Chava McKeel, Bob Helland and Michael Lee recently attended the RISE Annual Meeting in Savannah, Ga., where they met with industry colleagues, including many manufacturers and distributors of turf care products. The event included numerous legislative and regulatory policy committee meetings where the GCSAA team provided input from a golf perspective on how to address public policy issues in the year to come at the federal, state and local levels of government.  RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) is the national trade association representing manufacturers, formulators, distributors and other industry leaders involved with specialty pesticides and fertilizers. We serve as the collective voice of the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry.

The closing general session included a forward focused session exploring how technology, climate shifts and regulatory innovation are reshaping the landscape. Much of the discussion focused on the future use of Artificial Intelligence to advance regulatory efforts at the Environmental Protection Agency and drone technology and new product development.