The annual Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii Conference and Trade Show: "Growing Together for a Greener Hawai'i," will be held Wednesday and Thursday at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, and once again I encourage you to come out and take a look at what the Hawai'i Green Industry and LICH are all about.

The Hawai'i Green Industry is made up of interrelated groups of professionals — landscape architects, arborists, licensed landscape installers, maintenance and irrigation contractors, and plant nurseries. Also included: in-house maintenance crews for hotels, resorts and cemeteries; and federal, state, city and county crews that maintain government parks, office buildings and cemeteries.

These are the people who keep Hawai'i green and beautiful, and give our visitors the paradise they come to see.

The total Hawai'i Green Industry workforce, estimated at more than 11,000 full-time individuals, generates more than $650 million annually. That represents more than the total combined workforce and income of both pineapple and sugar during their former peak years, and is equal to the state's total diversified agriculture outputs of today.

LICH is an umbrella organization that supports Hawai'i landscape industry organizations as well as independent landscape professionals. Over the past 20 years, LICH has grown from a state-funded group into two self-supporting nonprofit organizations, LICH and LICH Foundation. Total membership includes 14 state professional landscape organizations and more than 750 corporate and individual members.

Please make it a point to drop by sometime during the conference. The trade show portion of the program is free to the general public (except for the $4 event parking) and features an expanded plant sale put on by O'ahu and Neighbor Island plant nurseries.

For more details about what is going on in the industry, register to attend the educational portion of the conference. A welcome address will be given by Kelly Greenwell, owner of the newly formed Hawaiian Tree Farms. Program breakout sessions and presentations will focus on topics such as landscape architecture, turf grass, outdoor lighting and use of native plants.

Pre-registration for conference programs is required. You can still take advantage of the early-registration rates by mentioning this article. Either fax the registration to 956-2161 or e-mail registration information to deputy@hawaii.edu. The deadline is Tuesday.

Jay Deputy is an education specialist in landscape horticulture and turf at University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences.