Growers receive EAGL certifications

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Dr. Charlie Hall (Ellison Chair for International Floriculture) has announced the graduation of the fourth cohort of the elite Executive Academy for Growth & Leadership (EAGL) program for nursery and greenhouse growers. Nine industry leaders received their continuing education Certificate in Applied Horticultural Business Management from Texas A&M University on Feb. 2, 2017. 

The EAGL program is a public-private partnership specializing in strategic business skills for commercial horticulture. It is an intense and personalized 9 month long, multi-module curriculum designed to improve the competitive position and profitability of the participants’ companies.  

Program partners StandPoint (Kip Creel) and MonkeyBar Management (Kellee O’Reilly and Corey Bordine) were on hand to celebrate the graduates’ achievement and join Dr. Hall and Texas A&M University in congratulating the Epsilon cohort of the EAGL program on achieving their certification:  

Tommy Dudley (R.A. Dudley Nursery, Georgia), Rich Hesselein (Pleasant Run Nursery, New Jersey) Bill Jones (Carolina Native Nursery, North Carolina), Tom Knezick (Pinelands Nursery, New Jersey), Daryl Kobesky (Pleasant Run Nursery, New Jersey), Bart Olson (Olson's Greenhouses, Utah/Colorado) Chad Olson (Olson's Greenhouses, Utah/Colorado), Steve Sloan (ColorPoint Greenhouses, Kentucky)  Bradd Yoder (Star Roses & Plants, Pennsylvania) 

These graduates now join their peers from prior classes in the EAGL Network. The fifth group – the Zeta cohort – is accepting applications now (four available seats remain) and will begin their curriculum in June 2017 (note that direct competitors are not accepted in the program in the same year.).  To learn more about the curriculum, visit www.eaglnetwork.com. 

Photo: The fourth growers’ Executive Academy for Growth & Leadership (EAGL) class received certifications on February 2, 2017 in Atlanta, GA. The nine graduates are pictured with their faculty advisors. (L to R: Dr. Charlie Hall (faculty), Kellee O’Reilly (faculty), Tommy Dudley, Bradd Yoder, Bart Olson, Rich Hesselein, Daryl Kobesky, Tom Knezick, Chad Olson, Bill Jones, and Kip Creel (faculty). Photo Credit: Corey Bordine, MonkeyBar Management