HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED BY THE COMPANY AT THE BEGINNING ? WHAT WERE THEIR ROLES ? There were about eight of us to begin with . We all worked on the line producing plugs , with the exception of Camille Hartman , who worked in the office . Our original QPlug line was built inside two semi-trucks in the shape of an L ; no electricity whatsoever , everything was on a generator . The only crew I could afford were three other guys that worked at the nursery during the day and for me at night . We would run all night ; it was a great thing .
WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR STRUGGLES AS YOU STARTED THE BUSINESS ? HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM ? Most of our struggles came from not having enough startup capital , getting customers for a brand-new product , and having enough money to purchase supplies . We had to mortgage our house like five times . In our early years , we struggled with getting the right sales people to penetrate the business , but up to then it was just Camille and I . We would travel the world to different trade shows , sometimes 12 shows a year just to spread the word about our products and how growers could benefit from a stabilized plug .
HOW DID YOU GAIN MARKET SHARE AND RECOGNITION ? Just being exposed and longevity . When you invent a product , no one beats a path to your door . We had to educate people on what we had and why to use us . So , it was a real educational process more than anything and that ’ s why I agreed to sell Grow-Tech — I thought I needed to create competition in order to make the business and industry grow . We were supplying most of the plugs for carnation production across the world : Israel , Spain , Holland , and Columbia . We supplied all of those because of Cal Florida ’ s business . We supplied them all , then that business sort of disappeared when the dollar became stronger and the Euro emerged . Most of the companies at the time disbanded or merged together . That is why I started Quick Plug . For a while the U . S . dollar was very low in relation to what is now the Euro and I thought it was better to produce plugs in Europe because of worries about not being able to afford the freight to service these different countries worldwide .
HAS ihort MOVED OR EXPANDED SINCE THE BEGINNING ? Long ways from the trailers ( laughs )! We moved from a barn into the trailers , then to a winery off Cienega Rd . in Hollister . From there we moved to Bertuccios , also in Hollister . Then we purchased the ranch which we operate from now .
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT PRODUCT LINE ? Finding a need and filling it … in horticultural propagation ; trying to see what was needed and accumulating knowledge from nurseries and farming to combine them . To make the horticultural industry better through knowledge .
WHERE DO YOU DISTRIBUTE ? At one time or another , we have distributed most all over the world . Predominantly the business is here in the United States , with our joint ventures in Holland and Japan . We will continue to expand in those areas .
WHAT ARE YOUR COMPANY ’ S STRENGTHS ? Being able to react quickly and to know a multitude of industries in agriculture .
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PROUDEST MOMENTS ? Seeing the interest the world has in our product ; something that we invented and seeing that it has a permanent place in the world now . The introduction of Dylan Sandstrom and my grandchildren into the family business and your interest in the knowledge we have obtained to keep the company going for years and years to come makes me equally as proud .
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This industry ( stabilized soil media ) didn ’ t exist ; we had to invent it .” promotional content 73