The association plays a vital role in meeting the educational, informational, and legislative advocacy demands of a more technologically advanced industry serving a more knowledge-able and discriminating consumer.

WNLA is notably proud of its financial and moral support of research and scholarship. The association also works closely with the University of Wisconsin’s Horticultural Department as well as other prominent institutions of higher learning. At the same time, WNLA is regularly involved in various projects and informational exchanges with AmericanHort, PLANET, and the Great Lakes Nursery Association Leadership Council.

WNLA and its members are served by an executive director and staff with skills in specific areas of association management. Policies and program development originate with an elected board of directors.

• Of the $51.5 billion in economic activity generated annually by Wisconsin agriculture, $1.1 billion is generated by the “green” industry, a term that includes greenhouses, nurseries, tree farms, sod farms, and other horticultural businesses, according to Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics Steve Deller of UW-Madison.
• Greenhouse and nursery production account for $146 million in annual sales and provides 22,000 jobs, Professor Deller wrote in his 2004 publication, “Wisconsin and the Agricultural Economy.”
• A 2004 survey conducted by the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service found that when other sectors of the green industry, such as landscaping services and garden cen-ter sales, are included in the accounting, the total is $2.7 billion in economic activity and more than 43,000 jobs.