Spring in West Virginia carries a particular kind of promise. The hills go green, the growing season kicks into gear, and the men and women of the state’s nursery and landscape industry get to work doing what they do best: building, planting, designing, and caring for the outdoor spaces that define our communities. For WVNLA, this April is more than just the start of another season. It’s a snapshot of everything our association stands for, and a reminder of why the work we do matters far beyond the job sites and garden centers where it happens.

This month, WVNLA is announcing a scholarship winner, awarding research funding to WVU’s Davis College, supporting students at a local high school, and honoring the legacy of someone who gave decades of service to this industry. Each story is different. But together, they tell the same truth: investing in people, in education, and in community is what keeps West Virginia’s green industry growing.

“This isn’t just about landscaping. It’s about legacy, and what we’re building for the next generation of West Virginia’s green industry.”

EDUCATION & SCHOLARSHIPS

A Full Scholarship. A Future Taking Root.

Each year, WVNLA awards the George W. Longenecker Scholarship to an incoming West Virginia University freshman who has been accepted into the Landscape Architecture or Horticulture program at WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design.

WVNLA is proud to announce the 2025 Longenecker Scholarship winner, Joseph Brown, an incoming West Virginia University freshman accepted into the Landscape Architecture/Horticulture program at WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design.

Joseph is a home-schooled high school senior who has been accepted into WVU’s Landscape Architecture program for the 2026 Fall semester.

His reply to the news that he was selected: “Wow!! Thank you so much! I am honored to be chosen as the recipient of this generous scholarship. I am excited to begin college at WVU, and this funding is invaluable for my success. Thanks to you, what was fear and anxiety has turned to hope and joy as this life-changing opportunity is gifted to me.” With gratitude…Sincerely, Joseph Brown

The Longenecker Scholarship provides full tuition reimbursement for four semesters, a significant investment in a student who has demonstrated both the academic commitment and the passion for the industry that WVNLA was built to support.

For WVNLA, this isn’t charity. It’s a long-term strategy. Every student who enters the green industry through WVU’s programs is a future professional, future employer, and future WVNLA member. Investing in them now is investing in all of us.

RESEARCH & INVESTMENT

$5,000 to WVU Davis College: Funding the Science Behind the Industry

Great landscaping doesn’t happen by accident. Behind every thriving nursery operation, every well-designed landscape, and every healthy plant installation are decades of horticultural research, and WVNLA is proud to help fund it.

This April, WVNLA is donating $5,000 to research grant funding to WVU’s Davis College of Natural Resources & Agriculture in support of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture research. The grant will directly support the kind of applied, industry-relevant science that helps West Virginia’s green professionals stay at the leading edge of their field.

Our partnership with WVU’s Davis College reflects what we deeply believe at WVNLA: the green industry is stronger when education and practice work together. Research conducted at WVU doesn’t stay in the lab; it flows into classrooms, into extension programs, and ultimately into the hands of professionals working across West Virginia.

“West Virginia’s green industry is stronger when education and practice work together.”

COMMUNITY & YOUTH OUTREACH

Getting Their Hands Dirty: The BUHS Landscape Bootcamp

One of the most important things WVNLA does isn’t captured in a press release or a board meeting. It happens in a school parking lot or on a community green space when a group of students gets their first real introduction to what the green industry actually looks like.

This April, WVNLA is conducting a week-long hands-on landscape bootcamp for students at Buckhannon Upshur High School, running April 7–10. For four days, students worked alongside green industry professionals, gaining practical skills and real-world experience in landscaping fundamentals.

The course is a mixture of classroom instruction and practical experience using landscape equipment to read and install a landscape design. Our instructors are experienced landscapers who know the job well and can answer students’ questions based on real-world experience. It’s all part of WVNLA’s outreach to students to interest them in green industry jobs/careers.

Programs like this matter for reasons that go beyond the week itself. For many of these students, it may be their first real look at a career path they’d never considered. For the industry, it’s the beginning of a pipeline, a way of showing young West Virginians that the green industry offers meaningful, skilled, well-paying work right here at home.

WVNLA is committed to reaching students before they’ve made their career decisions, because the best time to introduce someone to this industry is before they think they already know what they want to do.

LEGACY & COMMUNITY GIVING

In Memory of Norman Cole II: A $5,000 Donation in His Honor

Some people leave a mark on an organization that can’t be measured in years of service or titles held. Norman Cole II was one of those people.

Norman Cole, Jr., a second-generation nurseryman, greatly influenced the horticulture community in West Virginia and beyond. He contributed significantly to the West Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association, serving as president and a long-time member. His son Norman Cole III continues the family tradition as owner of Cole Nurseries and Little Plants, LLC in Pipestem, WV, along with his wife, Missy.

In his memory, WVNLA is honoring his legacy with a $5,000 donation. The recipient of this gift is still being finalized, and will be announced in the coming weeks, but the spirit behind it is clear: Norman Cole II gave to this industry, and this industry intends to give back in his name.

Donations like this are one way WVNLA lives out its values. We are more than a trade association. We are a community, and communities take care of each other.

“We are more than a trade association. We are a community, and communities take care of each other.”

CLOSING

One Month. Four Stories. One Mission.

A scholarship winner heading to WVU. $5,000 in research grant funding flowing into WVU’s Davis College. A group of high school students learning what it means to work in the green industry. A donation made in memory of a man who gave this association his best years.

These aren’t separate initiatives. They are expressions of the same commitment WVNLA has held since 1939 to the professionals who make up our membership, to the state they serve, and to the industry they’re building together.

Spring is a season of growth. At WVNLA, we take that seriously, not just in the ground, but in the people, the research, and the communities that make West Virginia’s green industry what it is.

If you’d like to get involved with WVNLA, whether as a member, a volunteer, a committee participant, or simply someone who wants to support what we’re building, we’d love to hear from you.

Visit us at wvnla.org