Sun Gro's Technical Specialists

Read More in The Sun Gro’er Issue 1/1 (2003)
Sun Gro has seven main Technical Specialists, three in the West and two each in the Central and East regions. Their duties include Quality Control (QC) work with specific plants, along with providing technical support for specific sections of their region. Technical support includes work with complaint handling, training and custom blends. These are also the Sun Gro staffers who will be providing most of the content for the Sun Gro’er Newsletter. Here is some basic information that will allow readers to get to know them a little better:
 

Shiv Reddy

Shiv was with Sun Gro during the Warwick days and left for a few years to work in California. Then he returned to Sun Gro in 2000 as a technical specialist in California. Shiv has done a lot of work with the Technigro line and was instrumental in finding our present source for Technigro fertilizers. His first article deals in this issue of the Sun Gro’er addresses heavy metals in fertilizers. He can be reached via email (shivr @ sungro.com) or phone (707-726-7738).
 

Nancy Morgan

Nancy has been with Sun Gro since 1996. She was initially based in Texas, but moved to the western Region to work in conjunction with the Hubbard and Fillmore plants. Nancy has a background in nutrition and has worked closely with the Hubbard and Fillmore plants on product improvement and QC. Nancy lives in Oregon and can be
reached via e-mail (nancym @ sungro.com) or phone (503-981-4406).
 

Mark Thomas

Mark was born in Pittsburgh, PA, but grew up on the southwest coast of Florida. He is married and the father of 3 boys and 1 girl. His family has been in the greenhouse business since the late 1800s, starting with his great grandfather and grandfather in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Plant Pathology and then spent 13 years in Florida working on the production at various foliage, woody ornamental, tissue culture, tree farm and plug operations. In 1994, he began working for Sun Gro as a sales person, and in October 2001 he began working in Sun Gro’s Central Region Technical Services and now supports sales people in LA, MS, TX, OK, AR and Mexico along with the production plants in Pine Bluff, AR and Terrell, TX. Mark now lives in Texas and can be reached via e-mail (markt @ sungro.com) or phone (281-358-1864).
 

Rick Vetanovetz

Rick has been with Sun Gro Horticulture since October 2001. Received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Horticulture from The Ohio State University specializing in plant nutrition and soil biochemistry. Rick has been serving the greenhouse and nursery industry through technical services and R&D with various horticultural suppliers since 1987. He can be reached via email (rickv @ sungro.com) or phone (937-642-2646).
 

Ron Walden

Ron joined Sun Gro as District Manager for the Carolinas, but then took on the Tech Specialist position in the eastern region. Ron has been a greenhouse grower and owner in the industry and has worked as an Extension Agent in VA. Prior to coming on board with Sun Gro, he worked for Aquatrols where he was their (and now our) “Wetting
Agent Guru.” Ron works closely with the Elizabeth City and McCormick plants on QC. Ron has an article on calibrating fertilizer injectors. He lives in Virginia and can
be reached via e-mail (ronw @ sungro.com) or phone (757-486-4728).
 

Dan Jacques

Dan joined Sun Gro in 1997 as a Technical Specialist based in the East. He had been working for the Scotts Company prior to joining our team. Dan had also been a grower and worked in the seed industry for Pan American Seed. His background is in nutrition. Dan now works with the Quincy plant on QC. He lives in Massachusetts and can be reached via e-mail (danj @ sungro.com) or phone (413-549-2793).
 

Nicole Bisson

Nicole graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.S. in horticulture and a M.S. In plant physiology. She also has several years of experience in retail/wholesale greenhouse environments. She is a Technical Specialist for the western region and is based out of the Seba Beach and Vilna production plants. She can be reached via email
(nicoleb @ sungro.com) or phone (780-797-3019 ext. 312).