Mortensen's Greenhouse, Milan

Maumee Valley Growers

Flowers Nursery Stock & Florists Supls The Manager of Mortensen's Greenhouse is Jeff Mortensen Business classifications
SIC (US 1987) : In 2003, a White Paper was written by Dr. Neil Reid from the University of Toledo and Dr. Michael Carroll from Bowling Green State University assessing the competitive challenges facing northwest Ohio's greenhouse nursery industry. The paper focused on the floriculture industry and its impact on the region. Initial findings were not encouraging. A 2004 survey of northwest Ohio greenhouse growers, 15% indicated they were planning to downsize or close within the next 5 years.
This information led to multi-year projects funded by the, and the research team comprises faculty and staff from, and the. The assistance of in securing these funds for this project has been invaluable, and without her passion for agriculture and our region, MVGA would not exist today.
As a result of this collaboration, efforts focused around organizing northwest Ohio's greenhouse industry as an industrial cluster. The objective of an industrial cluster was to encourage individual growers to work with each other and with academic, government, and community partners to collaboratively solve problems and address challenges facing the industry. Since then, northwest Ohio greenhouse growers have had the opportunity to work together under the umbrella of the Maumee Valley Growers Association (MVGA).
In 2009, several businesses evaluated and adjusted their operations as a result of greater awareness of industry best practices and modest facility improvements. Twenty three (23) businesses participated in energy audits resulting in energy conservation measures and efficiency applications. In fact, gas usage was down as much as 60% for some growers with the average being around 47%. In addition, two growers applied for and received REAP grants from the federal government to supplement the installation of their wind turbines.