Media

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Mid-Am Dubbed Top 200 Show

Mid-Am Named One of the Fastest 50 Growing Shows

Mid-Am History

The Premier Horticultural Trade Show for More Than 35 Years!

The Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show (Mid-Am) attracts thousands of growers, landscape service providers, retailers, and suppliers to Chicago each January. The timing of the show enables buyers and planners to prepare for the growing and sales season ahead. Mid-Am is for everyone involved in growing, designing, installing, maintaining, or selling plants and related material.

Since its beginnings at the Arlington Park Convention and Exposition Center in January 1973, Mid-Am has outgrown a number of homes, moving from Arlington Park to the O'Hare Exposition Center in 1977, to the Hyatt Regency Chicago in 1981, and to Navy Pier in 1996, enabling the show to expand by 40 percent. Mid-Am outgrew Navy Pier and moved to larger quarters in 2004 to Chicago's Lakeside Center at McCormick Place and will move again to McCormick Place West.

Mid-Am is sponsored by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association (ILCA), the Illinois Green Industry Association (IGIA), and the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation (WGIF), and is endorsed by the Nursery & Landscape Associations of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

Mid-Am Attendees and Exhibitors

Mid-Am attracts a broad spectrum of horticultural professionals, including growers, nursery operators, landscape contractors, garden center and chain store buyers, grounds maintenance managers, landscape architects, florists, interiorscape professionals, public lands managers, arborists, golf course superintendents, and students. Considered by exhibitors to be one of the best order-writing trade shows of the year, Mid-Am attracts an array of influential buyers.

Attendance Record

The following is a breakdown of the show's registration numbers for recent years:

Year	Verified Registration
2008	11,538
2007	12,926
2006	12,728
2005	12,058
2004	13,086
2003	11,949
2002	11,632
2001	12,204
2000	11,844
1999	11,684
1998	11,443
1997	10,491*
1996	11,684
1995	9,543

*The drop in attendance from 1996 to 1997 can be attributed to the heavy snowfall received throughout the region during the days immediately preceding the show.

Charter Exhibitors

Among the 154 exhibitors at the first Mid-Am trade show were 29 who have continued to exhibit at Mid-Am every year since--that's 36 consecutive years! These charter exhibitors are being recognized by Mid-Am for their consistent loyalty through more than a quarter-century of horticultural excellence:

Bailey Nurseries, Inc.
Bork Nurseries, Inc.
Arthur Clesen, Inc.
Dayton Bag & Burlap Co.
Formart Containers, Inc.
Forrest Keeling Nursery
Great Western Bag Company
Greenleaf Nursery Company
Grootendorst Nurseries, Inc.
Henri Studio, Inc.
D. Hill Nursery Co.
Hines Horticulture, Ltd.
Home Nursery, Inc.
Horticultural Marketing & Printers, Ltd.

Illinois Landscape Contractors Association
Illinois Green Industry Association
Kankakee Nursery Co.
A.M. Leonard, Inc.
McHutchinson, LLC
Olsen Distributing Company
Pitulla Sales Inc.
Sato Labeling Solutions of America
Silver Creek Nurseries, Inc.
Town & Country Landscape Supply
Zelenka Nursery, Inc.

Event Features

Mid-Am features educational events including the Management Workshop and Midwinter Conference, a Student Career Center to introduce horticulture students to prospective employers, and some of the finest goods and services available to the horticultural community.

Event Facilities

McCormick Place Complex is the one of the largest convention facility in the nation consisting of four state-of-the-art buildings— Lakeside Center, North, South, and West Buildings. MidAm will now hold its annual show in McCormick Place West, which is ideally suited for a show the size of MidAm with ample room and parking that accommodates more than 10,000 vehicles. Nonstop shuttle bus service operates between McCormick Place and MidAm's headquarters hotel, the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

McCormick Place first opened for business in 1960 as a single building. After increasing volume indicated the need for expansion, subsequent buildings were constructed. Improvements include a Grand Concourse connecting the entire complex that houses retail shops and visitor attractions, and a climate-controlled pedestrian walkway that provides protected passage from the North Building, located across Lake Shore Drive, to the rest of the complex.

Officers

President: Richard Harms, Countryside Flower Shop & Nursery
Vice President: Barbara Rosborough, Rosborough Partners, Inc.
Secretary: Bill Vogel, Spring Valley Turf Products
Treasurer: Carsten Hoffmeyer, Hoffie Nursery

Directors

Steve Fiore, L.A., Rocco Fiore & Sons, Inc.
Terry Kurth, Weed Man Lawn Care
Connor B. Shaw, Possibility Place Nursery
Dave Story , Bartlett Tree Experts

Exhibitor Advisory Committee

Steve Ahrens, Best Block Co.
Mark Allgaier, John Deere Co.
Jim Bilinski, The American Plantsman
Duane H. Cotte, PMA Outdoor Equipment, Inc.
Rich Eyre, Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery, Inc.
John Hendle, Dayton Bag & Burlap
Mark Rathnaw, McHutchinson LLC
Tom Steinmetz, Reinders
Liz Miller, Mariani Nursery

Show Management

The Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show is produced by The Sanford Organization, Inc.

Rand A. Baldwin, CAE, Managing Director

Tom Conley, Assistant Managing Director
Suzanne Spohr, Show Manager

Mary Jo Ritt, Education Coordinator
Deanna Hansen, On-Site Registration Manager
Trinity Stachura, Registration Coordinator
Nancy Molenda, Communications Manager

Susan Allehoff, Web Coordinator

Show Sponsors and Show Endorsers

Mid-Am Photos
Upon request.

Mid-Am Media Contact
Nancy Molenda
Communications Manager
nmolenda@tso.net
847/526-2010