Director of Young Plant Production for multi site production of seed and vegetative starter plants.• Led the oversight of seed and vegetative production business for Florida and North Carolina farm sites. This included management of the Total Growth Solutions (TGS) plug sales through a broker sales network.• Turned around declining sales to double digit increase.• Fine-tuned key supply chain components to add value of specific crop items and improve service to provide growth.• Managed division budget, goals, and objectives.• Reduced losses in the young plant division by almost 50%. Utilized process analysis and improved production techniques to simultaneously improve quality.• Reduced business risks by minimizing claims and losses, and improving downstream product performance. • Reduced costs by reducing grow times and shrink through process improvements. This increased production capacity with no capital expense.• Built a team of internal and external experts to assemble a high yield, high quality hibiscus stock program in just two years. • Managed and collaborated with consultants and staff to define production goals, and analyze and document all production processes to optimize quality and minimize shrink and costs.• Worked closely with and consulted to an offshore sister company to produce great volumes of high quality starter material from a large stock base. • Oversaw hiring and training of plug growers, vegetative propagation growers, head growers, operations managers, and customer service representatives. Updated and created new job descriptions to support re-structuring and organizational development.• Worked with vendors to define and implement improvements in supply chain starter materials.• Led major automation implementation utilizing Autostix™ for the propagation production line. Worked closely with vendors to leverage continuous process improvement to meet the project’s goals.

*Developed business opportunities with key accounts in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions for a 100 year old plant breeding and production company.*Created and managed marketing opportunities with key accounts in large retail and landscape programs. *Performed product evaluations and trial analysis for proper product market placement.*Created and disseminated a weekly technical product bulletin to all regional customers to enhance market presence and provide customer support.*Implemented claims reduction through customer support and internal process improvement. *Achieved 30% claim reduction through site visits, product evaluation and replacement, and customer production training.*Designed and implemented product evaluations at customer sites throughout the US and Canada, and initiated product utilization from these trials.*Presented technical and product information at trade shows and grower events in the US and Canada.*Guest speaker and trade magazine writer.

*Managed Encinitas and offsite production facilities. Created and managed budgets.*Negotiated offsite production contracts resulting in quality improvement and cost reduction.*Oversaw production quality and implemented improved production standards.*Supervised and trained staff of over 250 employees responsible for plant production, pest management, logistics, and facilities maintenance.*Developed sales growth in North American market through technical customer support and product implementation.*Created and trained staff for new technical services manager position.*Developed new key account strategies for sales growth.*Transitioned technical services to web-based customer support. Evolved to be the most widely-used industry flora-culture bulletin board with over 1200 signed-in accounts.

Held three positions during this period (Production Manager, Head Grower, and Propagation Manager)managing operations planning, product development, production support, maintenance, space and labor planning, Poinsettia and assorted spring crop propagation and finishing, and offsite contractor support.

Managed production of seed plugs and vegetative propagation of annuals and perennials. Perennial stock production, and annual stock production also. Crop finishing included various spring pots, packs, baskets, and foliage plants.

Owner and operator of a greenhouse, nursery, garden center and flower shop.