National program focuses on garden and greenscape development
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) today announced a multi-year partnership focused on improving our nation’s cities through garden and green space development.
“Our mayors have specifically called for cities to develop, grow and maintain edible gardens and green spaces in our parks and near city hall land,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “This partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro is a natural fit that will provide tangible benefits for cities across the nation and equip them with educational tools on a variety of issues related to creating and maintaining green spaces.”
Through this new partnership, Scotts Miracle-Gro and the USCM will award grants to mayors for the installation of innovative edible gardens, public gardens and green space development within their communities. Additionally, Scotts Miracle-Gro will work with the USCM to establish resources to help educate communities about water quality and conservation issues.
“There are benefits that only gardens can provide, and we are honored to partner with mayors across the nation to improve their communities and enhance our environment,” said ScottsMiracle-Gro CEO Jim Hagedorn. “There are more than one million community gardens in America, and participation in this activity grows every year. For more than a decade, we have partnered with national organizations to help increase community access to gardens and green spaces. We look forward to now joining with the USCM to develop model green space initiatives and gardens that bring communities together.”
Hagedorn continued: “In addition, we are committed to protecting and conserving water, and look forward to partnering with the USCM to create innovative education programs to preserve this critical resource.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors Standing Committee on Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports (TAPES), currently chaired by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, has policy jurisdiction over all issues pertaining to travel and tourism, arts and culture, parks, entertainment industry, and sports. Over the last several years, the TAPES Committee has discussed and adopted a number of resolutions pertaining to cities increasing their number of green spaces, including community gardens. The mayors have specifically called for cities to develop, grow and maintain edible gardens in parks, city hall land, and municipal community gardens.
About the U.S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,210 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Find us at usmayors.org, on facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.
About Scotts Miracle-Gro
With approximately $3 billion in worldwide sales, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world’s largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care. The Company’s brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company’s Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup® brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In the U.S., we operate Scotts LawnService®, the second largest residential lawn care service business. In Europe, the Company’s brands include Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®, Fertiligene® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at www.scotts.com.
