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Sowing seeds for Maumee Valley growth BOWLING GREEN, O.—Lucas County is a national leader in a growing industry. Among the top 5 percent of counties nationwide
in square footage devoted to greenhouse production and floriculture, the county ranks 94th among all U.S. counties, and fourth
in Ohio, in sales of greenhouse and nursery crops.
But for growers in Lucas County, and throughout northwest Ohio, the question is how to remain viable in the face of increasing
competition—especially from Canada—and flight of the younger generation from what are often family-owned businesses.
Dr. Michael Carroll, an economist and director of the Center for Regional Development at Bowling Green State University, is
among the researchers in a federally funded project who believe they have an answer.
It’s called a cluster, in which interdependent groups of businesses collaborate for the betterment of all. In this case, the
cluster encompasses area greenhouses and their suppliers that have banded together as Maumee Valley Growers.
“It’s a new way of doing economic development,” said Carroll. “It’s economic development from the inside out,” meaning a focus
is on existing businesses, he explained.
Carroll and Dr. Neil Reid of the University of Toledo are two of 15 university faculty members who have been looking into
greenhouses with the support of U.S. Department of Agriculture funds funneled through the Ohio State University Research Foundation.
About $240,000 went into the first year of the project, in which northwest Ohio greenhouse owners were surveyed and a study
found that economically, the greenhouse effect in Lucas, Wood, Fulton, Ottawa and Erie counties alone is roughly $100 million
per year.
Funding rose to $667,000 for the second year and $679,000 for this year as researchers have developed the cluster approach
to counteract growing competition from larger and Canadian growers.
Imports from north of the border have increased especially in the last five years, Carroll noted, saying, “I think they (Canadian
growers) have just gotten larger greenhouses and made a conscious decision to penetrate the U.S. market.”
Another problem is keeping younger members of families in the area when more are leaving the farm and not returning, leaving
“nobody to hand off the family business to,” he pointed out.
The cluster project infrastructure includes an advisory board that consists of greenhouse and farm market owners, as well
as representatives of the Regional Growth Partnership and the OSU Extension.
Chairing the board’s monthly meetings is the cluster “champion,” Dr. Dean Krauskopf from the Michigan State University Extension
Service. With more than 20 years in the industry, Krauskopf was hired as a part-time liaison to “go around and talk to growers
and be more in the field, literally, with the greenhouse industry,” Carroll said. Because trade crosses political borders,
he added, the hiring of Krauskopf was also part of an effort to break those borders down.
Joe Perlaky, former commissioner of economic development for the city of Toledo, is project manager for the cluster.
“If we don’t pull together to identify and solve our problems, we will surely lose a number of greenhouses,” said Richard
Bostdorff, owner of Bostdorff Greenhouse Acres near Bowling Green. “We need to market our industry so the public understands
the value of locally grown plants and demands homegrown plants from retailers.”
Bostdorff is an advisory board member of Maumee Valley Growers, which is working with Thread, a Maumee advertising agency,
to establish an identifiable brand and develop a comprehensive marketing plan.
“I don’t think anyplace in the nation has taken the cluster concept and put it into action like this,” Carroll said, noting
that a grower survey “identified lack of knowledge about marketing as a critical competitive challenge facing the industry.
“Developing an identifiable brand and marketing strategy for the northwest Ohio greenhouse industry has the potential to allow
growers to increase market share, charge higher prices and secure larger profit margins.”
Opportunities for collaboration among growers in other aspects of the industry are being explored as well. High energy prices
were identified as a challenge even before the most recent price spikes, and with the cluster strategy in place, growers are
collaboratively investigating energy audits, group purchasing price reductions and energy co-ops.
(Posted November 17, 2005 )
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