Wednesday, July 29, 2009
THIS MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED
Public Informational Hearing on the Pennsylvania green
industry and "Green Infrastructure" at the Penn Atlantic Nursery Trade Show
(PANTS)
Agenda
Session permitting, the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Committee will be joining with the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution
Control and Conservation Committee to hold a public informational hearing on the
Pennsylvania green industry and "Green Infrastructure" at the Penn Atlantic
Nursery Trade Show (PANTS). The show is being held this year at the Greater
Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks (near Valley Forge), and the hearing will be held
on July 29th, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., to be followed by lunch and a tour of the
PANTS.
The green industry is the landscape, nursery and garden
center industry. In the Commonwealth, the green industry has an economic impact
valued at over $5.6 billion a year and is the fastest-growing segment of
Pennsylvania agriculture, representing the largest cash crop in Pennsylvania.
"Green Infrastructure" is a term that has been in use for
some time, though it came to prominence recently due to its inclusion in the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Green Infrastructure is plant
infrastructure: trees for our cities and communities, green roofs for new
hospitals and schools, roadside plantings that reflect new environmental
standards, riparian buffers that stand between farm fields and rivers. Green
Infrastructure is the new ethic of the green industry in Pennsylvania, and holds
much promise for future development and the revitalization of our cities, as
well as for the Chesapeake Bay. It also represents vast, new potential markets
for Pennsylvania nursery and greenhouse growers.
The Penn Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, or PANTS, is the
largest green industry summer event on the East Coast. With nearly 900
exhibitors participating and nearly 10,000 attendees, PANTS displays the full
spectrum of the green industry. This show is produced annually by the
Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association and is being held this year from
July 28 -30 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Avenue, Oaks,
PA 19456 (800.898.3411). I encourage you to visit the show's website at
www.pantshow.com for additional information.
Additional information about the hearing will be
distributed as it becomes available; please mark your calendars now and plan to
attend. Further, I would like to remind you that the committee will also be
holding a hearing jointly with the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee
on the morning of August 19th at Ag Progress Days, Rock Springs. If
you have not already done so, I would encourage you to make your hotel
accommodations as rooms fill up quickly (contact Kristin Crawford in my office
if you need the accommodation information sent to you again).
I look forward to seeing you at these hearings. Please
feel free to contact me or Kristin Crawford, Committee Executive Director, with
any questions or concerns.
