Regional report
1 Sep, 2007 By: Landscape Management Staff LivescapesLEGISLATION
Immigration Issue Heats Up
While not an issue exclusively important to business owners in the Southeast, the immigration reform debate has certainly been well planted in the brains of Southeastern nursery and landscape business owners. The enormous housing boom that occurred in the last five years (or more in some areas) was without a doubt built on the backs of an enormous (and affordable) labor force. Much of this labor force has been of questionable legality.
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As we approached the close of summer, and congressional efforts to reform immigration policy have failed, the Department of Homeland Security codified a long-threatened rule to enforce the illegality of "no-match" social security numbers in the U.S. workforce (see related story in this issue). As of press time, this rule had not gone fully into effect, the ramifications of such a rule were anticipated.
If put fully into effect, long-standing procedures for a social security "no-match" would be turned on their heads, taking the impetus for rectifying these discrepancies away from individuals and the federal government and putting them on employers. Though a national issue, firms in the South and Southeast — with a year-round, non-seasonal need for labor — could suffer the most.
AWARDS
Teitig Takes Top Honors
Erik Teitig, vice president of Miami, FL-area Pine Island Nursery, has made waves in southeastern nursery industry circles by pulling down two prestigious awards. After receiving the FNGLA/Farm Credit Young Nursery Professional Award at the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association Annual Convention in June, Teitig went on to receive the Southern Nursery Association (SNA) David E. Laird Memorial Award. Established in 1974 in memory of David E. Laird, Sr., the award is designed to honor men and women within the SNA's16 participating states who have displayed commitment to — and leadership in — the horticulture industry. For consideration, recipients must be 39 years of age or younger as well as be members of their respective state nursery associations.
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Finding New Markets
Through his career at Pine Island Nursery, he has worked diligently to grow and expand the family business. As primarily a supplier of trees to commercial grove owners, and anticipating the rapid decline of that industry, Tietig sought out new markets. By seeking out new varieties of fruit trees that are more conducive to dooryard environments, he has positioned the nursery as the premier supplier of tropical fruit trees to the dooryard market. Through the development of care tags, an unparalleled website, and branding, its production and sales have tripled over the last seven years.
Community Service
Tietig has served as an officer of the Dade County Farm Bureau, Tropical Fruit Growers of South Florida, and the Rotary Club of Homestead for which he was awarded a Presidential Citation by Rotary International. Using his network within the Rotary Club and the local farming community, he and a committee have made a tradition of delivering turkeys to undocumented farm workers each year for Thanksgiving. He has also been appointed to serve on several advisory boards including the Agriculture and Rural Areas Study Citizens Advisory Committee, Community Bank of Florida Executive Advisory Committee, and he serves as chairman of the UF/TREC Advisory Committee.
His term as president of the Miami-Dade Chapter FNGLA began in 2006. Even before being officially installed, he took the reigns and fought county staff on their unconstitutional application of the Greenbelt Law. Now there is no known nurseryman who has his agriculture classification still being denied. He has also worked tirelessly on water policy, especially as it pertains to consumptive use permits for FNGLA members. He has traveled to Tallahassee numerous times during Farm Bureau Days to voice industry concerns and advocate for effective policy. He is both effective and inspiring, and the result is incredibly high morale among Miami-Dade Chapter members.
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