Stuppy Greenhouse , Inc. is observe 150 years of being in line . Not only that , it has been owned and operated by the Stuppy family all of these years . That ’s a retentive time , even in the horticulture diligence , where multi - generational family - carry commercial enterprise are coarse . Five generations of Stuppys , get with Laurence Justinian ( “ L.J. ” ) Stuppy in 1873 , have steered the helm of the company , steadily growing it into the well - respected glasshouse manufacturing business enterprise it is today . As a 70 - person employer that has built thousands of greenhouses in North America today , Stuppy continues to play an authoritative role in both the commercial-grade and educational greenhouse industriousness .
More interesting , however , is how Stuppy remain in business sector . Each generation has had to make key decisions about what direction to take — or no longer take — the company . Laurence Justinian ( “ L.J. ” ) Stuppy was a court reporter and hobby peak agriculturalist in St. Joseph , Missouri , when he decided to grow and sell prime full - time . His Son , Francis Xavier ( “ F.X. ” ) and John Stuppy , continued the business and expanded it into wholesale dispersion , deal palm , vases , and other flowered supplies to florists . John died in 1918 in the flu epidemic . In 1922 , F.X. die away by chance after establishing the Stuppy Supply Company in Kansas City ; his son George strike over as president in 1937 , with his brother , Frank , joining him briefly after .
One of the most significant thing Frank did was to colligate with Acme Engineering and Manufacturing in Oklahoma and help to get evaporative cooling to the nursery industry , says Matt Stuppy , President of Stuppy Greenhouse . “ This was a game changer for growers , ” he says . “ Uncle Frank would take fan and Aspen pads to California and start sell them up and down the state . That convey us into the glasshouse supply business . ”
Through Frank ’s entrepreneurial leading , the company manufactured its first greenhouse bodily structure ; glasshouse manufacture was seen as a originate opportunity , and Stuppy continued to lucubrate and adapt its glasshouse lines .
Adapting to Industry ChangeGeorge ’s Word Jim entered the business in 1971 and became president and CEO in 1975 . The company exited greenhouse growing in the seventies , and the retail flower store in St. Joseph was sell in 1980 , allowing Jim Stuppy to focus on sweeping flowered distribution and glasshouse manufacturing .
In 2007 , Jim ’s Word Matt became chair , and the family made the conclusion to sell the sweeping flower business . “ Transportation had changed , distribution vary when grocery stores became necessitate , and we just decided it was time to croak , ” Stuppy says .
At the same time , the company saw the opportunity to expand into nursery construction services . Stuppy says it was a natural expansion and filled a decisive need within the diligence . Greenhouses were becoming more specialised with more complex technology . On one side , agriculturist who used to build their own greenhouses realized construction was n’t their meat capability , and on the other , most expression companies did n’t understand nursery . This cognition allowed the companionship to bridge the gap in another market section : educational greenhouses . Stuppy Greenhouse is the leading glasshouse supplier for schools and university , mean it is the primary greenhouse company supply growing environments that further the next propagation of growers , whether it ’s high school students learning horticulture basics or scholars at leading universities testing out the industry ’s cutting - border solvent .
“ With our society experience as raiser and manufacturers , we are capable to facilitate identify customers ’ needs and customize the greenhouse for the technology they require and build it properly , ” Stuppy say . “ The gracious matter about having been in business for 150 years is we can see back and see where the company swivel or adjusted to different market trends and technology . We are continue to do that , which is why we have developed warming merchandise and growing organisation products that we hump will be successful for the grower . We will bear on to diversify into other area of hold - environs Agriculture Department and recreate a part in the success of the nursery industry . ”
For more information : Stuppy Greenhouse Manufacturingwww.stuppy.com
