The Scoop | LEADERSHIP PROFILE
Helping Grow Industry Professionalism Name: Cory J. Whitmer Company Name: The Mustard Seed Landscaping & Garden Center Positions at Company: Design/Sales Manager and Partner Company description and your duties: The Mustard Seed is a Christian based landscape and garden center whose mission is to enhance their client’s lives and lifestyles by developing positive relationships and experiences integrating unique ideas, plants, and landscape services. As a partner in the company my duties cover a vast array of different areas. My primary focus is on design and sales. I also spend a fair amount of my time reviewing and approving other’s designs and proposals. Another part of my job is the numbers side of the business which is setting and tracking sales goals, evaluating closer rates, tracking average sales, etc. Family and background: I was born in April of 1969 in Moline, IL. I lived there until attending College in 1991 at Eastern IL University, which is located in Charleston, IL. While attending college for Botany and Environmental Biology I worked as an assistant grower at a local nursery and fell in love with the plant side of the industry. After college in 1995 I moved to Southern IL for a position as a Designer/ Crew Manager. After several years I moved throughout the Midwest and took several
other positions from Nursery Manager to a General Manger of a garden center. Years in green industry: 19 Years at current company: 6 Current MNLA position: Chair of The Nursery Committee Current and past MNLA committees/volunteer activities: Member of the Nursery Committee for 7 years, Leader of the Nursery Committee Expo Task Force, Day on the Hill, and State Fair. Why do you volunteer your time to MNLA? To stay current and updated with what is happening in the industry, to help grow the professionalism of the industry, and for the free State Fair tickets! What part of the green industry do you find most difficult / challenging / disappointing? The lack of professionalism is the most difficult for me to handle. This includes but is not limited to designers or crews showing up late or not at all for appointments, price cutting below cost, and recommending plants that will not survive just because they have them in stock. I believe strongly in the motto of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” What’s the best part of working in the green industry? The people. The majority of the people in this industry are wonderful to know and to be associated with. q
MARCH 2010 | www.MNLA.biz
45