Nursery Owners and Managers

Many associations connected with the nursery and greenhouse industry are local, but the following organizations have national as well as local ties: AmericanHort's Career Center has valuable information on jobs in the industry that are located throughout the country. The Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has outreach coordinators and state coordinators for all states and territories who focus on underserved farm populations including beginning farmers and youth. Other USDA projects include the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Competitive Grants Program, designed to increase the number of young farmers, and the Student Career Experience Program, designed to connect students to work experience in their fields of study—in this case agriculture. The National Future Farmers of America Organization has special programs for students including supervised agricultural experiments and farm apprenticeships. As the largest retail trade association in the world, with members from across the United States as well as other countries, the National Retail Federation also maintains on its Web site an active posting service for employers and job seekers where you will find leads on jobs that may yield valuable retail experience.