Fostering Industry Connections and Uplifting Young Professionals at Cultivate 2022!

The Board of Trustees and Staff at the American Floral Endowment (AFE) have been eager to return to in-person events and have hit the ground running in 2022! With refreshed perspectives and valued connections in mind from GLFEE 2022 and Floriexpo 2022, some of the AFE team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, this past July for American Hort’s Cultivate ’22 to continue to strengthen the Endowment’s industry involvement. Every year, Cultivate is one of the largest international horticulture gatherings, known to attract thousands of industry professionals and visitors from all 50 US states and over 40 countries. Cultivate offers it all, from 140+ educational sessions to hands-on workshops, production tours, and countless opportunities to connect with other industry members. Opportunities like…

The AFE Career Center: Building Floriculture Careers One Resume at a Time

Did you know that uploading your resume to an online posting website can increase your chances of getting noticed by prospective employers? Suppose you’re deciding on a career path, searching for a job, or hoping to improve your professional skills. In that case, the AFE Career Center is the one-stop location for posting resumes and finding exciting career paths in the floriculture and horticulture industries.For students and individuals beginning their job search, the AFE Career Center is positioned strategically to help those seeking employment understand the many opportunities that await them with a satisfying career in the floral industry. Because companies recognize AFE as a source for young professional development, they utilize the AFE Career Center as the go-to place…

2022 AFE Internship Placements & Awards

Taking that next career step is something to be proud of – let’s celebrate some of our industry’s next generation and their AFE internship awards!This year, eight outstanding students will pursue a freshly awarded internship opportunity through AFE’s Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship Program and Mosmiller Intern Scholarship Program.It is without a doubt that the next generation plays a significant role in the long-term success of our industry. “Investing in young professionals ensures they’re well equipped to bring lasting strength and innovation to the field. AFE’s Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship Program makes practical floriculture and horticulture experience and training more accessible, and we’re extremely proud to be able to provide this opportunity every year,” notes Dwight Larimer,…

Twenty Students Awarded AFE Scholarships

We have awarded 20 students with scholarships totaling $54,400. In this 2022 scholarship cycle, which introduced a brand-new online application platform, 65 applications were received from 40 colleges and universities. We would like to give a special thank you to the 47 industry members who reviewed and scored the applications.We are aware the floral industry faces significant and ongoing challenges to our labor force. Now more than ever, these programs are imperative in helping support new professionals as they prepare to enter the industry workforce and launch a successful career. With these scholarship opportunities, we are keeping floriculture and horticulture competitive with other career paths by granting avenues for financial support ensuring that the industry can continue to attract and retain…

Hands-On Learning Supported by AFE’s Educational Grants

To your average non-industry member, the scope of horticulture and floriculture may not run far outside of lawn care and gardening. Education is an excellent place to start when it comes to showing the scale of our industry to a broader audience of students and encouraging them to enter our field. Oklahoma State University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture recognized this and utilized support from the American Floral Endowment (AFE)’s Educational Grants to offer a successful Hands-On Horticulture course in 2021-2022. The result? Enlightened students with a deeper understanding of this field, newfound hort knowledge, and industry promotion. What began as an idea for an alternate science class became a fun, informative foundation for horticulture education at OSU. The…

2022 Paul Ecke, Jr. & Altman Family Scholarship Recipients

Shaping the Future of the Industry The graduate work of this year’s Paul Ecke, Jr. and Altman Family Scholarship recipients is already reshaping the floriculture and horticulture industry with improvements for growers and environmental benefits. Congratulations to the 2022 Recipients! These five outstanding scholars – each with resumes listing numerous accomplishments in fieldwork, academic presentations, and published research – have contributed to the growing scientific understanding of the industry. Equally important, they have used their nascent platforms to share knowledge with growers, ensuring that positive change is swiftly implemented. All have a dedicated love for plants and flowers that was instilled in them from an early age. All have a deep curiosity for the science that can be harnessed to…

Networking Tips and Tricks for Young Professionals

Learn how to make the most of trade shows, conferences, and more as a budding young professional in the floral industry. The following tips and tricks are presented by marketing and communications experts, Laura Shinall and Melanie Spilbeler, Managing Partners of FreshPath Marketing. These insights were originally presented through a webinar sponsored by the American Floral Endowment’s Young Professionals Council. You can view the recording here: Plan Before You Go! Determine what your primary goal is before you attend the in-person eventExamples:Promote either your company’s or your own personal brand? Think about what you want people to know about your company or you.Get education.Network and develop career contacts.Inform prospective or existing customers about products, services, or research.Set a measurable goal around…

2022 Paul Thomas Interns of the Year

2022 Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Interns of the Year Holly Barrus, University of Idaho & William Billmeyer, Kirkwood Community College For three to six months of the year, the interns awarded AFE’s Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship disperse throughout the country to gear up, take on new roles, and put their classroom knowledge to work through hands-on industry experiences. Every internship cycle proves that one key to a better future for the industry is investing in our young professionals through these experiences.Students who successfully finish the internship, complete with their written reports and video blogs, automatically qualify for the Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Intern of the Year Award. This year, two interns shone exceptionally bright – Holly Barrus of the…

Returning to In-Person Events Webinar: Networking Tips and Tricks for Young Professionals

Thursday, April 14th at 4 PM ESTRegister Today!Learn how to make the most of trade shows, conferences, and more as a budding young professional in the floral industry. Nervous about returning to events after the lull during COVID-19? Optimize your next in-person event with pointers from this networking webinar whether as a first-timer or a regular attendee. This session will discuss networking tips and tricks from making a strong introduction and putting your best foot forward to follow-up post-event. Learn how to create and maintain lasting connections to aid in both your personal and professional development moving forward.Marketing and communications experts, Laura Shinall and Melanie Spilbeler, Managing Partners of FreshPath Marketing, will join us to lead a fully interactive networking…

Apply With Ease! Our New Platform for Scholarship Applications

We are now accepting applications for our nearly 30 Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships through a brand-new online platform. This new platform will increase ease for both students and reviewers creating a shorter path to funding. With responsive features, upload options, automatic save, and tracking for references, students can complete and review their applications with confidence all in one place.“AFE takes great pride in providing funding for our industry’s future leaders and innovators. This platform will provide them a more convenient space to put their best foot forward. We hope that streamlining our platform to keep up with tech advancements will encourage more students to apply and take interest in all that the floral industry has to offer,” said AFE Education Committee…

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