Remembering the 1990s:
MALTA presidents recall a decade of growth

"1994-95 was MALTA's 11 th year. I had the pleasure of serving with Dick Bare, Ken Morrow, Todd Tibbitts, and Jean Ray. By the mid '90s, the association had a strong guest speaker program, accessible seminar and pesticide certification programs, a revamped awards program (led by Strickland), excellent legislative monitoring by the Georgia Agribusiness Council, summer dinner meetings, our first golf outing, and the only industry-specific insurance program in the state. Our friend, Arthur A. ‘Buck' Jones, won our Pioneer Award for 1995.

A special mention is in order regarding Charlie King and the golf tournament. I wished for a video camera as he waded into the lake to retrieve his new driver, earning the nickname ‘Submarine King'. Oh well, we were wet from the rain anyway.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden was a great backdrop for our monthly meetings, but did you know about the ‘dinner before the dinner'? Somehow a little tradition started of gathering at Fat Matt's Rib Shack on Piedmont Road about 5:00 on meeting day. Always some good laughs and great BBQ. Charlie King, Ken Morrow, George Morrell, David Brown, and John Strickland were among a revolving group who would then walk into the MALTA dinner meeting at 6:30 already stuffed, with sauce on our chins.

Some of the industry issues of the time included the upcoming '96 Atlanta Olympics (no one knew how we were gonna pull that off!), 17.4" of rain in July, ALCA Career Days at North Metro Tech, and networking with other trade groups.

MALTA has, in many ways, been built on relationships. There is great long-term value in our willingness to share business ideas with each other, to engage long-term with the likes of Gary Black and Bryan Tolar at GAC, to work with other trade associations, and to invest time with our legislators and regulators. Not enough can be said about what Mary Kay's efforts contribute to this, nor about the value of the commitment of our current Board. The opportunities and needs are greater than ever!"

Bret Bowlin
MALTA President, 1994-95

"1996 was the year that the Olympics came to Atlanta, along with quite a few landscape companies taking advantage of Atlanta's beautification plans. All in all, it was a rather exciting and prosperous time for the landscape and landscape-related industries.

MALTA was making quite a few major improvements to help benefit its membership, including the roll out of the Landscape Source, hugely successful job fairs, and our first ever website.

To help explain and present the concept of a website to the membership, we enlisted the help of Cla Allgood to make a presentation with me to the membership at our monthly meeting at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. After all was presented and explained, we asked for questions. The best question and answer came when someone asked if we really thought the Internet was going to be as big as we thought it would be.....and Cla's answer was, ‘That's the same thing they asked about indoor plumbing.'"

John Strickland
MALTA President, 1996-97

"MALTA was soaring to new levels of membership during the late 1990s.

Our main focus was on education and the good work of previous boards fruited during my presidency.

We wanted a certified educational program and had the funds to do it. GGIA had a certified program but lacked the funds to make it happen. John Strickland, past president of MALTA, worked hard to bring the two organizations together to establish the Georgia Certified Landscape Professional (GCLP) statewide certification program that means so much to our industry today. "

Steve Heard
MALTA President, 1998-99

"MALTA played a key role in my early career. 

I still remember my absolute amazement at the concept that companies that should be competitors were meeting and collaborating in the ‘MALTA' way.  We have been so fortunate through the years to have had great leaders and great members. The friendships formed have lasted and still bear fruit and I will always be grateful for them. Here's to many more."

Mark Banta
MALTA President, 1999-2000

Remembering the beginning:
The first MALTA presidents tell tales from the 1980s