Arizona Grant Opens Doors of Opportunity for Local Industry Members

Next year, two floral industry members from Arizona will have the chance to attend exciting national industry events to further their education, learn new techniques, and network with other industry members – thanks to AFE’s Arizona Retail Floral Education Travel Grant.  The Arizona Retail Floral Education Travel Grant was created to provide support for traditional retail florists in Arizona to pursue floral industry educational or design events outside of the state of Arizona. The grant is open to owners, managers, and employees of traditional retail florists with a brick-and-mortar storefront in Arizona.  The fund was established from the defunct FTD District 8K with additional initial funding provided by Ken and Lynn Young of Phoenix Flower Shops. The fund continues to grow with contributions…

Meinders Fund Helps Florists Grow their Skills & Elevate Their Businesses

This year, two Mississippi State University Extension students were able to attend the MSU Extension Professional Florist Certificate Program thanks to support from the Meinders Retail Florist Education Fund. The MSU program consists of four floral design levels with multiple courses per level. This year’s recipients, Saylor Wiley and Wanda Norton, participated in the Level III workshop with support from AFE’s Meinders Retail Florist Education Grant Fund. Established through generous contributions from longtime industry members and AFE supporters, Herman and LaDonna Meinders, the Meinders fund supports reduced or free registration fees to floral industry events or educational programs for retail florists by providing grants or scholarships to nonprofit floral industry organizations for this purpose. Other funding recipients this year include the American…

Benefits of Succession Planning For Your Business and How to Start

Are you like hundreds of other business owners who continually procrastinate when faced with developing a viable succession plan for your business? If so, check out the newest addition to the Recruitment Resource Library.“Many small businesses put aside the development of a succession plan until forced into quickly pulling one together. Or worse yet, they realize after the fact that they should have been more prepared,” says Suzie Kostick, freelance business coach, and consultant. “Many business owners use the excuse they thought their business was too small to need a succession plan or think it is too complicated to develop.” The new succession plan resources available now through the AFE Career Center were developed to help business owners address these…

Ensuring Tomorrow’s Leaders Have Access to Floral Education Today

The Phillip Family left a profound impact on floral design through the James and Helen Phillip Floral Design Grant, and today, their legacy is carried forward through the work of inspired floral design students at six institutions across the country.This grant directly supports floral design programs, ensuring a robust learning environment and making floral design programs more attractive to students. Bringing more students into floral design helps to both educate them on the wide range of career possibilities in our industry, and to cultivate a pool of skilled workers who can fill positions in retail flower shops or start their own businesses after graduation. AFE educational grants like these strive to educate, uplift and provide resources for the next generation…

Preparing for Mother’s Day 2023 – Tips and Trends

As a part of our focus on fostering the next generation of floral industry members, AFE is pleased to feature content directly from members of our Young Professionals Council (YPC)! This article on Mother’s Day 2023 comes directly from Gina Tarquinio, a floral designer at An Enchanted Florist at Skippack Village. This piece contains photos of some of Gina’s floral designs (view Gina’s portfolio here). Mother’s Day is right around the corner on Sunday, May 14th. This holiday is traditionally known for taking the time to show extra love and appreciation for Moms and Mother figures in our lives. According to the National Retail Federation, Mother’s Day is the 3rd most lucrative holiday in the industry, following Valentine’s Day and Christmas/Hanukkah. Mother’s Day is responsible for…

Applications Open for 2023 Educational Grants

We are now accepting applications for 2023-2024 Educational Grants. The deadline for submission is June 1, 2023.AFE’s Educational Grants help fund wide-reaching industry learning programs that provide solutions and focus on ongoing and new educational opportunities. The Endowment is committed to providing funding for various resources that empower the floral industry to invest in continued education. These grants provide financial assistance to support educational opportunities of all kinds, including national industry conventions, event programs, or virtual events. The grants allow AFE to collaborate with and sponsor national, state, and local association educational programs.Working with important industry organizations including state and national nonprofits, and university programs, our funding helps current industry members, students, and young professionals expand their educational opportunities and…

Planning for the Future Means Training for the Future

We’re all familiar with the term “cross-training” as a great way of developing fitness. Training in several different sports and disciplines allows a person to work more muscles and improve agility. Cross-training makes it easier to participate in a variety of recreational sports successfully. Following that same principle, cross-training in business improves the fitness and overall health of your company and your employees.Businesses of all sizes should think of cross-training as a disaster recovery plan. Better yet, an established cross-training program can be a way to avoid disaster. With many variables impacting the workplace, especially at the small business level, recruiting, hiring, and retaining good team members is challenging. In all segments of the floriculture industry, employers face tremendous demands…

Uplifting Arizona Florists Through Continued Education

We are thrilled to announce the recipient of AFE’s 2023 Arizona Retail Florist Education Travel Grant – Renee’ Potter AIFD from Fred’s Flowers in Tempe, Arizona! “I am so excited to receive the Arizona Retail Florist Travel Grant! What a great opportunity AFE is providing for AZ florists to continue learning,” Renee’ said. The grant was established in 2017 to help give owners, managers, and employees of retail florists located in Arizona the opportunity to pursue continued education through national industry events. Funding for this grant originated from the defunct FTD District 8K with additional initial funding requirements coming from an Arizona floral industry member.Each year, AFE’s Education Committee selects a recipient to receive a grant of up to $1,000 to help…

The Tuesday Valentine is Back in 2023! How Do I Love Thee?

Are you ready to count the ways toward a successful Valentine holiday in 2023? It’s time for a break! Will everything finally work in harmony in 2023 after the past few years of weekend holidays, supply chain disruptions, short labor, and tight inventory? With the Valentine’s holiday holding court as the first- or second-largest sales week of the year and generating 30 percent to 40 percent of the year’s total holiday dollars, it’s safe to say that a successful Valentine’s Day in 2023 will be a crucial component of organic growth across the entire industry. So how do we “count the ways” toward a successful Valentine’s Day this year? Following are five of the most important components in achieving a super-profitable Valentine’s week. 1.…

Supporting Education for All Levels of the Industry, One Grant at a Time

Nineteen organizations will receive Educational Grants in 2022-23 from the Endowment, totaling $76,590 given in support of important industry programs. We welcome the opportunity to support these great organizations and their programs as they grow the industry we love. With this funding, these organizations will be able to host conferences, teach students and educators about the floral industry, offer programs such as greenhouse training and florist certification classes, promote floral sustainability practices, and more. “We are proud to support vital programs like these that strengthen the industry,” AFE Treasurer/Secretary and Education Committee Chair Greg Royer said. “We continue to work hard to uplift programs that provide learning opportunities for industry members and bring awareness to the younger generations about the…

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