and the results and side benefits you can expect.
Registration Required

Make Signs People Will Read

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Bridget will present research-based information about how consumers read or ignore signage in the retail store. Signage is essential to communicate many things about the plants (and other products) people can’t know without you telling them.

FREE

H-2A 101: What Your Business Needs to Know

Room B110

Speaker: Chelsea Ibarra, Deputy General Counsel, másLabor
Free Session (Open to all attendees)

This session will cover the ins and outs of the H-2A program for growers. The session discusses the program’s requirements, barriers to entry, and best practices for employers, including pertinent current events. As the labor landscape continues to be difficult, more and more businesses are turning to H-2A to solve their shortages.

FREE

10 Effective Ways to Communicate the Value of Your Products

Room B110

Speaker: Katie Tamony , Chief Marketing Officer, Monrovia Nursery Company and Former Editor-in-Chief of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books

In this seminar, Katie will present 10 effective ways to communicate the value of your products or services to a demanding consumer in today’s market. Using examples from Monrovia and other premium brands, Katie will share insights and success stories that will help you retain customers in the long term and grow your perceived value.

Registration Required

The Shoppers Journey

Room B110

Speaker: Bridget Behe, Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Recent studies with real consumers in both the lab and retail environment give great insight into how consumers shop in the store. This presentation is packed with helpful tips to create more shoppable displays and merchandising information to generate higher sales.

Registration Required

Values as a Business Model: The Story of Botanical Interests

Room B110

Speaker: Curtis Jones, Co-founder and Former Co-owner/President, Botanical Interests Inc.

The co-founder and former co-owner/President of Botanical Interests Inc., Curtis Jones, speaks out about how his and his business partner Judy Seaborn’s personal values influenced the success of Botanical Interests seeds in a stagnant seed packet market and changed the direction of packaging in horticulture. Curtis will describe the new and unique direction Botanical Interests has taken in order to further educate the gardener, increase brand loyalty, and support their retail stores. During the presentation, Curtis might sneak in a funny or harrowing story about the 28-year journey they experienced.

Registration Required

Drop-In OFFICE HOURS

Room B119

Speaker: Chelsea Ibarra, Deputy General Counsel, másLabor

Stop by at any time during this hour (no appointment necessary) to ask our in-house expert questions about H-2A. This is a great opportunity if you missed the Thursday seminar or had additional questions not answered yesterday.

Registration Required

A Plantsman’s Notebook: New Plants and a Reminder of Some ‘Smokers’ We Often Forget About

Room B119

Speaker: Nicholas Staddon, Company Spokesman/Plantsman, Everde Growers

In this session, we will look at a number of new plants that have appeared on the marketplace in recent years. There will be something for everyone, trees, shrubs, perennials, and a few surprises! Staddon will also nudge our memories on a few of the great plants from the past. Nicholas will cover a few of the notable trends he believes hold water for us. As always, he is an avid reader and will share a few choice titles with the audience. With terrific pictures, supported by an informative and humorous narrative, this session is not to be missed if you are into plants.

Registration Required

Discover the 50% Off Solar Project USDA REAP Grant Program

Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

Speaker: Zachary Peek, Owner, Atlas Consulting LLC

Join this session to learn how Nurseries, Farms, Ranches and Rural Small Businesses are eligible to receive an award equal to 50% of the total solar system cost. Zack will describe eligibility, timing considerations, and next steps for interested organizations. Attendees will also learn how all the available incentives can be combined to bring the payback period of a solar installation to just 1 or 2 years.

FREE

Copyright® 2024 Farwest Show
The Farwest Show is produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries
SHOW DATES: AUGUST 20-22, 2025 | SHOW HOURS: Wednesday: 10am – 5pm | Thursday: 10am – 5pm | Friday: 10am – 2pm
SHOW LOCATION: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97232
MAILING: 29751 SW Town Center Loop W., Wilsonville, OR 97070
Phone: 888-283-7219 | 503-682-5089 | farwest@oan.org
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