Design shows, business sessions and networking highlighted this year’s Great Lakes Floral Expo, “Floral Fantasy.” The annual event, held in Grand Rapids, MI, attracted floral industry members from Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. The Michigan Floral Association, which sponsors the event, said that attendance was up 8 percent this year.

On March 6 the Association of Flower Importers of Florida, located in Miami and a member of Globally Grown, partnered with Miami International Airport to celebrate International Women’s Day. More than 150 volunteers from AFIF and MIA handed out over 20,000 stems of fresh flowers to women arriving at the airport.

It is amazing what the floral industry can do when we work together. There is no clearer example than International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on Sunday, March 8. This year, Women’s Day matured into a substantial holiday, as American consumers gravitated to the idea of celebrating women with flowers.

Dirk Hogervorst, strategy, marketing and business development manager at FloraHolland in the Netherlands, will leave the company after more than 25 years, according to a news release.

The United States Department of Agriculture is required to administer a continuation referendum for the National Mango Board every five years. This referendum will be held April 6-17. Importers and first handlers who handled at least 500,000 pounds of mangos during the 2014 calendar year are eligible to vote, and all those eligible will be receiving a ballot directly from USDA.

Grow Farms Texas, a joint venture between the Horton Fruit Co. and Ciruli Bros. LLC, based in Donna, TX, has named Gretchen Kreidler director of business development.