When it was announced that Jim Duncan was the Executive Director of Memphis Botanic Garden, Jim received an e-mail from a long-time friend. “You don’t know a grapefruit from a gladiola, how are you going to run a botanic garden?” The plant experts were in place, and the skills needed were management, leadership, and ability to generate revenue.

Jim’s management style fit well, as he had routinely led broken business units back to productivity during his career with Mead Johnson/Bristol Myers as a Memphis sales representative, Kansas City District Manager, U.S. Regional Manager in Atlanta, Eastern U.S. Director, and then Division President with Smith and Nephew.

With membership at an all-time low, poor funding, mounting debt, and morale described by one staff member as “without hope and faced with unfilled promises,” Jim, with a big smile,  told his wife, Elizabeth, “I have been thrown back into my brier patch.”

With the guidance of Barbara Prescott, Jim and his staff developed a five-year plan, with long-term goals sectioned into ninety-day bites. The word “try” was eliminated, and the measurement was “Did it get done or not?”

Management direction focused on earned income, rentals, events, plant sales, programs, and Live at the Garden concerts. Membership, sponsorship, and donor plans were developed to supplement earned income.  Accomplishments, debt elimination, balanced budgets, and restored confidence soon became the norm rather than the exception. Today, MBG operates with a debt-free balanced budget and has received the highest rating possible for financial management by Charity Navigator.

All individual gardens have been upgraded, membership increased over 400%, visitor attendance is at record levels, and in 2010 the youth education program served 44,000 children, 4.5 times the national average for large public gardens.

Major construction projects have accompanied MBG’s growth, including a new Horticulture Center, Blecken Pavilion, water feature in the Anne Stokes Butterfly Garden, the acclaimed 2.25-acre My Big Backyard family garden,and renovation of Goldsmith Auditorium

New horticultural areas have been created, notably the Hydrangea Garden, Desert Garden, Container Garden, Prehistoric Plant Trail, Azalea Trail, Herb Garden, Daylily Circle, Fern Trail, Panicle Hydrangea area, and a one-of-a-kind Wildlife Photography Garden.

Special recognitions and awards highlight the Garden’s growth and progress. The once struggling Live at the Garden concert series is now being named the best event in Memphis and recognized throughout the Mid-South. The Tennessee Department of Urban Forestry awarded MBG its highest Level-4 Arboretum designation, making it one of only four in the state. The American Hosta Society recognized the Garden’s Hosta Trail as one of fifteen designated Hosta Trails in the U.S.

Jim commented, “All of these accomplishments were a total team effort, and I have been blessed to be a part of it.”