Rod Crittenden, president of the National Alliance of Floral Associations (NAFA), envisions a time when all florists can get certified by their states, and he hopes NAFA will help make it happen.

At its recent annual meeting, NAFA agreed to purchase the domain www.certifiedflorists.com. It plans to develop the Web site to promote state certification programs and provide information to florists who want to become certified.  "A lot of industry members ask us how they can get certified ... and we wanted to provide them with a central location where they can get information," says Crittenden.

For state programs to be included in the new Web site, which is "coming soon," Crittenden says, they must be a NAFA member and cover certain areas in their certification, including: care and handling, flower and plant identification, management, basic design and merchandising display.

Crittenden says he's an advocate for florist certification, because "it is a great way to distinguish yourself as a professional and facilitate personal growth." He estimates that only about 20 percent of states have certification programs. "A lot of associations don't have paid staff — it is hard for an association run by 100 percent volunteers to put together a program of this nature."

He says NAFA plans to remedy this problem by offering a national certification program to "create consistency of knowledge on a national level." The new Web site also will "play a role in the national certification program," which is still "in the works," says Crittenden.

NAFA was started in the late 1990s by the Illinois State Florists' Association's board of directors as a way for different associations to meet once a year and share ideas. Crittenden says five associations met at its first annual meeting — this year, 14 were in attendance.

Read more about other news from the annual meeting.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

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