George Clements of George’s Flowers in Roanoke, Virginia, developed an interest in the floral business at a young age, thanks to his grandparents. They taught him how to garden and took him to greenhouses to purchase plants for the landscaping outside their business.
“I lived at that business every day, so I was not only learning about gardening and growing plants, but I was also learning about business,” Clements says.
He knows that not everyone interested in plants had the experience or exposure that he did. That’s why he believes Green Career Week, a new initiative to tout career opportunities in the green industries, is an effective way to hook the next generation of floral professionals.
“We need to find the replacements, and the people to help continue our industry,” says Clements, who began his entrepreneurship journey at the age of 15 when he started his first business selling plants. “I’ve worked really hard and I hope that this business is able to continue providing services to the number of families that it does, as well as a secure, safe space to work.”
Green Career Week, slated for Oct. 3 to 7, is an initiative created by the Society of American Florists’ partner organization, Seed Your Future, to promote career opportunities in horticulture and floriculture to students. The event asks businesses to speak to high school students about their business and/or use Seed Your Future’s resources to promote green careers on social media.
“It’s up to each and every business in the industry to cultivate relationships with schools and organizations in their communities to find the next generation of workers,” says Seed Your Future Executive Director Jazmin Albarran.
As of Sept. 28, 115 businesses had registered to participate, including several floral businesses who shared their plans to reach the next generation during Green Career Week.
Giving Workers a Voice
Stacie Lee Banks of Lee’s Flower & Card Shop in Washington, D.C., is using Green Career Week as an opportunity to give her young employees a voice by posting Instagram videos of them talking about their work and why they decided to get into the industry — stories she believes are important to tell.
“I think it’ll be a benefit to hear the stories of staff members, and it’s just a thing that lets us show we’re interested in them and why they got into the business,” says Banks, who is a member of SAF’s Board of Directors. “It may encourage or inspire other people to get in the industry when they see someone in their generation.”
Developing Quality Workers
For Carma White of Four Seasons Flowers in San Diego, Green Career Week is an opportunity to encourage young people to get a formal floral education — especially if they want to become designers. There’s a growing influx of people jumping into the industry after educating themselves online, and they don’t have the technical skills businesses need, she says.
“I think Green Career Week is really good because right now in our industry, we have a really big issue with trying to find people who want to work in a flower shop and learn from a florist,” she says. “So when I saw that Green Career Week is something through schools, I thought it would be a really good avenue for me to help. If there are 20 kids in the class, maybe one or two really have a desire to do more. Then I could be their connection, in addition to their teacher in the classroom, to teach them the proper way to work instead of just trying to figure it out through trial and error.”
Want to join the cause? Seed Your Future offers step-by-step instructions for reaching out to schools, as well as detailed itineraries for student activities and a sample news release for companies to use to spread the word. Companies must register for the event to receive those resources.
Kenya McCullum is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
