Generation Next

The Baby Boomers are retiring and it’s up to the next generation to lead the Green Industry.

We’d like to introduce you to some up-and-coming leaders, and reveal their plans to improve the industry and their predictions for the future.

Their ideas are compelling and some are revolutionary. They look at life and business differently than their parents and grandparents.

Our subjects represent nursery growers, greenhouse operations and garden center retailers. Their determination and their attitudes are vital to the success of this industry. The lessons they can impart, as well as the lessons they take from the older generation, will help boost this industry to produce innovative, superior businesses, plants and services.

Brother and sister embrace tradition, fulfill bold ideas

Meet Ashley and Derek Ahl, partners, Northern Family Farms

Ashley and Derek Ahl grew up on their family’s massive farm in west-central Wisconsin, spending weekends and summers helping their parents and grandparents tend to plants. While Derek was always certain he wanted a horticulture career, Ashley took a much different path. For nearly 10 years she worked in the options trading industry, including a stint on the exchange trading floor in Chicago and later for one of the largest hedge funds in the United States.

“I was determined after college to make it on my own and was not prepared to head back to the farm,” she said. “It wasn’t until three years ago when my parents approached me, basically interviewed me over a dinner in Chicago, that I decided it was time to come home.”

Derek received a horticulture degree and worked at other wholesale nurseries and an independent garden center during school. Being away from the family business and getting experience from other green industry companies gave Derek a good perspective before working full time at Northern Family Farms.

“Working in retail, I got to see how customers shop, what they want and need, and what they don’t understand. It’s helped us stay on top of trends like growing plants that are good for urban areas, such as more compact plants,” Derek said.

He also learned a lesson about brands.

“Many consumers are confused by brands, especially those without enough market penetration. That’s why we’ve gone with the HGTV Home Plant Collection and are growing some of their Smart and Stylish line of shrubs. It’s a name that the majority of consumers know and trust,” he said.

Now the brother and sister are taking the helm of the business as their parents, Ginger and John Ahl, prepare for retirement.

“My time away from the family business was crucial for me. I learned a lot,” Ashley said. “Diversification was the most important thing I learned from the trading industry. You can trade one product, but to mitigate risk, you must work in a portfolio of products.”

Ashley’s goal is to develop different market strategies and to use all of the farms’ 7,200 acres to its maximum potential.

“We’re looking at other potential revenue streams to use the land and the infrastructure we have in place, like our greenhouses,” she said.

Selling cut woodies such as dogwood, willow and hydrangea in the fall is a new revenue stream for the company.

“It’s an important step to compensate for some of the lulls in production,” Derek said. “September is traditionally a slow month and shipping for nursery crops is wrapping up. It also marks the big wait before Christmas tree season.”

The company continues to diversify by growing corn and soybeans.

“We grew row crops to a small degree before 2009, but as corn prices increased, we decided to invest heavily into the crop,” Ashley said. “We now have 1,400 acres of corn and soybeans.”

Increasing corn and soybean production was also a way to hedge the labor and immigration uncertainties.

“We use the H2A program for seasonal labor, and it’s getting more cumbersome to hire workers through that program,” Ashley explained.

With an eye on marketing improvements, the pair helped start a Grown in Wisconsin tag and POP program for their nursery’s plants. The die-cut tag reads “Grown in Wisconsin” on the front and “Locally grown from our family farm” on the back. The tags first appeared in Wisconsin independent garden centers last year and customers were smitten.

“The retailer got a lot of good response last year with the tags, and we’re adding POP this year,” Derek said. “There’s a lot of brand loyalty from our residents for Wisconsin-based companies.”

The Ahl family is making this transition as smooth as possible through clear communication, not only with their parents, but with long-time employees. But Boomers need to “practice” retiring, Ashley said.

“Leave the younger generation in charge for a few weeks and let them practice running a business. Empower the next generation to take charge of a product line or a season and hold them accountable to its failure or success,” she said.

In 2012, their parents didn’t attend the MidAm trade show for the first time in 35 years.

“That was great opportunity for us to stand on our own two feet and talk to people without them there,” Ashley said.

As a young manager, Derek said not to get too wrapped up in your own lofty goals. Make sure to listen.

“In most cases successful businesses are not accidents. There is so much to learn, not only from the business leaders or owners, but also from the staff that has years of experience with the company. They’ve seen it all and from a different angle than from the top. You can learn from everyone,” he said.

For more: www.northernfamilyfarms.com.
 

Continual education through constant communication

Meet Christopher Uhland, CEO of Harmony Hill Nursery LLC

Christopher Uhland has mastered the art of observation, but does not sit quietly waiting for things to happen. Instead, he deliberates with people of all ages and experience levels in the nursery industry, asking what works, what didn’t, the whys and the why nots. At age 32, he’s the CEO of Harmony Hill Nursery in Downingtown, Penn. Communication is not only beneficial to his business, but to the entire industry. And communicating is the way to bridge the gap between the generations, he said. Gen X and Y need to learn from the Baby Boomers some of the finer details – both positive and negative, he said.

“They made mistakes and can educate us on how to improve upon them, otherwise the mistakes will be repeated where progress will halt or even regress. Just as with anything in history, we learn from our past to have a base to build off of for success.”

Uhland named some of his mentors, including Rick Hansen of Hansen Nursery, Ken Lustgarten of Baier Lustgarten Farms & Nurseries, Mike Jones of Hammell Nurseries and Jim McKenzie of Octaro Nursery.

“These are all experienced nurserymen that are leaders in their field whom I have watched, asked questions and listened to on topics ranging from production methods, plant selection, ethics, government relations and my personal family,” he said. “I hope to pull the best out of everyone I meet and build myself into a dynamic nursery professional for my peers to look to for leadership and skill sets.”

This past winter Uhland toured 18 nurseries throughout the Northeastern U.S. Some of the nurseries had been around for generations, while others were new to the industry.

“I watch and learn how they are successful, and I can adapt that to my operation. In an essence, I have not one single mentor, but an industry-wide group I can look to and learn from.”

Besides communicating within the industry, the younger generation needs to spread the story of horticulture to outsiders, with the hopes of getting more people interested in pursuing horticulture as a career.

“I feel we can get younger people interested in our industry by showing the gratification you get from growing great plant material that is used to beautify our environments,” he said. “Rarely can an individual make an impact as large as we can when we grow the plants that enhance our world; landmarks, parks, memorials, schools, homes, commercial sites, etc.  The work is hard but rewarding — a way of life more than a career.”

Uhland sees decreasing labor as the top problem for the nursery industry, so it’s critical to get more people interested in this field.

As the generational transformation continues, there is an important cause Uhland wants the new leaders to consider — a formal grading scale for plant quality.

“The single thing I’d like to see change about the nursery/greenhouse production industry is a formal grading scale for plant quality,” he said. “When bidding on plant schedules, there needs to be a stipulation other than size of the plant. Bids are usually awarded on price from the vendors but what about the quality? Have the plants been pruned properly through their life time? Are the root balls dug to specific standards? Are the roots pot bound in a small container? Have the trees been staked straight and properly? These are all questions to consider when grading.”

For more: www.hhnurseryllc.com
 

Peer group connects younger green-industry workers

Meet Josh Robinson, sales and marketing manager at Robinson Nursery

Josh Robinson grew up in the nursery business, took a brief entrepreneurial detour and returned with the goal of making the nursery industry a friendlier place for the next generation.

Getting a business degree was part of the prerequisite to work his way up in Robinson Nursery, the Amity, Ore., tree and shrub nursery his father, Rick, founded in 1984. But after developing a business plan in class his junior year, Robinson decided to try it out in the real world. He got a loan and struck out on his own with a drive-through bubble tea business. Wait, bubble tea?

“It’s like a smoothie with tapioca balls at the bottom,” Robinson said. “I was convinced it was going to be the next big thing.”

After working nine- to 12-hour days, seven days a week for a year, he barely broke even. So he went back to the nursery — where things were still hard, but at least the payoff was better.

“In a sense it was trying to take a shortcut to become more successful more quickly,” Robinson said. “I’d done the manual labor side of the nursery business for about 16 years at that point, and I knew what was awaiting me after graduation. There’s tons of pruning, staking, digging. But there I was, struggling along. Once I realized that my dad was running ideally what I wanted to start, I decided ‘I’m going to go take some lessons from the big dog on how to do this the right way.’”

Robinson, now 27, has moved up to sales and marketing manager. The position requires him to travel a lot, because like many Oregon growers, about 80 percent of their business is on the East Coast. While traveling to trade shows and customer visits, he never saw anyone his own age. So he prepared a meeting space at MANTS 2012, figuring such a large trade show must have some younger attendees, and started recruiting right on the show floor. About 25 people showed up to that first meeting, and the discussion was lively.

The group, which has evolved into the Young Nursery Professionals, has an active Facebook page, and other leaders have run meetings at tradeshows across the country.

“Our mission is to know and connect with the younger generation, because our careers are going to mature together,” Robinson said. “Why not meet somebody today that you would meet 10 years down the road if we didn’t have this meeting?”

One goal is to get the younger generation more involved in local and state nursery associations, whose leaders are mainly from the Baby Boomer generation.

“If associations don’t get a shot of fresh blood, they might start to diminish, which would be a shame because they play a huge role in research funding and politics,” he said.

Robinson is working to grow the group and schedule meetings at every major trade show. He’s also working to secure nonprofit status so the group can accept donations from nurseries.

“One cool thing I’ve found is the older generation loves to see the younger people involved and are willing to help out if they can see a contribution going to assist motivating the younger generation,” he said.

Since starting the group, Robinson is relieved to see a lot of younger people choosing the green industry as a career.

“By starting these get-togethers, I’m seeing people I’ve never seen before. We’ve always been there, we’ve just never seen one another,” he said. “Part of it is the younger people still are working their way up. They are not as visible in a company as the CEOs or sales reps you see at trade shows. Give them five years to work their way to a management spot, then they’ll be more visible.”

Robinson has been easing the fears of some growers who have holes in their succession plans and think there’s no one out there to take over the business.

“There are enough out there where young people will buy it and take that nursery on, or the nursery down the road has a young person waiting to take up the reins,” he said.

For more: www.robinsonnursery.com; www.facebook.com/pages/Young-Nursery-Professionals/165894920169211
 

New plants, new perspective

Meet Dan Demers, propagation manager at Imperial Nurseries

Dan Demers took a different path than most to the green industry. He thought he’d be a mechanic like his father, but a conservation class during his sophomore year of high school piqued his interest in plants. He got a job at a greenhouse and he was hooked. Now 29, he’s the propagation manager at Imperial Nurseries in Granby, Conn.

Demers sees more younger people around today than he did when he broke into the industry, but few with his background.

“It’s always going to be an industry that you grew up in,” he said. “There are people that get into the business like I did, but there are never going to be as many as the people who grew up in it. To be in this industry and survive, you have to live, breathe and eat this stuff. If you don’t, you just don’t make it because it’s hard and it’s stressful.”

The biggest stress factor doubles as Demers’ top issue that the industry must address: a constant demand for new varieties. The way he sees it, to reach a younger generation of customers, growers need to focus their resources on breeding.

“A young person going to a garden center, they don’t want a Nova Zembla rhodie anymore,” he said. “They want the newest Philadelphus or the newest rose. They don’t want what their grandmother had in their front yard. They want to look at the neighbors and say, ‘What do they have? I don’t want that.’

“That puts pressure on the breeders because they have to figure out a way to make all these new varieties we need. You see it time and time again. In our nursery, the new varieties outsell the old stuff by far, because that’s what everybody wants.”

Educating younger customers is another problem the industry has to solve. Demers said growers need to work with retailers to sell to a younger generation that doesn’t have the same level of plant knowledge as their parents.

“We rely on retailers to buy plants from us, but maybe they rely on us to give them ideas, too,” he said.

Demers believes the green industry’s slow embrace of technology has made the younger generation more reluctant to get involved.

However, horticulture is an old, proud profession and some methods die hard. When he hires younger people, Demers shows them the old-school way to do the job, and the new technology-aided way, so they can appreciate the advances that have been made.

“You need to learn this business literally from the dirt to the leaves,” he said. “And you need to know where we came from before you can know where we’re going.”

He recommends attending educational sessions at trade shows and learning from pros who’ve been at it longer.

“Have lunch with someone else you don’t know, and learn something from them that you didn’t expect to learn that day,” he said.

Demers also receives a lot of know-how from his membership at the International Plant Propagators Society (IPPS). He urges young professionals to join regional and state organizations.

“The IPPS motto is ‘To seek and to share,’ he said. “It’s not just about propagation, it’s about plant production. We’re all there to learn and build a network of friends and contacts, so if you don’t know an answer, maybe one of them will.”

For more: www.imperialnurseries.com
 

Embrace change, don’t resist it

Meet Susie Raker-Zimmerman, team leader of marketing and product support at C. Raker & Sons Inc.

Enacting change is a tough task when you’re part of a family-owned business. And most members of the next generation face that feat each day as they make their way into management positions. Susie Raker-Zimmerman grew up in her family’s greenhouses. C. Raker & Sons in Litchfield, Mich., was founded in 1978, three years before Raker-Zimmerman was born.

“When I was born, the doctor nicknamed me ‘Pepper’ because at the time we were growing acres and acres of peppers,” she quipped.

By age 15 she was working in the greenhouses alongside other family members. She once considered a different career path.

“Growing up I was involved in sports, and had incurred some pretty serious injuries that had to be repaired through orthopedic surgery,” she said. “After the surgeries, I was intrigued by the physical and sports therapists I worked with to get me back on the field. I always thought I would go into something medical because of my great experiences with my surgeons and therapists, however when I was committing to Michigan State University and had to decide on a major, I checked the box for horticulture and I’ve never looked back. Must be in my roots.”

Currently, there’s not a lot of new blood that comes into the green industry to drive change. She’s involved with the horticulture program at Michigan State University — a source for the industry’s future.

“They continue to turn out fantastic young professionals for our industry. We need to make sure as an industry that we are embracing them and the perspective that they bring. They are the demographic we are trying to tap into. We need to pay attention to their wants and needs,” she observed.

And it’s that younger generation that will embrace and push for change in this industry.

“Our industry doesn’t change fast enough. The world is changing at a fast pace and the way consumers shop is changing, as well. Our industry is slow to embrace these changes.”

She envisions a significant change once the younger generation takes over.

“The younger generation of this industry, although small, we are quite mighty. I’ve been involved with the Generation Next Committee at OFA and I’m always floored by the passion that comes out of those meetings,” she said. “It will be interesting to see how quickly our industry evolves and changes as more young people come into management positions.”

Some of those evolutions include how plants are marketed to the end consumer.

“Our products are often classified as ‘luxuries.’ We need to start communicating that our products are not luxuries but necessities. Our products feed and enrich lives and improve the environment through beauty, soil quality and air quality,” she said.

Part of that transformation includes ending or significantly reducing margin erosion.

“This is one of the biggest problems facing our industry. We have all had to cut costs and reduce spending just to stay in business. However, the cost of doing business has increased. As an industry we have to be able to increase prices to consumers to a level that allows all of us within the distribution chain to be profitable.”

One of the ways the next generation will enact these changes is through transparency.

“My generation is very skeptical of information. We also talk and share very openly with each other. We don’t want to hear the company line, we want to hear the 100 percent truth. We crave brutal reality. I think you will see a lot more transparency in information within businesses and across businesses as we move into management positions.”

For more: www.raker.com; www.ofa.org
 

Teaching young consumers the value of plants, IGCs

Meet Pamela Baker, retail manager and hard goods buyer at Baker’s Acres Greenhouse

Pamela Baker is putting her fashion and retail merchandising degree to good use. The 29-year-old retail manager and hard goods buyer for Baker’s Acres Greenhouse started working at eventual husband Nick Baker’s family business after college.

“It really was fun, when I started doing displays in our greenhouse, because the plants make everything more beautiful,” she said. “I don’t have to do as much work as I used to do in the clothing industry.”

Baker’s Acres was founded in 1982 by Nick’s parents, Chris and Nancy Baker. It has about three acres of growing space and about 10,000-15,000 square feet of retail. They grow 90 percent of their own annuals and the majority of their perennials.

Baker says the biggest problem facing the green industry today is gaining the younger consumer.

“I see it happening in our own garden center,” she said. “We need to teach people in my generation that it’s not entirely time-consuming to do this. We’re all so busy. I’m super busy all the time but I make time to garden. Tell them ‘it’s not going to take you all day.’ That’s a big selling point for the younger generation. You don’t have to be like your grandmother and prune your roses all weekend. There are easy-care, low-maintenance plants they can grow at home. You could just plant a couple containers; that’s all you need to do to add some spice to your yard.”

The second major issue Baker sees for the green industry is trying to get the consumer to understand the unique value of an independent garden center.

“A lot of consumers are looking for the lowest price,” Baker said. “When they come to an IGC, they don’t understand all the things we put into a plant to get it from seed to pot. We don’t just shove it on a table. We have people that can teach you how to use it.”

The way to do this, Baker says, is once you’ve got them in the door, kill them with kindness, sell them with successful products, and they will come back as repeat customers.

“To get people over that price hurdle, you have to get people to think a different way,” she said. “What are they paying for? A great plant, great service and knowing what to do with the plant when you get it home.”

One of the most visible ways Baker’s Acres differentiates itself from big-box green retailers is its catalog, which is jam-packed with jokes. The Bakers’ sense of humor extends to the company website, as well.

“You don’t expect to go shopping for plants and get a few laughs while you’re there,” Baker said. “We try to put a little lightheartedness in everything we do, because gardening is fun and plants are fun.”

With such a positive attitude, it’s no wonder her pet peeve is the negativity she has seen in her industry.

“The younger generation is going to help, to do whatever we can,” she said. “Some people fear our industry may become obsolete, but this younger generation is not going to let that happen. We are going to drive it into people that we are here to stay, and consumers will keep coming to our stores. We will keep adapting and doing what we need to do to keep those customers.”

For more: www.bakersacresgreenhouse.com
 

Persistence pays off

Meet James Moylan, annual and perennial buyer at Ray Wiegands Nursery and Garden Center

Tenacity is one of James Moylan’s top character traits. At the age of 14, he wanted a pond in his backyard. He convinced his parents to let him install one. After traveling to Ray Wiegands Nursery and Garden Center for months, he was convinced he wanted to work there.

“Unfortunately, I was too young to apply. I waited a couple years and was eventually hired. I decided to make it a career after high school and attended Michigan State University for my horticulture degree,” he said.

Moylan didn’t inherit a green industry job from a family business. But he was inspired by a DIY project and the store that sold him the goods. To reach more kids like him, Moylan wants to see green industry career paths introduced in schools in high school or earlier.

“I don’t feel there are enough young people entering the industry. I personally think the only way to get them interested in it is to go into more schools and explain all the opportunities. Explain there is more than just flowers, and the industry can be pretty exciting. I would have loved something in high school like this to get me started,” he said.

But at the college level, trade organizations are involving students through volunteer opportunities, he said.

“Students are engaged and excited because of their involvement in the hustle and bustle of the trade shows. It’s a great way to really see all aspects of the industry and meet a vast range of people and companies.”

And universities need to tweak the horticulture programs to include more real-world experience, he said.

“I think colleges and universities need more real-life experience the student can really utilize in their future job. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a ton of information that has been useful to me, but I also learned about things I will never use. Include lessons on finding out what chemicals will kill what bugs and diseases, and how to effectively sell products and interact with consumers,” he advised.

As the next generation takes over the green industry, Moylan predicts the proliferation of more simplistic landscapes, and more grab-and-go items for consumers.

“Younger generations suffer from a lack of time. Baby boomers don’t mind working harder and enjoying the time they put into their landscape or homes. The new generation wants a quick, good-looking landscape with minimal work and upkeep.”

For more: http://wiegandsnursery.com
 

An experienced perspective

The new and future green-industry leaders have exhilarating ideas and plans, but veteran nursery owners still have plenty of wisdom to share.

Mark Krautmann, owner of Heritage Seedlings in Salem, Ore., was thrilled to learn about the Young Nursery Professionals group.

“It’s great to see young people getting into the growing and retail business, and have a way to connect,” Krautmann said.

The industry has matured and consolidated, and businesses will be in fewer hands. This represents a “huge opportunity” for the younger generation to commit to the industry, he added.

“There’s an enormous range of new patented plants in the works, as well as the opportunity for innovation. The next generation will drive that,” he said.

Taking over growing and retail operations will not be an easy task.

“The maturity of the industry has created some difficult aspects of horticulture and the industry is more volatile,” he said. “The next generation’s challenge is how to lead the business forward, not just respond to trends.”

The real challenge, he said, is understanding how product flows through the supply chain.

“Growers my age were content to stay on the farm and crank out plants. Not many of us spent much time in a garden center or paid much attention to the supply chain. We were mostly concerned with getting enough product grown and delivered, period.” he said. “But the next generation must know how essential each segment of the industry is and spend time in all of those segments. The process of change is so rapid, and they have to understand all the forces at work driving demand at the retail level.”

Krautmann expects the younger generation to focus more on specialty crops and selling in regional markets.

The generations can make the change of command a smooth transition. But the Baby Boomers who are currently running their businesses must have a strategic vision to help the shift to the next generation. Krautmann said Boomers need to “learn when to get off the train, or at least take a step back.”