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…

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…

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…

The Value of AFE’s Young Professionals Council

Professional Development, Networking, and Growth One of the best ways to ensure a brighter future for our industry is investing in the next generation of young professionals. Every which way you turn, you’ll find exceedingly bright minds and eager youth, ready to take on the next challenge. Facilitating their career development and a path for success is at the forefront of the American Floral Endowment’s priorities. Enter our Young Professionals Council (YPC) – an interactive group of like-minded industry members between 21 and 35 looking to advance their careers, gain leadership skills, and advance the floral industry together. Since 2015, the YPC has offered networking, volunteer, and educational opportunities through events, webinars, meetings, and more to help drive successful careers…

Exploring Industry Careers for Young Professionals

An In-Depth Examination by YPC Member, Michael Wijesinghe Industry Survey Results Starting a professional career often leaves one feeling flush with emotion. Whether it is excitement, anxiety, or a combination of the two, the American Floral Endowment’s Young Professionals Council strives to be better equipped to enter the workforce. In the fall of 2021, AFE circulated a survey to gather more career-focused information on experience, background, and advice from current industry professionals. The results were presented and discussed during a YPC webinar conducted by AFE in November of 2021. Presented is the sum of what we learned from the survey and webinar. About the Respondents  Data was collected from 104 respondents within AFE’s community who represent a diverse range of fields…

Supporting Future Generations of Floriculture: The Dewar Family Scholarship Fund

A new scholarship fund has been established through the American Floral Endowment (AFE) to support future generations of students interested in pursuing a career in floriculture. This scholarship joins 26 other scholarships available through the Endowment.The newly established Dewar Family Scholarship Fund will be awarded to an undergraduate student (or students) in their junior or senior year, studying environmental horticulture with an emphasis and focus on a career in floriculture. The fund is established by the Dewar Family of Dewar Nurseries.Dewar Nurseries was established in 1963 by founder Alex Dewar, with the vision of providing premier plants and exemplary customer service. The Dewar Family appreciates the value of a quality education and is excited to encourage young professionals to enter…

Exploring Academic Careers for Young Professionals

An In-Depth Examination by YPC Member, Michael Wijesinghe Academic Survey Results Academic roles in horticulture and floriculture are vital to the future of our industry. They ensure that the next generation has opportunities to learn about and enter our industry. The American Floral Endowment’s Young Professionals Council surveyed 22 academic professionals who work in floriculture and horticulture —a great response from AFE’s faculty network. With various backgrounds, experiences, and years in their positions, these survey respondents provided both guidance and reasonable expectations for young adults considering or preparing for a career in academia within our industry. The good news is that the results show several institutions plan to hire within their floriculture/horticulture departments in the next 1-3 years – more…

Career Insights for Young Professionals

Survey Results and Webinar RecordingThis fall, the Endowment created two informal surveys for professionals in the industry and academia about their experiences and advice to help young professionals interested in pursuing a career in floriculture/horticulture. The surveys include insights on the job market, career development, application advice, background on how professionals attained their current roles, and more. The surveys were released to AFE’s community of faculty, donors, and industry members.With the help of our Young Professionals Council (YPC) through member Michael Wijesinghe, AFE analyzed the data and compiled the results into two executive summaries, one for the Industry Survey and one for the Academic Survey. We are pleased to release these resources for young professionals interested in careers in our…

AFE Career Center Providing Vital Exposure for Industry Positions and Top Talent

The AFE Career Center is an industry-wide employment platform that connects floral businesses with eager job seekers. Since our launch in 2020, we have provided an intuitive space where employers can find an ideal candidate pool – offering convenient functionality to attract, screen, and manage applicants. Filling a position is easy with well over 1,000 job views/direct clicks every month! Job seekers can find numerous opportunities to advance their career with 1,917 (and counting!) LIVE jobs ready for application. Our opportunities range from internships to leadership positions and welcome applicants at all stages of their careers. Streamline the search process with job alerts, search features, resume management, and numerous career resources.From floral designers to growers, marketing, or logistics…no matter what your needs are,…

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