US: Southern Nursery Association elects new board

Officers of the Southern Nursery Association (SNA) who will serve for the 2018 term were elected during the 119th Annual SNA Business Meeting held at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Md., during The SNA Conference. The election, open to all active SNA members, determines representation from the four geographic regions of the association:

Chapter 1 – Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia
Chapter 2 – Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
Chapter 3 – Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee
Chapter 4 – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas

Norman Cole, III, Cole Nursery, Pipestem, WV, was elected president succeeding Dusty Knight, Plantation Trees, Selma, AL.

The complete slate of 2018 officers and directors is as follows:

President: Norman Cole, III, Cole Nurseries, Pipestem, WV
Vice President/Treasurer/Director Chapter 2: Joseph Napoli, Athens Wholesale Nursery, Athens, GA
Director Chapter 3: Rickey Minton, Triangle Nursery, McMinnville, TN
Director Chapter 4: Todd Ellefson, Windmill Nursery, Franklinton, LA
Director Chapter 1: Matthew Shreckhise, Shreckhise Nurseries, Grottoes, VA
Immediate Past President: Dusty Knight, Plantation Tree Company, Selma, AL

Newly elected SNA President Norman Cole, III, Cole Nurseries, Pipestem, WV, was elected to serve on the SNA Board of Directors in 2014 representing Chapter 1. Norman is recognized as an industry leader in cutting-edge plant development, including his Highlander and Little Missy boxwoods. Founded in 1937, Cole Nurseries is a 200-acre farm consisting primarily of woody ornamentals and trees that are unique to the area. Boxwoods are Cole Nurseries’ top sellers.

Norman holds a B.S. Horticulture from Virginia Tech. He contributes much of his success to an internship at Shadow Nursery after he graduated from college where Don Shadow provided him with many contacts he still uses today to help bring in new products. Norman has served on the West Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association board and currently serves as Vice President. He as served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS - 2012) and remains on the board as a director. Norman and his wife Missy have two children (Norman IV and Calvin).

The new industry leader joining the SNA Board this year is Matthew Shreckhise, Shreckhise Nurseries, Grottoes, VA. Matt grew up in the small town of Mt. Sidney, Virginia on land that was the original family farm and nursery, so he was exposed to the horticulture industry at a very young age. Matt’s great-great uncle, Noah Shreckhise, started the family’s legacy in the nursery industry in the late 1800s and three of his nephews began Shreckhise Nurseries in 1936. Matt is currently the sales manager at Shreckhise Nurseries and works alongside his dad, Danny.

Matt graduated from Virginia Tech in 2002 and majored in Business Management. Before returning to the family nursery business, he worked in corporate sales in Washington, DC for 4 years. Matt explains, “I wanted to gain sales and management experience by working for someone else. I needed to understand the value of uncertainty and a true sense of independence that sometimes can be absent when returning to the family business. After a successful stint working elsewhere I believed I was ready to return and bring outside skills and knowledge back to our business.”

Matt has served the green industry as president of the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association (VNLA) and the Shenandoah Valley Nursery & Greenhouse Association (SVNGA) and was an advisory board member for the Virginia Tech Department of Horticulture. He currently resides in Staunton, Virginia with his wife Elizabeth and their three sons Daniel Mason (7), Ellis (3), and Noah (1).

“This 2018 board represents a group of diverse industry leaders, all with excellent business skills that can be leveraged to the advantage of the SNA,” said Karen Summers, SNA Executive Vice President. “As a regional association we have the ability to look around the region for members that have demonstrated strong leadership skills at the state level and select from these industry leaders to guide our association. I am very confident that through the leadership of this group of gentlemen we will become stronger and move the association forward,” she added.

For more information:
Southern Nursery Association
PO Box 801454
Acworth, GA 30101
Tel 678.809.9992
Fax 678.809.9993
mail@sna.org
www.sna.org