PlantAmerica NewsRoom

Joel Albizo, former senior director of association and member services with the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA), has joined the management team of PlantAmerica, an expanding green industry technology firm.

“Joel is a great asset to our team,” said PlantAmerica Chairman Rick Webel, “his broad industry knowledge, management and technical skills, and industry-specific technology experience will play a key role in realizing our goal of helping green industry businesses take advantage of the Internet.”

Albizo joined ANLA in 1998 as director of public relations and became progressively responsible for membership services, publications, marketing, member research, and Internet strategy. He was promoted to senior director of association and member services in 1999, and played a key role in the development and introduction of many ANLA initiatives, including the development and repositioning of the ANLA Web site.

Albizo joins existing PlantAmerica staff members Webel, Donna Moramarco, and Mark Wasserman. Moramarco, a 22-year veteran of cooperative extension with advanced degrees in horticulture, joined the firm in 1999. Wasserman, an architect with a strong technology background, joined PlantAmerica in 1995 and has managed the firm’s operations since its inception.

PlantAmerica was co-founded in 1995 by Webel, managing partner of Innocenti and Webel—Landscape Architects, Architects & Strategic Planners, and Dr. Michael Dirr, horticulture professor at the University of Georgia and author of over 300 publications, including the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.

The company has become a key resource for the professional horticulturist, nurserymen, and design professionals, by providing an exclusive source of CD-based plant references based on the works of Dr. Dirr and Dr. Allan Armitage. PlantAmerica is currently expanding its management team and resource base to provide real-world Internet tools for the green industry.