Last week, Flowers Canada (Ontario) Inc. (FCO) held its 53rd Annual General Meeting and Winter Event at at new venue, the Holiday Inn Conference Centre in St. Catharines, Ont., with over 75 attendees in attendance.
“FCO Members and other industry representatives came for the networking opportunities and to hear Brett House, Vice-President and Deputy Chief Economist at Scotiabank share his insight and perspective on the ever-changing economic landscape and what we might expect in 2020. Attendees were pleased to hear that the overall outlook for 2020 looks promising,” commented Andrew Morse, FCO’s Executive Director.
As the provincial trade and professional association of the Ontario Floral industry, FCO defends their members business interests, leads and collaborates on applicable research projects, and advocates on behalf on growers on trade issues, biosecurity concerns, environmental matters and more.
Other presentations enjoyed by growers at FCO’s 2019 Winter Event included a well-received presentation given by Tom Baker, a designated Canadian Human Resources Professional (CHRP) who has worked in the floriculture greenhouse sector for the past 18 years. Baker consults on behalf of FCO for the delivery and support of the team-based Organizational Effectiveness Processes (OEP) that he developed. FCO has recently started to offer members an on-farm Human Resources Management Training Program which focuses on such topics as employee empowerment and engagement, leadership and management, team building and performance/change management.
Brett House of Scotia Bank
In addition, Morse provided an update on the Greenhouse Certification Program (GCP). Over the last several years, FCO has collaborated with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on the design of the GCP to ensure that the new program is both functional and manageable for growers. In support of the newly designed program, a standardized training tool has also been developed to help FCO’s members transition to the new program.
In advance of the day’s presenters, growers enjoyed an excellent lunch and participated in the business portion of the afternoon’s proceedings at FCO’s Annual General Meeting. Joining the FCO Board for 2019/2020 is Brian Gatcke of Foliera Greenhouses. “The Board is confident that Brian will bring his positive outlook and high energy to the Board table. The FCO Membership will definitely benefit from Brian’s wealth of industry knowledge,” commented Jan Van Zanten, FCO’s President.
Rounding out the FCO Executive Committee are FCO’s Vice-President Arielle DeBoer of Rosa Flora, Gina Marchionda of Jeffery’s Greenhouses will continue in her role as Treasurer and Angelle van Kleef from Colourful Gardens will continue on as Board Secretary. Other Board members include Past President, Ian Vermeer of Westbrook Floral, Rodney Bierhuizen of Sunrise Greenhouses, and Colin Dodd from Dodd’s Greenhouses.
FCO sincerely thanks all of the presenters and attendees for making the 2019 Winter Event and AGM such a success. For more information or to receive a copy of the speaker’s presentations, please contact Rachelle@fco.ca.
For more information on the GCP training program, email GCP@fco.ca.
