Originally appeared in Dec. 1999 issue of Greenhouse Grower
Leap Of Faith
1999 Grower Of The Year Lorence Wenke built his
business on the belief that
he could always sell more.
by DELILAHONOFREY
Group Editor
“If you build it, sales will come” is a motto that captures Lorence Wenke’s enthusiasm, which has guided Wenke Greenhouses’ phenomenal growth in new markets throughout his career. That optimism, combined with his dedicated industry and community leadership and his commitment to quality, high-volume production, make him GREENHOUSE GROWER’s choice for 1999 Grower of the Year.
Like many growers in Kalamazoo, MI, Wenke’s family started producing celery in mucklands and then switched to growing bedding plants in the 1960s. Lorence’s father, Chris, was a key founder of the Kalamazoo Valley Plant Growers Co-op in 1967.
Of the six Wenke children, Lorence had the most interest in the business and purchased it from his father in 1971. Under Lorence’s leadership, Wenke Greenhouses has grown from 1 acre to 34 acres of greenhouse space, with wholesale production facilities in Michigan and Georgia and a retail garden center in Kalamazoo. Outside the business, he has launched a career in local politics and is finishing his third term as a Kalamazoo county commissioner.
Lorence runs the business with brother Dennis, daughter Lisa, and her husband, Andy Ambrosio. Son Jeff is an ordained minister in California. They’re all owners of the business. Wife Nancy helped build the business in the early years but now has a career in nursing. Key managers Kevin Koeppler, Bob Colton, and Mike McCook run Wenke’s SunBelt Greenhouses facility in Douglas, GA.
Having Northern and Southern facilities allows Wenke to maximize production and distribution to serve markets in both climates. “We’re one of the first and one of the last in plant sales each season,” Lorence says.
Ranked No. 28 on our annual Top 100 Growers list, Wenke Greenhouses is more diverse in its markets than other large operations that specialize in serving chain stores. While the Wenkes sell most of their finished plants to chains and independent garden centers through the co-op, they also sell about $1 million in plants at their retail garden center in Kalamazoo.
They’re also expanding prefinished business in plugs and cuttings as a rooting station for Paul Ecke Ranch’s and Fischer’s spring lines and poinsettias. They also propagate a number of unpatented varieties from stock plants.
“We’re going for diversity,” Lorence says. “If more than half your business is with one customer, I think you are very much at risk. We are a diverse company, which allows us to increase our financial security and keep in touch with the marketplace.”
Having a retail outlet helped Wenke’s jump on the vegetative annuals trend. “We quickly realized how popular they were when we ran out with customers and couldn’t get anymore,” he says. “You soon learn what really sells with your own retail outlet.”
The garden center is currently at the original production site, which still has wooden, A-frame greenhouses. Wenke hopes to build a modern garden center on a nearby 15-acre parcel owned by the local school district and a church. Real estate negotiations are in the works.
Beyond retail, the next market frontier the Wenkes will explore is cyberspace. Daughter Lisa is working with consultants on developing a Web site that will feature online availability of plugs and rooted cuttings and allow growers to place orders through brokers. An online presence for the garden center and wholesale finished plant division will follow later.
Always An Entrepreneur
The first gleam of Lorence’s entrepreneurial spirit shone when he was a boy selling celery stalks, his brother Dennis says. “When Lorence was in seventh and eighth grade, he sold stalks on the corner like a barker, knocked on doors, and did a lot of cold calling, asking people if they’d like to buy celery,” he says.
Dennis says Lorence’s optimism and faith in the business sets him apart from other growers. “I can remember when we were building a new greenhouse range 15 years ago, sitting there in the middle of May covered with muck, asking ourselves if we should spend $75,000-$80,000,” he says. “Lorence said, ‘Let’s go for it!’ He always believed the business would turn out well.”
This positive attitude contrasted sharply with the generation of growers before them in Kalamazoo, he adds. “Our fathers were extraordinarily conservative Christian Reformed businessmen,” he says. “They bought a 2-by-4 and cut it in half to get two rafters out of one. If they were producing 10,000 flats and were considering adding 2000 more, they’d say, ‘Who’s going to buy more flowers? Nobody. Don’t flood the market and build another greenhouse.’ What separates Lorence is when somebody says, 'I’ll buy 50,000 flats,’ he grows 70,000. We’ve always produced more than customers ordered, which spurs growth.”
Lorence agrees a positive outlook is essential for success. “Many growers want a crop sold before they build a greenhouse, but through pessimism, they never build more,” he says. “I’ve always believed we can sell more. There were only a few years that we had too much. Most of the years, we didn’t have enough.”
Turning Up Volume
The Wenkes have added an acre of greenhouse each year for the past 15 years to both the Georgia and Michigan facilities. Although the Georgia range is a little more sophisticated than the one in Michigan, neither would be considered high-tech, Lorence says. “I don’t think bedding plants require a $25-per-square-foot greenhouse,” he says. “The typical Kalamazoo greenhouse is $5- $10 per square foot. We’re not high-tech, but we do well with efficient layouts and a good organization of people. We’re focused on volume and quality at a fair price.”
The 15-acre Kalamazoo facility is completely flat with concrete aisles, and each house is nearly identical. “We’re going for uniformity,” he says. “When every house is the same, employees don’t have to think about how to pick up or put down plants or make new rows or aisles.”
One newer investment is a Flier sticking line for cuttings. Two tiers of conveyor belts bring trays with rooting medium to employees, who each have a cooler full of cuttings. “It organizes the whole process,” Lorence says. “Before, it was hard to keep track of who was productive and who wasn’t.”
The Georgia facility evolved differently because it started out as 5 acres of greenhouse owned by another company that declared bankruptcy. SunBelt’s greenhouses are a sawtooth design to let heat escape. The facility also has rolling benches and a shipping system that uses conveyor belts to move product to a central shipping point.
“Growing plants in Georgia’s sunshine is an extraordinary experience,” he says. “In Michigan, 5 out of 7 days are cloudy, but in Georgia, only 2 out of 7 days are cloudy. We can produce better early spring crops. As growers, we’ve learned how to deal with temperatures ranging from 10 degrees below zero to 100 degrees above.”
Both Lorence and Dennis marvel at how well they’ve done running a large facility 1000 miles away. “Georgia is an absentee-owner situation that has worked well for 17 years, which is unusual,” Lorence says. “I give a lot of credit to managers Kevin Koeppler, Mike McCook, and Bob Colton, who have a great deal of integrity and have acted and thought as owners of a company would.”
They bridge the distance with frequent conference calls and visits to both facilities. There’s also an elected employee advisory committee that acts as an organized voice to communicate employee concerns.
Passion For Politics
Speaking of elections, Lorence will be up for re-election next year, when his third term as Kalamazoo county commissioner will expire. He has really enjoyed serving in local government and is considering running for a state representative seat this time, he says.
“I’ve found that the people who go to government meetings are people who really care,” he says. “They have a lot of community spirit and interest. Politics does not deserve the negative image held by the general public. Most citizens never go to a government meeting and only know what is shown on TV or in the paper. That’s just a small fraction of the sides of an issue that need to be considered.”
Wenke is active in the Republican party and attends state and national conventions. He has met bigwigs like former senator Bob Dole, New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and publisher Steve Forbes. He even provided plants to decorate the stage when President Bill Clinton was in town, even though he’s a Democrat.
Up On The Issues
Locally, growers really need to pay attention to land-use regulations, Lorence says, adding that Kalamazoo has two growers on its planning commission.
Growers also need to become more sensitive to environmental concerns, he adds. “It’s so easy to ignore or think it doesn’t matter,” he says. “That’s the old world. In the new world, you’d better be environmentally friendly. It makes good common sense. Plus, the cost of cleaning up pollution is enormous.”
Many Kalamazoo growers no longer use wells because of groundwater pollution caused by a local manufacturing plant. “We’re on city water because the groundwater is unsafe to drink,” he says. “My health-conscious father was drinking a glass of water when the authorities pulled up and said, ’Your water is polluted. Don’t drink anymore.’”
In Michigan, Wenke is investing $50,000 in a new building that will segregate fertilizers, chemicals, and injectors from the rest of the greenhouse. “We have enough sprayers and chemicals that we need to consolidate for efficiency and environmental concerns,” Lorence says. “Runoff will drain into holding tanks. We’re doing it right so the environmental impact will be negligible.”
One issue growers need to champion on Capitol Hill is increasing the availability of legal migrant workers. “I am working with state and federal legislatures to make it easier to get guestworkers,” he says. “There are laws being considered that could significantly impact labor availability. In the American world of agriculture, we depend on guestworkers right now. We should not kid ourselves. We can’t function without them. Under the current immigration laws, the potential to lose your workforce is very real.”
He says the best way to shape government policy is by supporting and participating in organized industry groups. “Politics taught me an organized voice is important and that a group of a few can influence millions,” he says. “But for most growers, it’s hard to measure the benefit of an organized industry voice. It’s hard for an association to say, ’We did that for your dues,’ but all you have to have is a few laws passed that really hurt you and cost you thousands of dollars to realize the need for an organized voice.”
Legislators are passing laws, and growers should know what they’re doing, Wenke adds. “Look what’s happened already in just a few areas – the environment, immigration, pesticide/chemical use,” he says. “Most growers feel helpless, but being a member of the Society of American Florists, Bedding Plants International, or the local farm bureau can make a difference.” GG
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