ITHACA, NY — The Board of Cornell University’s Seeley Summit has announced that the schedule for this year’s Summit including the full slate of speakers and online registration is now available online at www.seeleysummit.com. The Seeley Summit will take place June 22-24, 2014 in Lisle, Illinois – conveniently located for ease of travel into Chicago O’Hare and Midway airports. This year’s topic is “Water: Horticulture’s Next Game Changer?”
For most of the history of the green industry, water has been available for the cost of the pumping and distribution infrastructure and associated electrical cost. In some locales the true cost of water has been heavily subsidized by federal projects to develop this infrastructure. We need to think differently about water than we do today. While water is 100 percent renewable, changes in distribution, use patterns, and price will make our present patterns of water use unsustainable in the long run. By 2030, it is projected that water demand will outstrip availability by some 40 percent. What would happen to companies if they were forced to pay the real cost of water? How will we be impacted by prolonged droughts that lead to more stringent landscaping and home water use laws?
Water will surely be the game-changer of the next 25 years. This year's Seeley is an opportunity for the entire green industry to discuss this topic. The board has made a concerted effort to invite speakers from across the green industry: greenhouse, nursery, landscape and allied trade as well as water experts outside our industry. Speakers include:
• Bryan Silbermann, President & CEO of Produce Marketing Association
• Lyn Clancy and Nora Mullarkey, Lower Colorado River Authority
• Bob Dolibois, formerly Executive Vice President of the American Nursery & Landscape Association
• Jerry Halamuda, CEO and President of Color Spot Nurseries
• Al Gerace, CEO of Welby Gardens, Denver Colorado
• Hugh Gramling, formerly Executive Director of Tampa Bay Wholesale Growers
• Ron Griffin, Professor of water resource economics at Texas A&M University
• John Lea Cox, Professor of nursery research and extension at the University of Maryland
• Charles Bauers, Owner of Flowers by Bauers, Jarrettsville, MD
• Bill Phillimore, Executive Vice President for Paramount Farming Co.
• Jeffrey Bruce, Owner of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company
Seeley Summits are intended to promote discussion of issues important to the future of commercial floriculture. The meetings are structured to foster discussion by industry leaders and increase the level of understanding of topics through presentations by speakers with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. The goal of the Summit is to better prepare attendees to make decisions on issues that have a great impact on their businesses and the industry as a whole.
For more information regarding the 2014 Seeley Summit visit www.seeleysummit.com, or Facebook users can refer to the Seeley Conference fan page.