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The Senate voted yesterday to revive the comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes language from AgJOBS. "Revival of the Senate bill is good news for moving the process forward," says SAF's Jeanne Ramsay, senior director of government relations. "There is still a chance the Senate can complete work before the Fourth of July recess and send the bill over to the House." 

It has been almost a year since a federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana's state licensing exam was dismissed, but the state's florists still are weighing the effect it has on their industry.

Furthering a successful online business operation was reportedly the major motivation behind Colorado-based Veldkamp's Flowers' decision to close five of its seven stores in early June. This recent action comes on the heels of the florist's decision to become a 1-800-Flowers.com franchise two years ago.

Former members of the Preferred Florist Network (PFN) are now out thousands of dollars after a rumored shutdown of the company, with no warning or explanation by owner Thomas Meola.

The Governing Board of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) voted for a two-year extension of floral rules on the taxation of wire orders at its Detroit meeting last week

Canada has recently imposed new requirements on cut flowers imported from California, in response to the discovery of light brown apple moths in the state earlier this year.

A florist in Portland, Maine, has joined with a national charity to help keep deployed soldiers in touch with their loved ones with thousands of calling cards.

Floral Management "cover girl" and SAF Palm Springs 2007 presenter Deborah De La Flor, AIFD, PFCI, of De La Flor Gardens in Cooper City, Fla., recently added another title to her repertoire: winner of a Florida State Florist's Association lifetime achievement award

Small-business owners are acknowledging the "going green" trend; but are they, and their customers, willing to pay more for the environmentally friendly products?

Trying to come up with a new ad strategy for the fall? Effectively reaching customers may depend as much on their general disposition as the message and medium you choose.

With the much ballyhooed debut of the iPhone just two days away (June 29 at 6 p.m.), E-Brief editors spoke to some floral industry technophiles about whether they'll be among the hoards of people camping out to pay $500 or more for Apple's newest handheld gizmo (Have you missed the hype? Check out Apples' 20-minute video on it).

Love is often in the air at flower shops, but if a new workplace survey is any indication, it's thicker than you think.

Most people who know Art Conforti of Beneva Flowers & Gifts in Sarasota, Fla., already are familiar with his shop's "Yes We Can Commitment," which empowers employees to do anything but say "no" to a customer. What they may not know is just how far the longtime florist is willing to go to make a miffed customer happy again.

"Most of what you see today in the green movement is voodoo marketing ... If they say their product makes the sky bluer and the grass greener, that's just not good enough."

If your answer is "I don't know" then don't miss nationally-renowned generational marketing expert Ann Fishman at SAF Palm Springs 2007. 

Drop the poster board and magic markers. Get with the times as SAF's Professional Floral Communicators - International (PFCI) shows how to use PowerPoint to your business' advantage during the workshop "Powerful Presentations with PowerPoint," on July 11 in conjunction with the AIFD National Symposium in Palm Desert, Calif.

E-Brief editors have recently received two reader reactions to past E-Brief stories:

One florist is completely remodelling her design room and looking for flooring that is easy to clean and as "non-skid" as possible. Any suggestions?

Fourty-three percent of readers responding to last week's e-poll said Father's Day sales decreased, compared to last year's. About 42 percent said sales remained the same, and 15 percent said sales increased.

Want to know how you measure up to the competition? Try FloraTrac, SAF's market share reporting system.

The value of fresh cut flowers coming into the U.S. from Ecuador grew to $141.4 million in 2006, up from approximately $129.3 million in 2005. Roses, which were valued at almost $83 million in 2006 accounted for 58 percent of the total cut flower import value from Ecuador.