Landscape Management, October 2010

GREEN INDUSTRY TRENDS AND TIPS NEWSVIEWS EVENTS TRENDS AND TIPS Rising to the challenge Aaron Hobbs newly appointed president of RISE Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment shares specialty chemicals top opportunities obstacles BY MARTY WHITFORD EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MW How does it feel to be selected to serve as president of RISE Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment an organization that protects professionals access to pesticides herbicides fungicides and fertilizers AH Im humbled and honored to take the helm at RISE I look forward to continuing to serve such an exciting and thought leading industry working closely with RISEs board and volunteer leaders to build upon the many successes of this association MW How does it feel to try and fi ll the shoes of Allen James who retired earlier this month after serving as RISEs fi rst and only helmsman for the past 19 years AH I certainly have big shoes to fi ll But Im excited to take the reigns from Allen I worked closely with Allen the past 18 months and we have a very strong board and group of volunteer leaders at RISE MW James is confi dent youre up to the task of succeeding him He said you bring a plethora of experience on regulatory and legislative fronts that he didnt possess when he took RISEs presidency in 1991 When and from where did you receive your undergraduate and graduate degrees and what were your core studies AH Originally from Texas I earned a masters and a bachelors of science in agricultural economics from the great Texas A M University I complemented these studies with myriad political science and public speaking classes MW What positions have you held since earning your masters AH Ive had the opportunity to work in two of the three branches of the government Ive worked on two presidential campaigns which gave me a fi rsthand on the ground understanding of grassroots efforts During the 2008 presidential campaign I served as national grassroots coordinator for one of the candidates as well as spokesperson for constituents Before that I ran the state government affairs program for the Congressional Sportsmens Foundation That gave me a real appreciation for the similarities and differences in politics in different states and cities MW Did working as an economist for the federal government during the George W Bush administration give you an insiders perspective AH Yes So much of what we do at RISE to support our members and their customers is dealing with the U S Environmental LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2010 8 Protection Agency EPA Just having experience working within another federal agency the U S Department of Agriculture will be extremely helpful MW As RISEs director of legislative affairs and grassroots outreach for the past 18 months youve seen our industrys strengths and weaknesses What do you view as RISEs top three opportunities and obstacles AH Our top three opportunities are connecting with customers connecting with policymakers and continuing to work for industry unity I see our ability to address these three opportunities heightened through RISEs new public relations public facing outreach campaign Debug the Myths which educates consumers policymakers and others within the industry on the many benefi ts of our products I dont think we can talk about obstacles without talking about the economy The economy continues to be an issue for everyone We built our industry and its products on science but science continues to erode and be misused Another hurdle is ensuring industry unity while municipalities and other policymaking bodies come after our individual segments and chip away at the corners of our industry MW What are three musts regarding grassroots outreach AH We must show up be there locally in person and make return visits We also must help the public understand how issues affect them and give them resources to effectively speak to their policymakers Thirdly we must remember policymakers are human in fact often they dont have the depth of knowledge on specialty chemicals that we do LM