HILA Update: Taking the lead

Chuck Buffington, head of sales, Flowers Pro for Syngenta, addresses the crowd during the inaugural presentation of the Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards at the OFA Short Course in July. Syngenta’s Lawn & Garden division, consisting of Syngenta, Fafard and Syngenta Flowers, sponsored the event.

Last summer, the GIE Media Horticultural Group introduced the Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards (HILA), honoring representatives of each state along with five national winners who displayed extraordinary leadership qualities at their respective businesses.

The program culminated in a July awards presentation sponsored by Syngenta, Fafard, and Syngenta Flowers and held at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio. The following profile, on Georgia winner Stuart Cofer, typifies the inspirational stories of the various winners—all of whom set a high bar for 2012, when the program will introduce a new set of outstanding industry leaders.

Trust is an absolute leadership quality, and Tom Kavanagh has built his business, his community service and his family life around it.

"Our business model is focused on service, relationships and trust," said son-in-law Tom Roberts, who also works for Kavanagh at Cottage Gardens in Hermitage, Pa.

Cottage Gardens is a retail and landscape design and construction firm that's been in the Kavanagh family for more than 40 years. The Kavanagh family – patriarch Tom, his wife Elaine, their daughters Shannon, Erin and Ryen, and son-in-law Tom Roberts – run the business, which includes 21,000 square feet of retail and greenhouse space and 20 acres of nursery stock.

The Cottage Gardens staff focuses on the right plants/right place model. It starts with careful listening and blossoms into a true partnership with the customer.

"We take the time with them and talk to them about the right choice of plants, the correct spacing and proper care. We give them the attention they deserve," Tom Kavanagh said.

Sometimes a customer is referred to another source if Cottage Gardens doesn't have the right plants for their needs.

"That goes back to the reputation of trust and honesty that Tom has built in this community," said Tom Roberts.

The Cottage Gardens motto of right plants/right place extends to community projects. Tom Kavanagh and daughter Shannon have donated thousands of dollars of design time to Buhl Park, a public park in Sharon, Pa.

"He very quietly worked with a team of people to shape the long-term sustainability of the park by looking out for the needs of the park for the next 100 years," said Tom Roberts. "He looked at the age and health of trees at the park and saw a gap in the planning for the future of the park. He helped write and execute a plan for the sustainability and the beautification of Buhl Park."

To date, Cottage Gardens has supplied and planted more than 300 trees to the park.

The 2012 HILAs will be presented at next year's OFA Short Course. If you work with someone who has shown outstanding leadership qualities at the business or in the community/industry, and would like to nominate him or her, please e-mail your choice with a brief testimonial about the person to editor Kelli Rodda at krodda@gie.net.