The Greenhouse Odyssey: Eighteen - Can We Give You a Lift?
By Lorraine Miller
If you were in Washington D.C. and someone asked, “Can you be at the White House tomorrow morning at 9:00? We’d like to take you to the airport in a White House Limousine,” would you answer, “oh, gees, no thanks. We’ll just take a cab?”
What if, when you get to the airport, an airline agent greets you at the limousine and escorts you to your gate. Then, to top it off, upgrades your seats to ones with more leg room, at no charge! But that isn’t the top. What if, when the plane reaches altitude and levels out, the pilot comes over the intercom and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us on this flight, the Small Business Person of the Year. Then he goes on to say, “This annual award has been given for thirty-one years. Our passenger is the third woman to win and the first Utahn.” What if all the passengers erupt in applause, almost tilting the plane. You’d be dumbfounded, wouldn’t you? Maybe it’s you that’s tilting. Fortunately, you don’t have to stand up or throw kisses. No one knows what seat you’re in.
If you can imagine all that, you can imagine what happens next. A crowd of people with balloons and flowers and noise-makers meet you at the airport. Apparently, your story has been on the local news and lots of people want to share in the excitement. You’d probably be flabbergasted! When you get to work the next morning, there’s a congratulatory sign hanging. The parking lot is full of cars and the greenhouses full of people. The press is there, cameras rolling. Beautiful flower bouquets and chocolate cakes arrive. Cards. Letters. Sales orders. You’d be wide-eyed and wonder-struck, wouldn’t you?
I won’t ask you to walk in my shoes anymore. You’ll begin to feel you’re the victim of a hoax. But the fantastical story isn’t over.
The Governor of Utah, Michael Leavitt, declared May 19th Cactus & Tropicals Day! He held a luncheon in our honor at the Red Lion Hotel. He gave a speech entitled Small Business: The Engine That Drives the Economy. After his speech, he invited my guests (all employees) and me to the podium. He gave us a framed, genuine declaration—a certificate with scrolly letters, red and blue ribbons and gilded edges, proclaiming May 19th Cactus & Tropicals Day.
It was full of where-ases and therefores but there were no stipulations, variances, abstract of findings, or interest rates.
Governor Leavitt took my award seriously. He invited me and several other business people to meet with him privately in the Governor’s Boardroom at the Utah State Capitol. In his letter of invitation, he gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. He asked me to “come prepared to share what things I can do as the state’s chief executive to make the process more ‘user friendly’ and what things you see as our biggest challenges.’
I focused on the Interior Plant Maintenance division of Cactus & Tropicals. I gave the Governor a brief history of how we learned the trade and how we grew our accounts. We’d been doing this work for several years and we serviced plants in a few hundred buildings. People specifically hired to do this work are called ‘plant technicians.’ The training was up to us. In addition, we had competition. Plant maintenance is the kind of business that can be a one-person show or provide work for a cast of thousands. Some large companies were even hiring their own ‘in-house’ plant technicians. House plants had become so popular, there was hardly a home or business that went without. Interestingly, more varieties of plants were becoming available through cultivars, cloning, new growers with new interests, and even new discoveries. The market was ever expanding.
I told the Governor that the greatest assist for my industry would be the ability to get a degree in Ornamental Horticulture at Salt Lake Community College or the like. A degree would be so helpful in building a new profession, a profession with real knowledge and real skills and a true sense of pride in the work. The governor said he would look into it and he did, and a horticultural program was created. Currently, Salt Lake Community College offers an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Ornamental Horticulture. This is how progress is made.
There were many celebrations and events that summer but it’s worth sharing the details of one more, although it to, will sound a little suspicious. One day I got a call from the Department of Treasury in Washington D. C. The Secretary, Lloyd Benson (previously a Senator from Texas and once a candidate for president), was touring the Intermountain West speaking to small business groups about President Clinton’s plan for universal health care. The Washington aide asked if we would like to host an event for Secretary Benson at Cactus & Tropicals. Of course, we would love to.
We invited a small crowd of business people, members of the Utah Association of Women Business Owners, other neighborhood-based businesses and people we did business with. We rearranged the nursery, surrounding an open space with all the trees, shrubs and flowering plants. We set up chairs and a podium and as background, a row of pink flowering Mandevilla vines. We were ready!
It's always the unplanned, the unexpected, that throws your best made plans into the compost heap. Secretary Benson and his secret service entourage showed up a full hour early! The agents, wearing dark suits and dark glasses, who had little black wires plugged in their ears and talked into their watches, immediately surrounded the property. A Band of Blues Brothers. Because they were so early, Secretary Benson asked if he and two of his aides could wait in my office. ‘NOOOOO,’ I screamed as silently as I could. ‘I’m not ready! My office was never a place I warmed up to. It might be compared to a toxic waste site. Seeds were sprouting in the carpet. My desk was cluttered with papers, bottles of fertilizer, soil samples, seed packages, shovels, rakes, charcoal briquettes, and fire starter. But what could I do but be gracious and hospitable?
At the podium, Secretary Benson got right down to describing President Clinton’s health care plan and the critical need for it. Most people nodded their heads in agreement. Insurance was then, and is now, a big problem for many, many people. But it turned out, Secretary Benson was more interested in talking about gardening than health care. (To my surprise, he told me privately that he didn’t believe in universal health care). He talked about Mandevilla vines. He said he loved their beautiful flowers but hated their penchant for white fly. He told us about his personal journey in discovering the absolute necessity for fertilizer, especially nitrogen. He discussed the hot, humid environment of Southern Texas and Utah’s hot, arid climate and the different challenges we faced in growing things. It was kind of an Okra vs. Utah Corn conversation. Then, he asked for a tour of the greenhouses. Everyone jumped to their feet. The Blues Brothers came running. Benson headed for a greenhouse door and we followed.
My father was there and he couldn’t wait to talk to Secretary Benson about WWII. He was certain they had something in common, a shared platoon or infantry division. He went after Benson with alacrity but the Blues Brothers threw up a line of defense. Dad saw the blockade and realized he couldn’t get closer than twenty feet. He started calling in a loud voice, “Do you remember Twiggy Parker?” I guess Benson didn’t remember Twiggy or he probably would have stopped or turned but he didn’t. He just kept walking. The Tribune got a front page shot of this close encounter, though they didn’t know it.
