I fly a lot for flowers.  It’s the “Ambassador” part of the job.  I need to be in the meetings, at the table and representing the united front of the growers in California.  This morning I am returning from a successful trip to Sacramento where Frank Siri of CallaCo, David Van Wingerden of Westland Floral and I had spent yesterday in meetings with officials from CDFA and a Legislative Reception with members of California’s Assembly and Senate.  The reception was hosted by the California Agriculture Industry, with each of us “commodities” representing a table of our products.  Flowers are always a standout and a favorite among legislators and their staff at this event.

As the event wound down, a few buckets of our bouquets remained—which is typical of most events—and the process of mass distribution began.  Frank, David and I grabbed three or four each and upon returning to our hotel, we started giving our flowers away.  We gave them to the front desk staff, the hostess, our server, random guests of the restaurant.  As you can imagine, we were some pretty popular guys in that restaurant.  Flowers just make people happy.  Really happy.  Two years into this position and I’m still impressed by the emotional response I see when people are handed flowers unexpectedly.  Its always that surprised beauty pageant winner look, like “me?! These are really for me?!”

“Yes, you won.  Congratulations.”

I had purposefully held onto one bouquet from last night’s reception to take with me through the airport—admittedly, a typical public relations ploy on my part after these types of events.  The curiosity that a bouquet of flowers generates as one walks through airport security and on through the terminals is palatable.  I usually identify someone who looks like they could use some flowers in their life and watch them go from disbelief to beauty pageant winner.  Fun.

However, this morning no one really stood out.  It might have been that I was already too buried in my laptop to focus on identifying someone, but by boarding time, I still had the bouquet.

So, who got them?  The first flight attendant I saw.  Now this was a first.  I had never given any of the flowers I have traveled with before to a flight attendant.

New CCFC Ambassador Policy:  Always bring flowers for the flight attendant.

As I step on board and she greets me with a smile, she looks at the flowers and says, “Are those for me?”  I say, “Why yes they are,” and proceed to hand her the bouquet.  And as she goes through the beauty pageant moment, I continue on my way to find my seat.  After all, its Southwest and the best seats are being taken by each ticking moment.  So as I find my seat and the pre-flight instruction begins, the flight attendant comes on the PA and waves her California Grown flower bouquet over her head and announces to the entire plane that the “bar has been raised” and that some wonderful passenger just made her day by giving her these beautiful California flowers.  She continued on to say how grateful she was and how beautiful they were as I quietly watched my fellow passengers flash curious looks of amazement and speculation.

So, as I sat back in my seat and pulled out the Southwest Airlines “Spirit” magazine and began thumbing through the articles and advertisements, I thought “you can’t pay for that kind of marketing.”

I plan to carry more bouquets onto more planes.  You should too.

CA growers hear how CCFC has been working on their behalf

The last two days of meetings in our growing regions have been met with good discussion and input from growers in attendance.  It stands out to me how important it is that we continue these annual meetings as a way for growers who do not normally come to the regular schedule Commission meetings to hear how the Commission is providing value to its growers.

The report provides a great snapshot of activity that highlights a year’s worth of effort and committee work.  Commissioners have taken time to address the upcoming referendum and answered any questions from growers about the recent petition decision.  The report rounds out with a 2010 outlook of goals and objectives on important projects in each of the Commission’s four focus areas.

Well, I am in Watsonville this morning to meet with growers in this region and looking forward to sharing with them what we’re doing and where we’re going to encourage people to buy more California Grown flowers.

The CCFC will be holding its annual business and progress report during a series of meetings throughout the state.  I just arrived into Fallbrook this morning and will be visiting growers in the area today before our meeting tomorrow morning at the Pala Mesa Resort.

I am really looking forward to sharing with growers the efforts and activities of 2009 while highlighting the goals and objectives of 2010 and beyond.  Commissioners from each Commission district will be facilitating the meeting that is expected to generate lots of discussion about the Board of Commissioners recent approval and decision to move forward on the implementation of a “new model” for shipping California flowers in and out of California.  This “new model” has been specifically designed to help reduce overall transportation costs for flower shipments and encourage even more California flower buying from throughout the country.

All California cut flower and greens growers are invited and encouraged to attend one of these four meetings:

1/12     Fallbrook — Pala Mesa Resport — 11 a.m.

1/13    Carpinteria — Rincon Beach Club and Catering — 11 a.m.

1/14     Watsonville — Watsonville City Center –  11 a.m.

1/15     San Francisco — Flower Market — 9 a.m.

Lunch will be served (breakfast for San Francisco) and your guaranteed to walk away with great information about what CCFC is doing on behalf of its growers in California to position its growers as America’s best source for high quality flowers!

To RSVP, contact us via email at jwills@ccfc.org

Reprinted here with permission
www.tgit.org, all rights reserved
Volume #101 / October 5th, 2009

Survival or Success…

Be aware of how you think and how you talk

Barry Gottlieb, Executive Business Coach and Inspirational Speaker

Are you in survival mode or success mode?

Everywhere you go, people are talking about how tough things are in the economy, and the media continues to blast us on a daily basis regarding unemployment, foreclosures, big name businesses that are closing their doors; and any other information they can put together to let us know how bad things are out there.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

You can jump on the gloom and doom bandwagon and say, “Woe is me” and do nothing. Or, you can make the choice to do something about it.

This isn’t the first time we have faced this situation. And it probably won’t be the last. Do you honestly believe that by supporting the negative survival mode of thinking, that things are going to get better?

Think success! Take positive action. There are people and companies out there that have chosen not to participate in the recession. They are thinking and acting like winners. They are focused on, and talking about success, rather than failure or survival. They are focused on making things happen rather than waiting for things to happen to them.

They are planning for success, and they are executing the plan.

You have a choice…

Here are some action steps:

1. •Focus on what you want, rather than on what you are afraid will happen
   

2. •Think, talk, and act like a winner
   

3. •Plan… One hour of planning equals ten hours of doing
   

4. •Work smarter… Do the things that are most important first, rather than those that are most urgent
   

5. •Avoid negative gossip and stories of gloom and doom
   

6. •Avoid negative media, especially when you first wake up and before you go to bed
   

7. •Set short term, intermediate, and long term goals
   

8. •Identify the resources you will need to help you overcome the obstacles that you face
   

9. •Measure your efforts. What gets measured, gets done
   

10. •Create a realistic budget and live within that budget
    

11. •Have an attitude of gratitude… Stay focused on everything you should be grateful for
    

12. •Take action… Immediately and consistently
    

13. •Remember… Winners develop the habit of doing the things that losers don’t like to do
    

14. •Read, listen, or watch something positive, inspirational, motivational, educational or spiritual every day
    

By Hans Brand, B&H Flowers
California Cut Flower Commission Chairman

Hans Brand, CCFC Chairman

Each month Kasey asks if there is anything I’d like to add to the monthly newsletter that the Commission sends out to all of us. If you are at all like me, during these tough times in our industry, I have to be very vigilant in where and on what I spend my time. My company needs my full attention right now. So, as Commission Chair, when I see how well our Commission is helping our industry succeed and I am able to read the successes we are enjoying in each month’s newsletters, it doesn’t seem necessary for me to spend time to write a message.

However, this month is different. And I want to be clear on one point: While I know my business needs me and my attention, my business and I need the Commission.

Why?

Because while I am focused on ensuring that my business operates as efficiently as possible to make it through this recession, I am counting on one organization to focus on those issues and opportunities I can’t control or manage from my desk at B&H.

You see, I can cut costs in the production of my crop where I find them, but I can’t fight state legislation to ban hand weeding. The Commission did that.

I can employ an aggressive IPM program to fight off bugs and disease in my greenhouses, but I can’t negotiate with a state government that wants to shut down my shipping of flowers due to a Light Brown Apple Moth quarantine. The Commission did that.

I can go to a fundraiser in Santa Barbara for my Congresswoman and write her a letter saying that my business needs her attention, but I can’t also be in Washington, D.C. coordinating a letter from half of California’s Congressional delegation to Ag Secretary Vilsack explaining to him that the California Cut Flower industry needs his attention and support now. The Commission did that.

I can work to have my sales staff develop effective marketing campaigns for B&H Flowers and my customers, but I can’t develop a campaign designed to increase consumption of all California flowers for all growers and their customers. The Commission is doing that.

I can work to negotiate the best rates possible for my company to ship its flowers, but I can’t independently coordinate and shift an entire industry’s flower volume to a new model of transportation that will drive down costs, increase quality and make California competitive again. The Commission is doing that.

So, while I’m not surprised that the Commission recently received a letter of petition from Joe Goldberg’s attorney, Brian Leighton, who continues to use all avenues to bring their courtroom fight to our fields, I would be surprised if growers didn’t see what I see in the Commission: an organization that does for all of us what none of us can do alone.

That’s important, because while not every grower is going to achieve the same level of success, every grower deserves the opportunity to try.

And I like knowing that while I’m concentrating on the success of my business, CCFC is concentrating on the success of our industry. The CCFC is the only organization that is working and financially positioned to ensure that every grower is given the opportunity to have a bottom-line to manage here in California.  The Commission is sitting at all of the right tables talking to all of the right people, working towards long term success.  And I’m a firm believer in the idea that, “if you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu.”  We can’t afford to lose our representation at the table.

So, as the current chair and former finance chair, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the efforts of this commission with any producer or petitioner that feels they are not getting the value from such a powerful resource as the California Cut Flower Commission. Please feel free to email me anytime: hans@bandhflowers.com

State Study Shows California’s Economy and Job Creation Hampered by Overregulation

A study by California State University professors was released that shows California’s economy is being burdened by state regulations that are overwhelming small businesses.  Resulting from the passage of Assembly Bill 2330 (Arambula) in 2006, AB 2330 required the study to review the cost of state regulations on small business in California.  This study was completed and turned into the Governor’s office in December 2008 and released this week.

This study finds that the total cost of regulation to the State of California—direct, indirect, and induced—is $492.994 billion, which is almost five times the State’s general fund budget, and almost a third of the State’s gross product. This cost of regulation results in an employment loss of 3.8 million jobs which is a tenth of the State’s population. In terms of labor income, the total loss to the state from the regulatory cost is $210.471 billion. Finally the indirect business taxes that would have been generated due to the output lost is $16.024 billion.  These indirect business taxes lost could have helped fund many of the state’s departmental budgets.

The total cost of regulation was $134,122.48 per small business in California in 2007, labor income not created or lost was $4,359.55 per small business, indirect business taxes not generated or lost were $57,260.15 per small business, and finally roughly one job lost per small business.  Since small business constitute 99.2% of all employer businesses in California, and all of non-employer business, the regulatory cost is borne almost completely by small business.

This study provides the most comprehensive and complete analysis of the total regulatory burden in California. The study and findings have implications for policymakers and those in charge of the regulatory environment. The results also suggest that future research should attempt to understand how to minimize the intended and unintended costs of regulation. Since small businesses are the lifeblood of California’s economy efforts to make the regulatory environment more attractive will make California a more attractive state for doing business. This in turn will improve the state’s output, employment, labor income, indirect business taxes, economic climate, quality of life, living standards, and growth.

“This study gives definition and specificity to what we heard in Reno,” said  Assembly member Dan Logue.  “Earlier this year, I took a delegation of 13 California Legislators to Reno, NV to hear testimony from former California business owners at to why they left our state; taking hundreds of California jobs with them.  Time and again, they said that California over regulates business and the cost of compliance drove them to leave.  They also referenced the hostile business climate referring specifically to local and state regulatory agencies.”

“To my knowledge, no formal study has ever been commissioned by the State of California to examine the costs of regulatory burdens on small business,” stated Logue.  “The findings of this study are historic and critically important in light of the current state of the economy.”

Legislators stated they will be holding bi-partisan informational hearings into the study and developing a road map for potential legislation or other actions to identify and eliminate unnecessary regulations and barriers to small business investment.

The study can be found at http://sba.ca.gov/Cost%20of%20Regulation%20Study%20-%20Final.pdf