"Growing Together" was the theme for the 2017 RISE Annual Meeting held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., August 28-30. Chava McKeel, Bob Helland and Michael Lee, -- GCSAA’s government affairs team, represented the association at the annual meeting, which focused on industry unity, focusing on the future and celebrating recent successes. The team was also able to network with important industry partners throughout the conference. 

Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment is the national trade association representing manufacturers, formulators, distributors and other industry leaders involved with specialty pesticide and fertilizer products. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., RISE is engaged at the federal, state and local levels.

McKeel serves on the Regulatory Affairs Committee, Helland on the Law Committee and Lee on the Legislative Affairs Committee. During all committee meetings, time was spent on the RISE 2017 Priority Issues, including the Clean Water Act and WOTUS, pollinators (MP3 Metrics), Endangered Species Act, pesticide and fertilizer bans and restrictions and pesticide and fertilizer preemption. The committees also spent time in tactical planning, identifying the issues and locations RISE will focus its advocacy efforts on in 2018.



Attendees learned more about and celebrated the recent court decision in Montgomery County, Maryland, to overturn the private property ban on pesticide use that was to go into effect on Jan.1, 2018. Montgomery County has said it will appeal the decision, and RISE is focused on a response to the appeal. GCSAA members have worked with RISE for four years to stop the legislation from being passed.  

The keynote speakers were Gina Schreck and Joe Dittmar. Schrek is one of the country’s top social marketing experts and helps organizations understand the impact of social media on business. Schrek told the audience “not to be the old bird” and to be open to trying new technology. She said 1 in 3 are not employable currently because they choose not to adopt. Dittmar is a 9/11 World Trade Center survivor and talked about his experience on that day and shared a historical and inspiration perspective of that life changing event.