In 1987, a group of Montgomery County nurserymen,
believing that banding together could help the wholesale grower gain
additional knowledge about growing plants successfully, better market
product and provide a collective voice for good within the industry,
founded the Southeast Texas Nursery Growers' Association. Led by John and
Shirley Mauney, owners of Number 1 Nursery, and encouraged by the
Montgomery County Horticultural Extension Agent Tom LeRoy and his staff,
the group obtained a charter, incorporated as a non-profit trade
association and held their first formal meeting on January 12, 1988. John
Mauney of Number 1 Nursery was elected as the first President.
The dozen
"incorporator" members attracted a total of 35 nursery growers as "Charter
Members", fourteen of whom continue as active and involved members fifteen
years later.
In addition to designing an attractive logo, holding regular meetings
with speakers providing information useful to the growers and publishing a
monthly newsletter with news and helpful tips for the grower, the
leadership of the Southeast Nursery Growers' Association initiated such
visible and worthwhile projects for the association, the marketplace and
the public at large as:
In 1992, the Association, led by President Chip Boxley of Texas Trees,
donated and planted trees to enhance the grounds of the new Houston Police
Officers' Memorial (on Buffalo Bayou at 2400 Memorial)
In 1994, chaired by Bushman Plant Farm's Ed Ricks, initiated annual STNGA Trade shows. Beginning at the Woodlands Conference Center, the show
moved to the (now) Reliant Astroarena in 1998 and in 2003 to the present
location in Conroe.
In 2002, led by President George Prucha of Home Growers' Nurseries, the
Association undertook a serious review of Mission and Vision, resulting in
an updated "Mission and Vision" for the Association.
The Southeast Nursery Growers' Association, on its foundation of
seventeen years of achievement for the betterment of its members and the
horticulture industry, is dedicated to become the dominant force and
professional voice for horticulture in Texas.
In 1987, a group of Montgomery County nurserymen,
believing that banding together could help the wholesale grower gain
additional knowledge about growing plants successfully, better market
product and provide a collective voice for good within the industry,
founded the Southeast Texas Nursery Growers' Association. Led by John and
Shirley Mauney, owners of Number 1 Nursery, and encouraged by the
Montgomery County Horticultural Extension Agent Tom LeRoy and his staff,
the group obtained a charter, incorporated as a non-profit trade
association and held their first formal meeting on January 12, 1988. John
Mauney of Number 1 Nursery was elected as the first President.
In 1992, the Association, led by President Chip Boxley of Texas Trees,
donated and planted trees to enhance the grounds of the new Houston Police
Officers' Memorial (on Buffalo Bayou at 2400 Memorial)