Landscape Ontario is Ontario’s premier horticultural trades association. For the past 50 years, they’ve been supporting their members through professional development, trade shows and conferences, consumer events and cost savings benefits. Their premier annual event is the Landscape Ontario Congress, Canada’s largest and longest running trade show and conference for landscape professionals. While the pandemic might have provided a boon to many of their members, it put the long-running event in jeopardy for two consecutive years. Where they able to pull it off? Listen to find out.
Yes, Landscape Ontario Is Open
Landscape Ontario is Ontario’s premier horticultural trades association. For the past 50 years, they’ve been supporting their members through professional development, trade shows and conferences, consumer events and cost savings benefits.
Their premier annual event is the Landscape Ontario Congress, Canada’s largest and longest running trade show and conference for landscape professionals. While the pandemic might have provided a boon to many of their members, it put the long-running event in jeopardy for two consecutive years.
Where they able to pull it off? Listen to find out.
You can learn more about Landscape Ontario at landscapeontario.com.
Al Grego:
Hello everyone. I'm Al Grego, and this is the Yes, We Are Open podcast.
Etobicoke, Ontario, a former city in Toronto's West End, now part of the city of Toronto thanks to amalgamation in 1998. Etobicoke has a highly diversified population of just over 365,000, known for its lush green spaces, waterfront and proximity to downtown Toronto. There's plenty to do in Etobicoke, from shopping at Sherway Gardens to watching the thoroughbreds at historic Woodbine Racetrack, to amusement parks, biking trails, not to mention a rich Indigenous history in the area known as Old Mill. Full disclosure, Etobicoke is also the location of Moneris's head office.
Today I'm in North Etobicoke at the Toronto Congress Centre. I was invited to attend a special event called Landscape Ontario Congress, Canada's largest trade show for landscape professionals. I have no idea what to expect, but the first thing that strikes me is the parking lot. Not only is it full, but I'd say it's filled by about 95% large pickup trucks. I can't begin to explain how odd this looks in the city, especially as I drive my tiny Kia Rio around these large vehicles in search of an available parking space. Toronto Congress Centre is a large convention facility with over 1 million square feet of space for shows, conventions, galas and meetings. It's the largest facility of its kind in Canada, and among the top 10 in North America.
As I walk in and register for my badge, I can see why the show needs the space. See, I'm used to tech conferences where booths usually consist of some tables and displays with screens that show off the latest software or technology. But what I'm witnessing here is something else, from bulldozers and excavators to skid-steers to industrial lawnmowers, all in pristine, gleaming condition. It's like someone took my childhood Tonka toys and blew them up to life-size. Then I turn a corner and I see massive swimming pools on display on their sides. Gazebos, sheds, turf, plants, trees, irrigation and lighting systems, it's backyard fantasies in one large building. So much to look at.
And is this typically the size of the show or...
Ian Service:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
Yeah.
Ian Service:
We do the whole building. So the only way for us to expand would be to take over the north building.
Al Grego:
Right. That's my friend Ian. He's the one who invited me. He works for the organization responsible for this show, and the subject of this week's story, Landscape Ontario.
That show was back in January. It's April now, and I've arrived at the headquarters of Landscape Ontario in Milton, Ontario, right off the 401. It's a new building with an impressive, large circular garden out front, as you might expect. As I walk into the building I'm first greeted by a large, stunning living wall featuring over 1400 tropical plants.
Hello.
Ian Service:
Good day, sir.
Al Grego:
How's it going?
Ian Service:
Good. How you doing?
Al Grego:
Then I'm greeted by Ian.
Ian Service:
Come on down.
Al Grego:
He leads me into the offices and introduces me to Joe
Joe Salemi:
[inaudible 00:03:53] podcast. Hey.
Al Grego:
Hello.
Joe Salemi:
How you doing?
Al Grego:
Good. How are you doing, Joe?
Joe Salemi:
Doing really good.
Al Grego:
Good to see you again.
Joe Salemi:
Good to see you.
Al Grego:
Then Joe and I head upstairs and we settle in for our interview.
Joe Salemi:
Hey, my name's Joe Salemi. I'm the executive director here at Landscape Ontario.
Al Grego:
When did Landscape Ontario start?
Joe Salemi:
Way back, like we're talking 1973 is when Landscape Ontario started.
It was the culmination of a few years of disagreements and battles between three different organizations. We had the nurserymen at the time, maybe not the term we'd use today but that's use the term they used back then, the landscape contractors and the Grounds Management Contractors Association. And they all came together and said, "We need a unified voice and we need one association, not three, trying to achieve the goals of the industry." So they came together and they created the Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association.
Al Grego:
Did all those three organizations merge, or was it a brand new organization.
Joe Salemi:
It was a merger, but they created a brand new organization out of that. All three were represented on the board of directors, they all had equal representation. And that is pretty well how the Association is represented today, we just happened to have a whole lot more sub-sectors of just those three.
Al Grego:
Right. Was this always your location or when did you move here?
Joe Salemi:
We originally had an office in Mississauga, on Matheson Boulevard, and in the late eighties the board of directors came across this property. It was a nursery back then, and they made the decision to buy a property, which is not typical of associations. They made the difficult decision back then to spend... It was a lot of money back then to buy 50 acres here in Milton. Back then that would've been an incredible amount of money for the Association, but it's proven to be just incredible for Landscape Ontario, the fact that we have this property now.
Al Grego:
So when did you join Landscape Ontario?
Joe Salemi:
It was April 1st, 2020.
Al Grego:
Oh, so pretty new.
Joe Salemi:
Three years. It was two weeks after the world shut down.
Al Grego:
So you joined when we were already all locked down?
Joe Salemi:
You got it.
Al Grego:
Interesting. So kind of a baptism by fire for you.
Joe Salemi:
Jumped right in. There was no time to really stop and understand what the organization was about. Luckily I already knew most of the staff here, and I knew what the Association was about and the foundational principles, and I was already living and breathing the values of the culture within the Association.
I started out in the not-for-profit space the early 2000s. I started with the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, and I started out doing their newsletters and updating their website and communications in general and that kind of stuff. And really within a short period of time, especially at a small not-for-profit, you get a ton of experience. Everything from government advocacy with federal government ministries to negotiating big affinity program discounts with the likes of John Deere and General Motors, corporately.
Al Grego:
Yeah, some big companies [inaudible 00:07:15].
Joe Salemi:
Yeah. Yeah.
Heather MacRae:
Hi, I'm Heather MacRae, director of trade shows and events at Landscape Ontario.
Al Grego:
When did you join Landscape Ontario?
Heather MacRae:
I joined Landscape Ontario 11 years ago, 2012.
Al Grego:
So before you were here, what were you doing?
Heather MacRae:
So I started my career in the financial industry, and I had opportunity to join a show company that produced shows across Canada as a coordinator. And I took a leap of faith as a very junior when I went in, mailing packages and working for salespeople. And I worked in an organization that there were a number of people looking to retire and they were willing to teach. So I had on-the-job training, and they started to teach me about shows and planning of events. And I was there for 15 years, and then I moved over to an independent organization, Cottage Life, you might be familiar with the show and the magazine. And I ran their shows. And then I met a gentleman by the name of Tony, who's since retired, and he encouraged me to come over to the world of Landscape Ontario. So I've been here ever since.
Joe Salemi:
We're almost 3,400 member companies today.
Al Grego:
Wow. What types?
Joe Salemi:
Yeah, so we're covered across 10 occupational sectors, from landscape lighting to irrigation, grounds maintenance, turf management, which includes fertilization and pesticides, those kinds of things. We have the nurseries, we have independent garden centers, landscape contractors. So everything in the value chain of landscape, including the suppliers that would supply product and service to the industry.
Al Grego:
Let's talk a little bit about Landscape Ontario Congress.
Joe Salemi:
That is our biggest event all year long. It is the premier landscape trade show and conference in the country.
Heather MacRae:
So I knew nothing about Landscape Ontario, and I was brought up in a world that I was told that, "Don't ever go to the trade show, stay on the consumer side because trade shows will disappear, given that there's the websites and internet. So don't go there, Heather." So when I went to Landscape Ontario Congress, I actually interviewed at the show, that was the timing of it. And I showed up to meet Tony, and I saw the first hall and I thought, "Huh, this is okay." Then I saw the second hall, then I saw the third hall. And I said, "This is for me." 'Cause I like big shows, I want the big monsters to deal with.
Al Grego:
Well they don't get much bigger than having backhoes and pools and gazebos.
Heather MacRae:
Yeah. So my eyes lit up and I found a show guide, and I started to study as fast as I could.
Al Grego:
So when was the first Congress?
Joe Salemi:
The very first one was in 1973, so we just celebrated our 50th.
Al Grego:
So right away, year one.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah, year one the Association hosted a trade show. Things were a lot different back then. It went from being hosted in a hotel conference room to a ballroom, to moving to Hamilton at what was or is the Sheraton Hotel. And moved from the Sheraton to Copps Coliseum and took over Copps Coliseum. And then it grew beyond Copps Coliseum and it went to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. And from there we moved it to the Toronto Congress Centre.
Heather MacRae:
It's really good, because of it being an Association, our membership, they're out promoting the show for us all the time. They're very proud of the show, it is the flagship event for Canada, maybe North America. There are some other ones within that group that we look towards at what they're doing. But are we well known across, example, the equipment world? Yes. If you're in landscape, you've got to be at Congress. You need to be there. So that's a nice thing.
A good example is Kubota, who is one of our largest exhibitors, pays us a wonderful compliment that they actually perform higher at our show than they do at the farm show. And when you think about what their equipment is, the smaller equipment that they bring to our show with landscape, it actually is a higher performing event for them, which is, yeah, pretty impressive.
Al Grego:
How does that start? When does that start?
Joe Salemi:
Now, I mean, it takes a year to really plan and sell that show and get all the logistics put in place. It's really a year long planning. So the events team is already on it, our salespeople are already selling the show. And from what I understand the floor space is already 50% sold out.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah. Here we are in April.
Al Grego:
So I mean, the vendors see the value in it.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah. And we put a sales deadline at the end of November, and for this past year we found that when we did that we instantly got a waiting list. And we tried to get as many of the exhibitors in as possible, and we still ended up with a waiting list of over 30 companies.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
Try to provide us some context then. When you first started, how many vendors did you have?
Heather MacRae:
We had two major halls at that time, so there was about 270 vendors. This year we had, not our highest number, close, 430 vendors. So we grew over that amount of time.
Al Grego:
Yeah. And what would you say would be kind of the biggest change from between then and now in terms of what the show is bringing?
Heather MacRae:
So what we decided to bring to the show was more onsite feature style areas. So we included free education. We do run a conference with 40 sessions that you can buy a conference pass, but we recognize that our attendees, some of them want education but don't necessarily... A, can afford to purchase that conference pass, or B, are interested in being in classrooms. They want to be out on the floor. So we introduced on-floor demonstrations and feature areas for more attendee engagement.
Joe Salemi:
The number one is probably the networking opportunities. Over time, Landscape Ontario has evolved a community that's based on the foundation of sharing to exist for mutual benefit. And so the idea is that when we get in a room and you have a bunch of contractors or nurseries that are talking, but they all share what they do. The one way that a contractor might be doing something could completely revolutionize the way that another company would do something.
So it goes back to early days of Landscape Ontario when there was a volunteer that made every single meeting no matter what. And when asked why he said, "In a room of 10 people, if I share one idea I get nine back. So why wouldn't I continue to come to these meetings and share as much as I possibly can? 'Cause I'm going to get nine times what I share back." So that community and that foundational spirit has just permeated through Landscape Ontario, we really embrace it.
Al Grego:
Up next, for 50 years Landscape Ontario has served their member companies well. But what happens when their tent pole event, the Landscape Ontario Congress, can't take place? How will they continue? Stay tuned to find out.
You're listening to, Yes, We Are Open. Landscape Ontario's a nonprofit trade association that has been supporting horticultural professionals in the province of Ontario for the past 50 years, providing education, advocacy and networking opportunities to its members. Their marquee event each year is the Landscape Ontario Congress, the largest such trade show in Canada. So what happens when the pandemic threatens to prevent the event from happening for two years in a row? Let's find out.
What would've been the biggest struggle for Landscape Ontario?
Joe Salemi:
It sounds really odd to say and almost guilty in a way, but the pandemic was really good for landscape contractors and nurseries. There was historic demand for landscape and garden services. There just was. People were spending time at home, working from home and couldn't travel, so they would spend money on their yards. And we're incredibly appreciative for that, but it did create quite a few challenges for landscape and nurseries, those companies, especially in the way of skilled labor.
Al Grego:
Right.
Joe Salemi:
There was an incredible amount of demand. And as a result of the pandemic what we were finding is that older generations were retiring out, they were taking packages, and then there just wasn't the same infill of people coming in as there was leaving. And it created an incredible shortage, at a crisis level. We had a significant amount of companies that would call us and say they don't know what to do because they've got all this work booked out and contracted, but there's no way that they could possibly fulfill it because they just didn't have the amount of people.
For some positions on a crew, yeah, you could show up and there could be casual labor positions where you don't need a heck of a lot of training. You need safety training for sure. But there are positions within a landscape company that take quite a bit of skill, and there's a massive, massive shortage when it comes to those skilled positions in masonry, carpentry, machine operators, all those kinds of positions. Just a massive, massive shortage. And that's something that we continue to work on today. It hasn't gone away.
Al Grego:
Yeah.
I mean, were there any moments where this organization thought, "Well, we can't continue?" Or, "If it goes any longer we won't be able to continue?"
Joe Salemi:
We made the decision early on that, no matter what, we were going to do our darnedest to make sure that we didn't let anybody go as a result of the pandemic.
Al Grego:
So you didn't lay anyone off?
Joe Salemi:
We didn't lay anyone off. And in fact, the first week that I started we got quite a sizeable grant from the Ministry of Labor through the Skills Development Fund to work on the skilled labor crisis that we were experiencing. As a result we ended up hiring 11 people right away. And through the course of the pandemic, I was the 21st staff person with Landscape Ontario. Today we're 44.
Al Grego:
So you basically doubled in the last couple years.
Joe Salemi:
That's right, yes.
Al Grego:
That's great.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
Well I mean, let's talk about your flagship event, Congress. I mean, we've talked already about how integral that is to your calendar every year. What happened in 2020, what did you do?
Joe Salemi:
2020 we were fortunate 'cause we ran Congress. But it was 2021. We knew we weren't going to be able to run it in person, and so we had figured out a virtual platform and we were referring to it as Congress Redefined.
Heather MacRae:
Congress is 46% of the profits of Landscape Ontario. So yes, it was a real time for hardship here in the Association, and all of our membership and all of our staff understand the importance of the profits from the event. The profits really go to paying overheads on staff, but also special projects, special funds that we contribute to. So massive blow for the Association. So we did have to decide.
The first year we recognized we needed to do a virtual event, so we rallied and we did it. We hated it, it was hard, it was the biggest learning curve for all of us, for people that are in the business of face-to-face, to be in that position. Very difficult. Our membership stepped up in such a big way. They all purchased virtual space. They didn't know about it either, but they did it just to support the Association because they understood what was going to happen with the profits. Could we ever match what Congress did? No. It almost felt like the members made a donation to the Association.
Joe Salemi:
Then the following year we had an in-person event booked, 2022.
Al Grego:
That's right, yeah.
Joe Salemi:
And a month before Omicron reared its ugly head, and we had a significant amount of our exhibitors that started backing out. And initially when we started selling the 2022 show we were saying that we're going to fully guarantee the show. So if we couldn't go on for any reason we were going to offer full refunds. And we had sold out the floor, we had done about $2 million worth of sales, and a month before we canceled the show. It was devastating.
Al Grego:
Yeah, I bet.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah.
Heather MacRae:
We had a sold out show, wall-to-wall. December 17th, we were to open on January 6th, the government shut us down. It hurt, but it happened. And I would say, for all of our exhibitors, our membership, our staff, it was a real grieving process that everybody had to go through, because you work all year and build something that now can't perform. And honestly, our industry did so well through the pandemic, the companies wanted to market themselves somewhere. That's what they really wanted to do.
Joe Salemi:
And then we went through the process of issuing all those refunds, and we issued about a million and a half dollars worth of refunds, which put us in a position for that fiscal year, for the first time in Landscape Ontario's history, we ended the year with a deficit, the better part of a $400,000 deficit.
Heather MacRae:
We're a large organization and everybody's involved in Congress, but we're a small team that really is responsible for it. And that team that I watched them put their heart and souls into it, that was the big heartbreak to see that happen. Because any event planner just wants to see their event come to life, so that was a tough piece of it.
Al Grego:
So this year, the one that I attended was your first year back.
Joe Salemi:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
And I mean, I was impressed. I loved it, it was great. I mean, I'm not in the industry, but to me it was like a life-sized Tonka, all these big machines. And they were so clean. You don't often see these-
Joe Salemi:
They're never that clean, ever.
Al Grego:
They're never that clean, yeah.
Joe Salemi:
In fact, even back at the equipment suppliers place they're not that clean. But for the show they shine them extra special.
This was our best attended show ever. It's three years of not being able to be in person, everybody just wanted to be back.
Heather MacRae:
After canceling you would think some companies would say, "You know what? We're just going to take a break from shows." Not the case at all. They were ready to rally, they really wanted to come together as a community. So from an exhibitor base, sold out show.
Now the attendance. So we saw the attendance slowly growing, but we didn't see what was really coming. So the week before the show we had 1000 people registering a day, the day before the show, 2000 people registered. So we ended up with over 17,000 people, the show has never seen those members before. It was so thrilling. And really what I think that was, yes, the show and the products and all of those pieces, but there's a landscaping community that just wanted to come together because they went through such an amazing experience. They all did really well during that time. So they wanted to come together and they wanted to celebrate. And let's face it, they all made money during that period. Things have slowed down a little bit now, but during that time.
So when they all came together, and from a staff perspective, volunteers perspective, a membership perspective, there was this whole sense of relief 'cause of the two years of the profits that the association lost.
Al Grego:
Let's talk about the awards just for a second, so...
Speaker 8:
[inaudible 00:23:25] thank you. Good evening everybody. After two years of presenting Landscape Ontario's Award of Excellence virtually we're finally together. Yeah. [inaudible 00:23:42] I've been looking forward to sharing with...
Al Grego:
It was quite the gala.
Heather MacRae:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
It was really cool seeing all these videos of these amazing projects and stuff. Have there always been awards in the 50 years of the Congress?
Heather MacRae:
There hasn't always. I think they started I would say 30 years ago. And they started off very small, not what you saw this year. So it was a very small, maybe meeting room or maybe at a restaurant where they presented awards. And over the years it has just grown and grown and grown.
Al Grego:
Yeah, it looks like the Oscars for landscapers.
Heather MacRae:
And that's what we say, that it is the Oscars for landscaping. And something neat that came through the pandemic, we did that more as a video production. And there's a part of me, as much as I'm an in-person person, I like the video production because then we really capture it. And it was so professionally... We had people hanging from the rafters here, we had a Cirque du Soleil performer that you can capture, and it was really neat. So that's a kind of good thing that came out of the pandemic. We did bring it back in person this year because it's also a wonderful, as you saw, a networking piece that is in addition to the show
Joe Salemi:
Landscape Ontario's Congress is a homecoming for the industry to start with. We look at our demographics of attendees and they come from all over the country. We have a number of attendees from Upstate New York that come. We have people from overseas that come. So it is the homecoming. It's at a time of the year where everyone is thinking about, "How can I get better at what I'm doing? From both a business leadership perspective, technically speaking, and then looking at all the equipment and services that I need for the upcoming season, what do I need to have in order to be successful?" And this show is the launchpad for all of that.
Al Grego:
Coming up after the break, we find out what the future holds for Landscape Ontario.
Cass McPhee:
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Al Grego:
Welcome back to Yes, We Are Open. Despite the prosperity of the past two years for their member companies, Joe Salemi and his team at Landscape Ontario had to find a way to continue to support their members while dealing with their own challenges. They were able to navigate the worst of it, and now seem poised to continue to grow the organization. So what will that growth look like? Let's find out.
What does the future look like for Landscape Ontario? First of all those, say, thousand-plus new members you got over the last couple of years. Do you see any contraction?
Joe Salemi:
We haven't seen any contraction, but what we have seen is the growth kind of level off. We were seeing 40 or 50 new members monthly during the pandemic, and that's kind of plateaued to about 20 or 30 new members a month. When we start to look at the makeup of those companies, they've been in business less than five years, they've worked for other members in the industry and have now gone into business for themselves. And where there is a deficit is their business understanding, their leadership skillset. And so there's a tremendous opportunity for Landscape Ontario, from an education and professional development perspective, to be the source of learning for those new business owners and for their people that they're attracting to come and work for their company.
So education is going to be a massive focus for Landscape Ontario going into the future, and then doubling down on our recruitment training and employment services. The vision back in 2018 was that Landscape Ontario was going to be the hiring hall hub of the industry in Ontario. And so the foundation that we set through the funding that we received through the Ministry of Labor has kind of been the proof of concept for that. So going forward in the years to come, we want to build out Landscape Ontario where we are recruiting on behalf of industry, providing base-level training and then employment services. So getting those people that we've trained employed with our members of the Association.
Al Grego:
That makes sense. I mean, your primary function here is the event. So we'll ask you about the future of the Congress. What do you have planned for next year? Anything exciting?
Heather MacRae:
Well, we do actually. So last year we did something we hadn't done before and we closed sales. So sometimes I've been at the show, moving the show in, selling a booth right on the floor. This year we closed sales, so we gave them a deadline. So that built a waiting list. That waiting list is still building, because we grandfather all of our original exhibitors in and then we look at what space we have left. We're now in a position where it looks like we can open up more space on the floor, so we're going to be able to grow this year for sure. There's no question about it.
It won't be a huge amount. I like to do things in small steps.
Al Grego:
Yeah, incremental. Yeah.
Heather MacRae:
The dream would be to occupy all of the square footage on the property. But that's small steps, small steps to get there. But yes, we will be growing this year, which is really, really exciting.
Al Grego:
Interviewing a typical business there might be questions as to expansion or franchising, but obviously this is a different animal. What does that look like for Landscape Ontario?
Joe Salemi:
As a not-for-profit trade association, maybe not in the same traditional vein. But instead we're looking at training facilities across the province to better deliver our training. And so we want people in Windsor and Ottawa and north of Barrie and into Thunder Bay to be able to access training through Landscape Ontario, the same way if they were in the greater Toronto area.
Al Grego:
That makes sense.
Joe Salemi:
Our current provincial government through the Ministry of Labor Immigration, Training, Skills and Development, they've taken a massive drive towards enhancing the awareness and engagement of those getting into the skilled trades. And we've been able to leverage those opportunities. So Landscape Ontario's now leveraging almost $4 million a year in grants through that ministry. And quite honestly, without it we wouldn't be able to do the work in workforce development, recruiting people and training them and getting them employed, without those grants. We're averaging three, 400 people a year doing that.
Al Grego:
That's great. Yeah. I mean, it's very needed still, right?
Joe Salemi:
Oh yeah. We haven't put a dent in that. If I had 20,000 people today I could get them all working.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Heather MacRae:
And when I say 11 years it feels like two years. So that's a good sign. I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but I have a lot more to accomplish here. Changing from Tony retiring and Joe coming on, the part I like about that, new perspective. I'm getting to learn from somebody new, and that's how you grow is the right people around you, and you take those opportunities and you try and learn from them the best way you can. So that part is really exciting about the future here.
Al Grego:
What do you hope for your future here?
Joe Salemi:
Oh my goodness. I am here until the board of directors can't stand me anymore. This is kind of my big kid dream, to be here with Landscape Ontario. I love every single second of what I'm doing. It doesn't come without its challenges. I had an idea of what I was getting myself into, but until you're in it you don't really know. And now I've been in it for a little over six months and I can see it's a lot to carry. I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, but it's also like being a politician in this position. And I never thought I would consider myself a politician, but through and through I am. So yeah. Loving every single second of this.
Al Grego:
Awesome. Thank you so much for your time.
Joe Salemi:
Thank you, really appreciate it.
Al Grego:
Heather and Joe, is Landscape Ontario open?
Joe Salemi:
Yes, We Are Open.
Heather MacRae:
Yes, We Are Open.
Al Grego:
Perfect, thank you so much.
That's the story of Landscape Ontario.
I remember a time when, as Heather mentioned, it was thought trade shows were going to be a thing of the past with the proliferation of the internet. It seems the opposite has happened. These shows have increased in number and in size, an entire industry has grown around them. I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised by this. The more connected we become, the more disconnected we feel and the more we search for ways and reasons to gather in person. What I witnessed at the show this past January was an entire industry happy to be able to gather again, to connect, make deals, learn from each other, and yes, celebrate their successes together. There's still much work to do to regain all the talent and labor that was lost over the last few years, but I think Joe and his team are up for the task.
After all, for an organization like Landscape Ontario to last half a century it must be doing something right. It must have been built on a rock solid foundation, the seeds of success must have been sown early, the path to performance paved in stone. See what I'm doing here? The giant pools have been filled with prosperity. Sorry, I couldn't resist. All of this is to say the future looks so bright for Landscape Ontario they might want to consider a gazebo for shade. Okay, okay, I'll stop now, I promise. There's a phrase kids like using these days, according to my 16-year-old son, that I think is apropos to end this episode. I'm going to touch grass now. Feel free to do the same.
Yes, We Are Open is a Moneris podcast production. I'd like to thank Ian, Heather and Joe for taking the time to share their story. You can learn more about Landscape Ontario at landscapeontario.com. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn at Landscape Ontario, and on Twitter, they're at green_for_life. For more information about this podcast, visit our site, yesweareopenpodcast.com. If you'd like to support us, please write us a review on Apple Podcasts, or rate us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you're a Canadian small business owner or know of one with an interesting story of perseverance to tell, I'd love to help tell it. You can contact me at podcast@moneris.com. Tune in next week for another story of small business struggle and survival on the Yes, We Are Open podcast. I'm Al Grego, thank you for listening.