Stars Shine at Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence Program at Cultivate’18
Greenhouse Grower held its annual Medal of Excellence event on Monday, July 16, during Cultivate’18. The awards reception celebrates greenhouse operations, plant breeders, technology companies, and other organizations that strive for excellence, and as expected, there was much of that to be found during the event.
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Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence reception and awards program took place on Monday, July 16, at Cultivate’18.
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A special thanks to all of this year’s Medal of Excellence sponsors, including title sponsor Multi-Packaging Solutions.
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Attendees enjoyed a delicious spread of appetizers prior to the awards ceremony.
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Allan Armitage, one of the award presenters during the event, was eager to kick off the festivities.
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Attendees had a chance to mingle and reflect on a busy couple of days prior to the award presentation.
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Richard Jones, Executive Editor of Greenhouse Grower, presented the evening’s first award, the inaugural Gamechanger of the Year award.
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The big winner of the Gamechanger of the Year award was the team at Seed Your Future, which was recognized for the work it has done to develop solutions for some of the industry’s most deeply rooted problems.
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In just a few years, Seed Your Future has quickly moved from talking and planning about what it wants to do, to actually doing it. In April it launched BLOOM!, a pro-active campaign created to address plant blindness (the inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment) among U.S. youth.
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The J. Berry Nursery team’s Summer Spice Hardy Hibiscus Collection was honored twice: first for Excellence for Breeding — Editor’s Choice ...
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... as well as Excellence for Breeding — Readers’ Choice.
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Nick Gerace (pictured in the center with Rick Vulgamott of Multi-Packaging Solutions — title sponsor of the Medal of Excellence program — and Greenhouse Grower Editor Laura Drotleff) was named Head Grower of the Year.
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As Head Grower at Welby Gardens, Gerace has implemented full-scale growing procedures for each of Welby’s three locations to ensure uniformity of practices throughout the operation.
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The ISO Cutting Planter from ISO Group was the first-ever Technology of the Year winner. “We continue to look for new ideas from growers and to help them find the solutions they need,” said Raymond van den Berg (right) of ISO Group in accepting the award.
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The ISO Cutting Planter plants every cutting at the same depth, giving the planting perfect uniformity as a result.
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The team at PanAmerican Seed took home two awards, one for ...
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The Vinca Tattoo Series, which received the Industry’s Choice Award for Best New Variety ...
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... and for Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit,’ which received the Industry’s Choice for Best Performing Variety award.
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Greenhouse Grower honored Dr. Royal Heins as the recipient of the 2018 Medal of Excellence for Industry Achievement. This year, the award was opened beyond the breeding realm, to honor individuals and companies that have truly advanced and impacted the entire industry throughout the course of their careers.
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Royal was not able to attend the event (although he did send a video from a hiking trip he was on in England), so accepting the award in person were Dr. John Erwin at Michigan State, and one of Royal’s students, Estuardo Arriaga.
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The final award of the evening went to Barlow’s Flower Farm, which was named Operation of the Year.
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As a smaller operation, Barlow’s leads with quality, and is one of New Jersey’s most innovative annuals producers.
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Check out the slideshow above to see some of the highlights of the festivities, including all the award winners. You’re sure to recognize a few familiar faces!
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Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. See all author stories here.