Dec 12, 2008

Floral Plant Growers Names Lueder President, CEOSource: Floral Plant Growers,BusinessWeek, GPN/BG archives

Scott Lueder of Floral Plant Growers has been promoted to the position of president and chief executive officer of the Denmark, Wis.-based grower and wholesaler, following the resignation of Dean Chaloupka.

Lueder has a rich history with the company dating back to 1999. He helped lead the business through ownership transitions, a shaky economy and a changing industry as chief financial officer and most recently served as executive vice president and chief operation officer.

Floral Plant Growers, previously Greiling Farms before the Greiling family sold the company to an investor in 1998, operates as a greenhouse grower and wholesaler of plants and floral products in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic United States, according to BusinessWeek. The company, which does business under the name Natural Beauty Growers, offers retail-ready production crops, such as bedding plants, flowering and hanging baskets, perennials, containerized plants, and poinsettias for mass merchandise and home improvement retailers; supermarket chains and club stores; and plugs, liners and prefinished material for other greenhouses. It has facilities in Richmond, Ind., and Boyden, Iowa, as well as four network grower locations in Wisconsin.

The company is currently owned by middle-market equity firm Blue Point Capital, making Floral Plant Growers one of the few successful investor-owned businesses in the green industry.

Recently, Floral Plant Growers has emerged as a leader in the sustainability movement, managing to combine green initiatives with profitability. The innovative company is constantly looking for ways to work smarter and more profitably, Scott Lueder told GPN, in an interview, and “realized that not only are sustainable practices good for the environment, they are good for the bottom line!” It recently obtained its VeriFlora sustainability certification for its Wisconsin location, and was one of two winners of GPN‘s Sustainability Progress Awards, recognizing growers who in small and large ways are making progress in the journey toward a more sustainable tomorrow. A forward thinker and innovative industry leader, Lueder is poised to take Floral Plant Growers – already lauded for its focused long-term business outlook – to new heights.

For more information, contact Scott Lueder at (800) 815-1928 ext. 125 or scottl@natbeauty.com.