Vol. 57

Title:
Innovation and Innovators: Making a Difference Through Sharing

Author:
Ken Tilt

pp: 181

Abstract:
Innovation is the life-blood and survival mechanism of the nursery business. Most nursery businesses are made up of "mom and pop" or family operations with very few corporate behemoths. It is still one of the few businesses in horticulture or agriculture where one can start a business with a relatively small amount of money and build slowly over time. That is changing now, but it is still being done. Limited resources require nursery entrepreneurs to be very innovative to survive. Their question is, "How can I compete among the larger nurseries, and get things done with limited labor, time, money, space, and/or materials?" This is where entrepreneurial juices flow and necessity yields action, exploitation, and realization.

Innovative ideas are everywhere, but innovation is about INNOVATORS, people who not only have great ideas but people who develop and test those ideas and navigate them through or around the system and into the market or workplace. Innovators are passionate dreamers and doers with dogged determination to make a difference. The following is a limited sampling of those ideas and "hort-truisms" that have made a difference in the industry and some thoughts on testing and marketing your ideas. Most of the innovators have been long-time members of and contributors to I.P.P.S.

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