Growing Green Hosts Annual International Conference
While many companies are withering on the vine in this harsh economic climate, Growing Green Inc. continues to sprout new accounts and cultivate loyal clients, with revenues expected to top $1.8 million in 2011.
As a testimony to Growing Green’s success, executives of interior landscaping firms as far away as England chose St. Louis for the annual, three-day conference of the National Interiorscape Network (NIN) on September 26-28. Prior conference destinations included London, Las Vegas, and Miami.
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| Susan- Missouri, William- London, Dick – Tennessee, Teddi- Washington DC |
Growing Green Operation a Key Attraction
“The main reason they came to St. Louis is to see Growing Green’s operations and learn how we operate so efficiently and profitably with a lean staff and comparatively modest facilities,” said Teri Pesapane, president of WBE Growing Green Inc., and co-founder with her husband and vice president Joel Pesapane.
According to Dick Ott, the director of the National Interiorscape Network (NIN), “Network members came to St. Louis to share best practices, benchmarking, what’s new in the industry, and to celebrate and learn from peers’ successes
Rich Conference Agenda & St. Louis Landmarks
For three full days, the Growing Green team hosted 65 conferees, ushering them through a full itinerary of educational and entertainment events, starting with a pre-conference party on Sunday evening, September 25, at the Pesapane home, an elegant, lovingly restored Victorian in the Compton Hill Reservoir Square neighborhood in the City of St. Louis.
The conference officially opened with a reception at Growing Green’s Midtown headquarters at 3954 West Pine Blvd., complete with a 2,000-square-foot showroom, which was
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| Dinner at the Jewel Box |
remodeled in 2009.
Offices, holiday workroom, staging area, warehouse, and plant holding center make up the rest of the 16,000-square-foot facility.
In addition to four professional seminars on branding, social media, and marketing held at the historic Chase Park Plaza hotel; casual dinners; and multiple opportunities for the networking and idea exchanges that attendees value, Growing Green offered a three-hour, city tour led by Teri and Joel, which culminated in an elegant dinner at the Jewel Box in
Forest Park.
A stunning greenhouse and cherished St. Louis landmark, the Jewel Box is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Speakers from Forest Park Forever, SWT Design Group, the City’s Greenhouses, and Growing Green staff all shared their insights into the Jewel Box project, which Growing Green completed in 2002.
A Model of Teamwork
“A tremendous amount of organization went into this conference, and it took an enormous team effort to make it all happen. It is because of our team of dedicated employees that the conference came to St. Louis,” said Teri.
Growing Green has 25 year-round employees who design, install, and maintain indoor plantscapes, outdoor flower displays, and holiday decorating for the company’s 400+ client facilities, both commercial and residential. Some
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Top: Craig-London, Rick- Utah Nancy – New Hampshire, Art – Tennessee, William- London
Bottom: McRae – Minnesota, Vicky - California |
employees have been with the company more than 25 years.
Growing Green provides employee training, even sending employees to other NIN member facilities as far away as Alaska to learn best practices from their peers.
The company also tracks productivity for all field employees, i.e., those who actually care for the plants installed in clients’ facilities.
“We make this productivity information available to them, including actual versus budgeted expenses, so they are empowered to control their own productivity,” Joel explained.
This high level of employee engagement is obviously working: “We conduct a customer satisfaction survey every year, and 97 to 99 percent of our clients say we meet or exceed their expectations with the value we provide,” said Joel.
NIN conference attendees were happy, too, with the experience that Growing Green provided to them as guests and visitors to St. Louis.
“Your hospitality not only to us, but to the whole group, made this one of the best NIN meetings ever. Many thanks for making our trip across the pond so worthwhile,” said William Braid, owner of Plant Designs, London, England. |
