Speedling CEO Robbins Resigns

By Greenhouse Grower staff|March 5, 2008

David Robbins, president and CEO of Speedling, Inc., has resigned after two-plus years with the company. He factored extensive travel and the desire to spend more time with his family into his decision.

Mike Samilian has assumed the role of acting CEO. He is the current vice president of Speedling, a leading plug and and liner producer ranked eighth among Greenhouse Grower’s Top 100 Growers with 5,396,767 square feet of greenhouse production. Twenty-three percent of it was offshore.

As president and CEO, Robbins increased sales of finished potted plant crops, introduced and commercialized new products in forage and energy grasses, improved decision-making tools, modified financial accounting of inventory, and developed and implemented costing and pricing models for ornamentals.

Robbins got his start in agriculture in 1974, when he was plant manager for a frozen foods company. He moved up to CEO nine years later before moving on to Greenheart Farms in California, which he served as COO and CFO. Robbins worked for Northwest Horticulture in Mt. Vernon, Wash., before getting his start at Speedling in January 2006.