American Floral Endowment Introduces New Tech and Language Support

The American Floral Endowment (AFE) has decades of research, educational resources, funding opportunities, and industry tools available to support the floral industry. Making those resources available is only part of the job. AFE also wants to make sure people can easily find, understand, and most importantly, use them.

As technology advances, the Endowment is finding new ways to improve that access. Visitors to both endowment.org and sustainabloom.org can now view the websites in either English or Spanish. Through newly integrated translation technology from TranslatePress, users can easily switch languages while navigating the sites. This new expansion is made possible by a generous grant from the Demaree Family Floriculture Advancement Fund. The fund focuses on initiatives that create meaningful impacts through resources, education, or advancements that benefit the industry as a whole.

For AFE, that means Spanish-speaking industry members can more easily explore its research, scholarships, internships, educational programs, funding opportunities, and more. On Sustainabloom’s site, the update provides greater access to sustainability education, planning templates, research, and other practical tools.

The capabilities of Professor Petal, AFE’s AI-powered chatbot has also greatly expanded. Developed in partnership with NEXTVERT, an innovative technology company specializing in intelligent automation, Professor Petal is designed to help industry members easily explore the Endowment’s wide range of resources.

When Professor Petal first launched on endowment.org, visitors could simply ask a question rather than search through pages of research, programs, and resources to find what they needed. Now, Professor Petal can communicate in 32 languages, making the tool useful to even more members of the floral community.

More Ways to Connect with Professor Petal

Visitors are also no longer limited to typing their questions. With the new voice feature, users can speak directly with Professor Petal and receive audible responses, creating a more conversational way to find information while still offering the traditional text chat option.

These improvements build on AFE’s ongoing partnership with NEXTVERT and the shared interest in using technology in practical ways that benefit the floral industry. The Ednowment’s relationship with NEXTVERT began through its support of Sustainabloom via QR Zipper™, a NEXTVERT company, which donates a portion of every QR Message sold to support Sustainabloom. Working together on Professor Petal provided another opportunity to explore how emerging technology could make AFE’s extensive collection of information easier to navigate and put to use.

As AI technology continues to develop, AFE sees Professor Petal as another tool for connecting people with what they need, whether that is a specific research project, scholarship opportunity, webinar, internship, or educational resource.

Building on Spanish-Language Resources for Growers

While some of these technology updates are new, increasing access to Spanish-language information is not new for AFE. The Endowment’s Thrips & Botrytis Research Library provides webinars and supporting resources in both English and Spanish. Developed from AFE-funded research addressing two of the most significant pest and disease challenges facing growers, the library was built to put practical research findings into the hands of those working directly with these issues.

AFE is also now sharing Growing Further, its quarterly newsletter developed specifically for growers, with a Spanish translation. Each issue features AFE-funded research, educational resources, upcoming opportunities, and information growers can use within their operations. Together, these efforts are helping to continue improving how AFE shares information across the industry.

Keeping Pace with How the Industry Accesses Information

AFE has supported the floral industry for 65 years, but the ways the Endowment delivers that support have changed considerably. Research reports that were once primarily distributed in print can now be searched online. Educational programs can reach participants virtually. AI can help someone locate years of research in seconds or instantly answer an application question that might once have required a phone call. Translation technology can make those same resources available to a broader audience.

AFE wants to continue taking advantage of these advancements where they can make a meaningful difference. By offering more language options and new ways to search, ask questions, and interact with its digital platforms, AFE can better connect people across floriculture with the information and opportunities available to them.

But even as the Endowment embraces new technology, there are still people behind all of these resources. The AFE team is always available to answer questions, help someone find what they need, or simply connect directly. These tools are not meant to replace that personal connection, but to give the industry more ways to reach AFE and access its programs and resources.

As technology continues to change, AFE will continue looking for practical ways to use it while maintaining the personal connections at the heart of the Endowment. These efforts will help AFE better serve the floral industry and connect more people with the research, programs, and resources available to them.