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2021 Tagawa Greenhouse intern William Billmeyer named a 2022 Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Intern of the Year

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 13:44:44 -0600

By: Tagawa Greenhouse Staff

July 5, 2022

We are pleased to announce that our 2021 Intern William Billmeyer has been awarded the 3rd annual Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Intern of the Year Award!

READ ABOUT WILLIAM'S AWARD

Will is now studying to complete his degree program and you can read about his intern experience below:

My time at Tagawa Greenhouse was an invaluable part of my education. During my six-month internship, not only was I able to apply all that I had learned from my degree program, but learned just as much, if not more, than I had in the classroom alone. Although my education had well-prepared me for a career in the horticulture industry, there truly is nothing like hands on experience in the field.

At first, I was hesitant to move halfway across the country for an internship, but I was surprised to by how much knowledge I gained from the location alone, Colorado having unique microclimates, multiple hardiness zones, and unique issues related to elevation that gave me a chance to learn about different natural ecosystems and sustainability practices.

The first four months of my internship was spent in production of young plants at the main facility in Brighton, Colorado, where I started in seeding and was able to witness the progression of the crops until they were shipped out. The majority of my time was spent under one of their head growers that oversaw germinating seedlings. From her, I learned much about the differing cultural needs of various annuals. Through both experience and detailed explanation of why we perform specific tasks, I was able to learn about irrigation, plant growth regulators, and environmental controls within a large-scale greenhouse.

In a range full of stock plants, I got hands-on experience identifying common greenhouse pests and diseases, applying biologicals, properly pruning herbaceous plants, and testing soil EC and pH. My classes had prepared me somewhat for these tasks, but I was grateful to be able to apply this knowledge in the field. Although I was unable to visit the facility where most cutting and sticking of plants occurred due to Covid-19 restrictions, I did get to spend time in the stock range and watch the cutting process on a much smaller scale and was able to care for the rooting plants.

My main task throughout the week was aiding in data collection for a patented research project. I found the problem-solving aspect enjoyable and appreciated the opportunity to learn through trial and error, as well as develop more detail-oriented techniques for handling seedlings. It was exciting to see the results of my work from growing week to growing week and be able to document it. When it came to careers, I often thought about working in a research lab, but it was eye-opening to be able to experience this type of work at a production greenhouse. It made me realize there were many more opportunities to do the things I was interested in, outside of academia.

Tagawa Greenhouse is much more than a production facility, as they also merchandise their products at big box stores, as well as their own garden center. Being able to experience a many different aspects of the industry was one of the things that drew me to Tagawa. Not only was I able to work in production, but I was able to follow their plants from shipping and distribution right into stores, where I had the opportunity to interact with the public on the retail side of things, merchandise and set up displays of our plants, and learn from experienced master gardeners at Tagawa Gardens.

It was surprising how much I learned from my retail experience, having been a gardener myself for many years. I was able to see how the Tagawa name was synonymous with both quality and knowledge. Customers at retail chains knew that their plants came from Tagawa and would turn to the garden center for both more information and product. Every department at Tagawa Gardens had an expert in their area from whom I learned everything from how to prune a rose to how to help a customer find the right fertilizer for their needs and unique location.

Most years, Tagawa takes their interns to the ProGreen Expo, but due to Covid-19, the convention was online this year, but I was still given the time to attend the virtual panels and learn more about the green industry, the challenges of growing in Colorado, and new and developing greenhouse technology. I was able to watch lectures from CSU professors and see the type of research students were involved in at the university.

After I complete my associate degree in Horticulture, I had determined that I wanted to go on and continue my education at a state university and being able to see the work done at CSU added another school for me to consider if I decide to leave Iowa. Tagawa helped put me in contact with a professor at CSU who gave me a tour of their trial gardens and arboretum, as well as introduce me to their wonderful Horticulture program.

Interning at Tagawa Greenhouse was an amazing opportunity. It gave me a better sense of the type of work in horticulture I enjoy and showed me where I could apply my interests. There are more careers that I am now considering than I was prior to my internship, as well as more contacts to help me when I finally take my place in the industry or continue my education.

The six-month term was just long enough to see all sides of production and I wish I could have spent more time there, but I do have one more year to complete in my current educational program. My college was impressed with the internship program as well, and AFE allowed my instructor to visit and tour the facility. This fall, I will be talking to first-year students about my experiences at Tagawa and with AFE, encouraging more students to apply for the Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship. The distance was well worth the experience!

— Will Billmeyer

2020 Tagawa Greenhouse intern Sherman Hartman named the 2021 Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Intern of the Year

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 13:30:52 -0600

By: Tagawa Greenhouse Staff

June 5, 2021

We are pleased to announce that our 2020 Intern Sherman Hartman has been awarded the 2nd annual Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Intern of the Year Award!

READ ABOUT SHERMAN'S AWARD

Sherman has since been promoted to Grower at Tagawa Greenhouse and you can read about his intern experience below:

When I found out that I had received the opportunity to come to Colorado to study floriculture in Tagawa’s internship program, I was beyond excited. I wasn’t sure what I would get to see and take part in before entering the program. Having heard of this program and Tagawa’s reputation, I knew I would see some new areas within the greenhouse industry that I had not seen before, and also see some new species being grown in this production setting. It is safe to say that my expectations of this program were surpassed, despite COVID-19 and all. Even as an intern I felt I was a part of this special team here at Tagawa that truly does put people and relationships right up there with the plant quality.

I enjoyed the first rotation in operations for several reasons. It was exciting to be working with young, seemingly fragile cuttings and propagules at the Foothills location. I felt a bit like I was welcoming all of the boxes of cuttings into the facility and tucking them into the cooler before being stuck soon after. Later in that rotation I helped with a lot of sticking and jimmy-tagging. Following this order of receiving/unboxing cuttings, prepping for sticking, sticking cuttings, and finally pulling the finished trays to ship really gave me a sort of bird’s eye view to each order and tray, and how plant material arrives and finished orders leave the greenhouse with every step in between (besides the actual growing/production tasks). In this rotation, I learned the importance of organization whether it be good inventory practices to know where orders are being grown, or a good sticking line setup for efficiency.

Also, during this rotation I got to see first-hand just how versatile and flexible a greenhouse operation should be. From seeing management helping to fix sticking machines and tray filling equipment, to having employees switch over to hand sticking auto-stick cuttings in a pinch, this sort of versatility seems ingrained in this business dealing with live plants. That versatility was interesting to see in person; and was somewhat reinforced by the two-man teams constantly either building racks and moving around both empty racks and full racks of freshly stuck trays. It was those kinds of positions I had been overlooking in the industry, so it was great to take part in even if only briefly.

Following the operations rotation, I spend some time in production. I assisted in range D at the North facility, essentially as an irrigator but also helping out with and learning about other grower and general tasks too. I felt fairly confident in my irrigation abilities going into this rotation, but it turned out I got a chance to really focus that skill and others during my time there. It became utterly clear how important water quality is, and I assisted in testing our different water sources while the head grower was away for a couple weeks. I learned how to take into account dry down time, weather, fertilization needs, and general time management when planning out irrigations. Prior to this internship, I had tried to grow crops on the dry side with several small groups for assignments back in the campus greenhouse. After being shown the specifics and getting help fine tuning my irrigator’s judgment and watering hand, I found myself growing dryer more successfully and realizing that I never really had to a legitimate extent before. I got to see first-hand how certain cultural practices like moisture management and temperature from a plant’s early stages, can make all the difference in the final product of a nice full, toned plant.

One learning curve I was chasing for a short period of time was irrigating while taking into account the increasingly intense Colorado sun and heat during the spring months. Though I had a fair amount of moisture management experience in more humid climates, had never grown any plants in such an arid climate before being in production in range D. I believe it was mid-March when the temperatures and sun intensity began to rise beyond my anticipation leading to alarmingly fast dry down rates. I did not kill or really damage any plants during this time. Ashley instructed me to simply give more water to each container at each irrigation, and to walk my houses more frequently to ensure nothing gets too dry before I become aware of it. Even with that advice, it took me some time to adjust to these changing conditions. Nevertheless, this was an excellent learning opportunity for how one should take a holistic approach to plant care, including weather directly influencing irrigation practices. I deeply enjoyed this rotation because of the responsibility that lies upon the irrigator, and how one’s knowledge and good judgement can keep a crop on track to finish beautifully.

In my retail ready rotation, I got to spend time at a Costco, several Home Depots, and at the Tagawa Garden Center. These venues are different in how they sell their plants, the kinds of plants sold and containers, and generally the sort of customers that shop at these different places. At the Costco, I noticed most everything was in large containers and in pre-arranged designs, though there were other crops like various herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and succulents, and some 12-packs. These customers seemed least interested in the involvement with the plants and would rather prefer a large container in full bloom ready to enjoy. The Home Depot selection was much wider, with many different species in various packs, small pots, hanging baskets, and also large containers. These customers seemed excited about buying packs of annuals to plant themselves either in containers of their own or in their flowerbeds. Many people would buy a wide variety of plants for their home as well as other gardening equipment from the Home Depot.

While working at the Tagawa garden center, there were a variety of different customers. Some customers didn’t know a petunia from a canna, and others had specific questions regarding different species’ preferences, plant care, and remedies for insects or diseases. This facility carried the widest variety of crops among all three retail locations with different sections for annuals, roses, vegetables, houseplants, perennials, and a nursery section. The garden center had so many different species that it seemed rare that a customer’s request could not be fulfilled. No matter who the customer was, it was fun to gauge peoples plant knowledge to be able to assist them accordingly. At the Costco and Home Depots, there generally seemed to be two groups of customers, those who buy a container because of how it looks right now, and those who buy it for how they anticipate the arrangement to perform throughout its life. I enjoyed helping customers at all of these locations, though the Garden center likely taught me the most, as they essentially have experts in each of the different areas mentioned above.

During the Coronavirus outbreak, the world seemed to be a completely new arena with potential infection lurking around every turn. Though it was surely frightening, especially in the beginning when nobody knew very much for certain, the central point of my focus of the Covid-19 outbreak here is not the fear it invoked, but rather Tagawa’s handling of it. Early on during late February and March, I thought that Tagawa might close down even if only temporary. This did not happen for several reasons. Firstly, this company falls under the umbrella of Agriculture. Also, serious precautions were taken at all Tagawa facilities in attempt to reduce the spread including mandatory masks and social distancing, and rigorous sanitation across all facilities. Though a few individuals within the company did test positive, sufficient precautions were taken so that the company was able to stay open and operate near full capacity throughout.

By mid-March, masks were deemed mandatory at all Tagawa facilities and interfacility travel was drastically reduced. At the same time, the maintenance employees found new tasks of walking around and spraying commonly touched surfaces with disinfectant. Bottles of disinfectant were never out of sight, and the head of maintenance even sent me home with a couple to keep the house as clean as possible. When Colorado instituted a stay at home order, all employees were given a document proving that they were essential employees at an essential business, in case anyone was stopped by police. Some rules even changed so that those who might have contracted the virus could receive more paid sick days to deter anyone who might have it from spreading it further within the company. Though the fear continues to linger about contracting the virus, Tagawa seemed to do everything in their power to keep all employees safe. Despite the fact that it was in Tagawa’s best interest to take every precaution possible, I am deeply grateful to have been with a company who cares about their employees’ safety during such a volatile time.

After having completed the internship program, I feel much more floriculture oriented in my career outlook. My time spent in the greenhouse and in all areas of this company have helped me to be much more prepared for any position I may enter, especially those within green industries. From here I will take all I have learned and most likely enter a greenhouse production position within the year following my college graduation. This may likely begin with an irrigator position or as part of a team performing general greenhouse labor. Another area of horticulture I am considering is nursery crop production. No matter where I end up, this program will have surely aided my professional and intellectual development to help me get there and with my performance in any such position.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the Tagawa Greenhouse internship program very much so. I learned more in these last 6 months than I thought I ever could. I found great pleasure learning about aspects of the greenhouse industry that I was previously unaware of. The program is set up in a way that allows interns to get a feel for the seasonal nature of the industry, as well as the ability to gain work experience in many different aspects of this business’s inter-workings. To say I am grateful for this opportunity, and my time here would be an understatement and I would sincerely recommend this internship program to all horticulture students interested in floriculture.

— Sherman Hartman

Building success at Tagawa Greenhouses

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 16:08:51 -0600

By: Tagawa Greenhouse Staff

July 1, 2020

In an effort to stay ahead of the curve, Tagawa Greenhouses is trying a new approach to how it runs its operation, starting with the production staff.

CEO Randy Tagawa says that throughout the greenhouse industry, customer expectations have increased, and the company wants to be accurate and provide customers with a quality product.

“On the young plant side, there’s definitely an expectation to have quality products delivered on time, and with the complexity of the number of varieties and product lines that we have, it’s definitely been challenging to provide and meet our customer’s expectations,” Tagawa says. “From a company standpoint, we’ve been trying to reinvent Tagawa’s. Just like any company and any product, you have to reinvent yourself to be relevant going into the future.

Making Changes To Keep Tagawa Current

Tagawa Greenhouses is a family owned company that has been in business for 47 years. The company produces young plants and liners sold exclusively to Ball Horticulture, as well as finished products for the mass market.

The company has locations in Brighton and Golden, Colo., and New Mexico, and each facility has around 16 to 20 acres of production greenhouses. Tagawa also has a partner company in California called Ball Tagawa Growers that produces all young plants that are sold to Ball.

To help meet customer expectation levels, the company has made an effort to build a great production staff. In the process of adding to the staff, many young individuals in their 20s and 30s were hired to fill those production spots.

Tagawa has found that younger individuals come to the table not only with an education, but with a lot of energy and a positive attitude. With more employees coming to the company with fewer years of experience, Tagawa says he is personally spending more time in production trying to educate growers.

“For the past six months, I’ve been directly working with all of our new production staff to help train them in making good production decisions,” he says. “I am very impressed with all of them and how fast they pick up on things.

Building A Strong Team

Hiring young people is one philosophy that is working for Tagawa Greenhouses. The production staff has improved in meeting its goals, and Tagawa says there is a lot more communication among staff members, and that the group is energetic, social and skilled at working as a team.

“I’ve seen a huge improvement over the past season and we will be very successful in meeting our customers’ expectations into the future,” Tagawa says.

There have been three new positions added to the production staff, for a total of 20 key production staff members. Eight of them are under 30 years old, which includes two of the three production managers.

All of these young people were some of the best graduates in the industry,” Tagawa says.

Along with those employees, there are many others under 30 who are playing key roles in the company, as well as many individuals over age 65 who offer the needed experience to make the company successful.

Blending experienced staff with talent from the younger generation has yielded positive results.

“This combination has started to come together and see success. I would say that this team is becoming the best in the industry,” Tagawa says.

“We hire just the best individuals. We’re not just concentrating our efforts on young people — it just happened on the production side that there was an opportunity to hire a lot of young people, so maybe we fell into it. It wasn’t a conscious effort; however, we do see the advantages in production.

One of the biggest challenges of hiring young employees is providing them with enough experience — not just in production techniques — but also in communications and working with people. Tagawa says that when hiring individuals who are just out of college, you must be willing to give them more responsibilities, despite their lack of experience.

On the other hand, Tagawa’s younger staff members are eager to learn and have a desire to do a good job.

“We have a couple of people under 30 in production manager roles, and we see them as up-and-coming individuals who can go really far within our industry,” he says.

Preparing New Growers For The Job

Company co-founder and now adviser Ken Tagawa always believed in training and having a great internship program for graduates who wanted experience, says Tagawa.

“I think that there are a lot of young people coming out of school who really don’t know what they want to do,” says Tagawa. “And as we look at it, we’re willing to do a lot of the training in order for them to be successful. It’s hard to try to find good people in any place. It doesn’t matter what age. Finding the talent to do production is difficult in itself, but as individuals are coming out of college, that’s an opportunity we’re tapping into.”

Whether a new employee is right out of school or not, Tagawa recommends putting them through a mini-internship program. New employees at Tagawa Greenhouses spend a few weeks learning about each of the company’s departments before they actually start working.

“It’s definitely advantageous to let people see your entire business, versus just putting them into their position and that’s all they do,” says Tagawa. “They should know something about your organization as far as marketing, merchandising, etc.”

That has been the company’s approach for its internship program, which has been in place for about eight years. Interns spend a semester working at Tagawa, during which they are exposed to all aspects of the organization.

“We go from one end of the business to the next. They spend some time in each to get a good understanding of what we’re doing,” Tagawa says.

Interns spend about a month and a half in production learning about decision making, watering, growing, spraying and all of the functions relative to growing. Then, they spend one to two weeks in each of the other departments in order to get a well-rounded view of what the company does. Interns are exposed to everything from maintenance to merchandising to finance to marketing.

One of the benefits of having the internship program is that it serves as a source for future employees. Some interns come from out of the country, or already have plans to work for their family’s businesses, but some are looking for jobs.

“That gives us an opportunity to look at them, and for them to look at us,” says Tagawa. “We might offer them a position if it works out for both parties.”

Ken Tagawa Named to the Society of American Florists Hall of Fame

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 08:22:38 -0700

By: Tagawa Greenhouse Staff

August 20, 2020

A great honor for a great guy! Ken Tagawa, Chairman of Tagawa Inc. in Colorado, was inducted into the Society of American Florists’ Floriculture Hall of Fame during the association’s convention August 16.

Ken’s is a six-decade-long story that includes World War II internment camps in California and then Colorado, to which his parents and older siblings were relocated. After being released from the camps, Ken joined the U.S. Navy, then earned a degree in engineering from the University of Colorado.

The move from that to flowers came when the family bought land outside of Brighton, Colorado, and began growing vegetables. Like most truck farmers, they had small greenhouses for their transplants and they soon started a few flowers in them.

Today, the business has grown to include Tagawa Greenhouses; Tagawa Gardens, one of Colorado’s largest garden centers; and Ball Tagawa Growers, a 50/50 partnership with Ball Horticultural Company. Tagawa also has part ownership in Denver Wholesale Florist, which has 14 wholesale branches across the U.S.

Ever the innovators, Tagawa Greenhouses and Blackmore Company developed the patented Punch ’N Gro plug transplanting system. More than 1,000 Punch ’N Gro machines are in use in the U.S. and Canada.

And working with Colorado State University, Tagawa also funded research to identify genes responsible for ethylene production in roses and geraniums, an effort that resulted in several genetic patents.

And, of course, Ken has long been active in the industry, serving on the American Floral Endowment (AFE) Board and having chaired the group’s Research and Education Committee. Beyond SAF and AFE, he is an active participant in the Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association, the Colorado Floriculture Foundation and Wholesale Florists & Florist Suppliers of America, among other groups.

“Ken Tagawa set the standard for ethical behavior, relationship-building and business smarts,” said SAF Awards Committee member David Gaul, AAF, of D.W.F. Wholesale Florists in Denver. “Combine that with hard work, dedication and leadership by action, and you have a blueprint for success in business, community and family.”

Congratulations to Ken and the entire Tagawa family! GT

Tagawa Internships=Inspiration + Relationships

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 13:50:25 -0700

By: Ashlie A. Tagawa Mohr

Human Resource Manager

October 1, 2019

At Tagawa Greenhouses, we are proud of our internship program, and over the past 20 years, we have hosted both domestic and international students for our six-month to one-year internship programs. We believe that the future of our industry depends on the future generations. The goal of our internship program is to really show students what it would take to “make it” in the world of horticulture, and to start building relationships with the future leaders of our industry.

The internship program starts with our Intern Committee, a group of six leaders from different departments that help screen and make suggestions for the internship program. We have had the pleasure of participating with the American Floral Endowment Internship program for more than 10 years, and even today I would say 80% to 90% of interns come through the AFE program. We also have contacts at universities who will often refer students to us for intern positions.

Because our intern program starts in January, our search for interns begins in about September or October as students begin planning for their spring semester. While we typically accept interns who are enrolled in an accredited university or college, I have found that age or background isn’t really a deal breaker when selecting interns. We tell interns directly that our internship could benefit those seeking careers in horticulture, environmental science, landscaping, or production management, which means we don’t usually see a lot of other majors go through our program. However, we would be open to anyone who has some level of interest in our business or what we do.

Candidates who are selected as interns are sent a Program Book that includes a little information about the company and each of our departments plus a detailed calendar outlining how much time interns spend with each department. Before the program even starts, we help coordinate their arrival to Colorado and any living arrangements if necessary. On-site housing is provided to interns so hopefully they can focus less on finances during their time with us and more on the program itself.

The internship program begins with orientation with our human resources staff. Then throughout the program, the interns meet with our intern coordinator to help contextualize what they are learning, provide feedback, and discuss any issues they may be having.

Our interns spend at least six to 12 weeks with our production growers, honing their horticultural abilities and attending to both young plant and bedding products. However, the exciting part of our program is that interns spend anywhere from two hours to two weeks with every other department throughout the organization, including our administrative groups and top-level managers. Our goal is to challenge students to begin thinking like managers, and have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with our business leaders, take management training, and tour our different facilities. In the end, we want to show them how their horticulture or science degrees are translated into real-world experience.

What they give back to the company is amazing. I have found that the best interns have the drive to learn, adapt and grow. Just as with any manager or employee, interns who are able to challenge themselves to learn and apply their knowledge tend to challenge us to grow and learn alongside them. When you have an individual with fresh eyes touching every department in the company, they start bringing to light what we could do to improve our processes and how we train new employees. My grandfather says it’s often not about what you know, but who you know. Interns bring value to our company not only when they go through our program, but also after they graduate, whether that is in an employment context if they apply for production or management-level positions, or when they become our partners, vendors, consultants, or customers.

If you’re looking at creating your own internship program, it’s always good to make sure there’s a lot of buy-in across the organization to support the program. Not only do we have our Intern Committee, but I create the detailed schedule based on the existing work load of each department. Then I contact each of the department managers to make sure they are ready. Because we have good buy-in, managers are usually very open and ready to describe to students what they do.

Setting expectations from the get-go and having an open conversation amongst your teams as well as with the interns is probably the best way to make it effective for everyone. It’s important for the students to know what an internship can offer them. In turn, we need to think about what kind of interns we want in our organization.

Some questions to ask yourselves may include:

If I could go back to the beginning of my career, what would I want to know to be successful in my line of work?
What opportunities are in our organization that could be missed by students if they didn’t realize they were available?
What do we want students to think of our company and share about our company?
What kind of students are we looking to accept within the program?
What kind of demographic would be interested?
What kind of program would best serve the students or those wanting to join our business?

Definitely the thing to avoid with internship programs is treating the intern just as another employee in the organization, or assuming all interns will have the same experience. Each student is a little different and will gain different insights about our work and their careers when spending time with us. And that in itself is the beauty of having an internship program, in my opinion. As long as we are willing to be open and share our experiences with interns, they tend to share their experiences with us as well. Every intern is a fresh pair of eyes that inspires us to be more than we are today, and gives us the opportunity to build relationships with the people who very well may be the future of our industry.