MILLCREEK GARDENS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Business Office Team
- Office Support Coordinator
Chris joined the Millcreek Team in a new role as Office Support Coordinator in early 2022 after working the previous season as a seasonal production worker. She found the team at Millcreek extremely friendly, knowledgeable, hard working, and welcoming. Chris came to Millcreek with extensive professional experience in the food service distribution industry. Her food service experience is in account management, purchasing, and customer service.
She has been married to her husband, Anthony, for 35 years (in March 2022!). Chris has two adult children, Tyler and Darby. While away from work Chris enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, antiquing, going to arts and crafts festivals, hiking, and spending time with Gunner, her Bernese Mountain Dog.
Job Titles:
- Growing Operations Manager, OCNT, OCPA
- Operations and Production Manager
Fred earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, where he majored in Crop Science. He also holds an Associate's Degree in Floriculture from Alfred State. In March of 2005, Fred joined Millcreek full-time upon completion of his six month internship with us. He began as an Assistant Grower in our IMPACT Department and later as the Head Grower. After a few years as the Head Grower in the IMPACT Perennial Department, Fred was promoted to Growing Operations Supervisor.
In the Spring of 2013, Fred was promoted to Growing Operations and Production Manager at Millcreek. He is responsible for leading and overseeing the Growing and Production departments, including projecting production and growing plans, compiling staffing needs, budgeting, and working with the Growing Operations and Nursery Supervisor to achieve departmental objectives. As a member of the Leadership Team at Millcreek he leads and supports Millcreek growing focused company initiatives.
Fred is an Ohio Certified Nursery Technician as well as an Ohio Certified Pesticide Applicator.
When the work day ends Fred enjoys running, working on his hobby farm, and spending time with his beautiful wife and 4 children.
George and his wife Lynda started Millcreek Gardens in February of 1978 after graduating with a B.S. degree in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, specializing in Horticulture. He leads the day to day operations as our General Manager. His outside interests include gardening, biking, tennis, and hiking.
George has served on the Board of Directors of the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association and the Perennial Plant Association.
Millcreek grew from Lynda and George's vision and desire to provide high quality plants to the Ohio Valley Region. Lynda in particular had a passion for herbs; being a wonderful cook she loved to use them in her kitchen. Wanting others to have the same opportunities, Lynda developed Millcreek into a pioneer in the industry as one of the first nurseries in our region to provide herbs on a wholesale basis. Lynda was our herb grower for many years and our company's success today is a direct reflection of her influence, expertise, and vision. Lynda passed away on December 24, 2018.
Hannah joined Millcreek in Spring of 2010 as a seasonal worker and she is truly Millcreek Garden's "Jack of all trades". Hannah holds many different jobs and responsibilities. Her knowledge and strong work ethic is indispensable in almost every department. Hannah's primary responsibility is assisting our Herb Grower, Laura, and prides herself in overseeing and coordinating all herb order fulfillment with the utmost quality for our customers.
In January of 2022, Hannah was promoted to Section Grower of our Quart and PRO #2 Perennials. As Section Grower, her responsibilities include regular plant care and maintenance, maintaining plant availability, ensuring crop health, and overseeing work crews throughout the year. We are excited to have Hannah in this new role!
She also contributes time in our peak Spring season assisting in our Shipping, Quart, and Propagation departments. In the Summer she runs the IMPACT potting line in Production and in the Fall she oversees the covering of all greenhouses on the property. Hannah also finds the time to clean our company offices and makes them sparkle!
Hannah is an avid baker and shares her most delicious treats frequently with her co-workers at Millcreek. She enjoys jazzercise after work to keep in tip top shape.
Jay interned with Millcreek in 2005 and upon graduating from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in June 2005 with degrees in both Greenhouse Production and Management and Nursery Management he joined our team full-time. Throughout his tenure he has worked as an Assistant Grower in the Perennial Quart and Herb Departments. Jay currently leads our Production Department where he oversees the Production and transplanting of every container size across the company. He has a huge responsibility and executes our production plans exceedingly well year after year!
Jay enjoys spending time with his husband Omar, their 7 year old son and their Mini Goldendoodles Wally and Remy. In his spare time he enjoys visiting family and friends, working in the yard and spending time at the lake!
Job Titles:
- Member of the Business Office Team
- Analytics Specialist & Business Office Supervisor, OCNT
- Business Office Supervisor
Jen joined the Millcreek team in 1995. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, with a major in Floriculture and a minor in Agricultural Business. Throughout her tenure she has served in various roles including as our Production Manager and Shipping Manager. Currently, Jen is a part of our Office Team working as our Program and Logistics Director where she is responsible for maintaining our growing software program and program data. In addition, she organizes and plans our Shipping Logistics - a critical role in getting our fabulous products to you! With our IT consultant, she helped to develop our Electronic Shipping Board, that you may have seen at our Annual Open House or during another visit to our nursery.
Jen is remarkably computer-savvy and is our in-house excel genius (VLOOKUP is one of her most-used formulas)! She also helps maintain the information on our website and compiles the content and layout of the Millcreek Gardens catalog each year. In the fall and winter she is periodically found helping with plant maintenance in the growing departments. Jen is an Ohio Certified Nursery Technician.
In March of 2013 Jen was promoted to Business Office Supervisor where she has additional responsibilities overseeing the office team and the related workflow as well as handling our payroll. With the addition of our Sales and Marketing Manager and Human Resources Manager roles, Jen's role continued to adapt to our changing business needs. She currently serves as Sales Office and Logistics Supervisor where she continues to oversee the flow of the office team responsibilities and is a master of shipping logistics!
In her spare time she enjoys the outdoors with her husband, chilling out with their pets, making beaded jewelry, and reading.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Grower - IMPACT & PRO 1 Perennials, Peonies
Katie graduated from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in the Spring of 2022 with a degree in Environmental Biology. In the Autumn of 2022, we welcomed Katie to the Millcreek team as a Growing Coordinator. In the Fall of 2023, Katie was promoted to Assistant Grower in our IMPACT & PRO#1 Perennial and Peony department. We look forward to her contributions in her new role!
Katie's love for plants started with a personal garden, in her hometown of Michigan. She has been growing a variety of vegetables for the past 6 years. Katie brings a hard-working, well-organized, team-oriented attitude to Millcreek.
In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities including fishing, hunting, paddle boarding, golfing, and kayaking. She also enjoys other activities including volleyball, drawing, photography, and cooking.
Job Titles:
- Shipping Coordinator - Supermarket
Keith began working at Millcreek in the early spring of 2013 in our Production Department. For many years, you could find him either working on the potting lines or more regularly as our chief offloader leading our seasonal help in laying down newly planted production in all of the growing areas of our nursery. Keith is a true team player and helps out in many other areas of our nursery - anywhere from the growing areas, to our shipping department, to helping with facilities tasks when the needs arise.
Early in 2023, Keith took on a new role of Shipping Supermarket Coordinator where he coordinates supermarket shoppers and customer order fulfillment while addressing any issues that may arise. Keith also oversees the application of pre-pricing stickers to those orders for customers enrolled in our additional Pre-Pricing Service.
Outside of work Keith is an avid sports fan!
Job Titles:
- a New
- Shipping Coordinator - Order Staging
Kurt joined Millcreek as a Seasonal Shipping Worker in early spring of 2019. His duties included cleaning and quality control of plants, loading them on racks, making sure plants were properly wrapped and secured on shipping racks, and loading them on to our trucks for transport. When not working in our shipping area he helped throughout the nursery with various plant maintenance tasks.
In January 2021, Kurt received full time status. With the introduction of our new RIO Shipping system, Kurt is responsible for building the shipping racks to be used to batch pull orders and also shop orders in our supermarket. He adds the correct amount of shelves and adjusts them according to the heights of the plants as needed. When not in shipping, Kurt can be found in the nursery helping with plant maintenance. Kurt makes sure to keep everyone in good spirits and encourages his teammates daily.
Beginning in February 2022, Kurt assumed a new role of Order Staging Coordinator in our Shipping Department. Kurt reviews all orders after they are picked in our supermarket and assures they are up to our high quality standards. He oversees the rack wrapping, staging the racks on the shipping floor, and assists with loading and unloading trucks for shipment to our customers.
Outside of work, Kurt enjoys binge watching Marvel movies, hiking, and making people laugh.
Job Titles:
- Shipping Coordinator - Product Accuracy & Quality Control
Kyle joined Millcreek in the Spring of 2007 working in our Production Department. In the summer of 2012, Kyle was promoted to IMPACT Perennial Coordinator, where his responsibilities include watering, pruning, weeding, moving, spacing and general plant care and maintenance of our IMPACT Perennials. He also supervises work crews in the IMPACT area and leads a picking crew for order fulfillment in the Spring season.
In the Fall of 2020, Kyle changed roles and has joined our Shipping team as the Coordinator of Product Accuracy & Quality Control. As a part of our transition to our new batch pulling system, the pieces of our shipping processes are changing some. Kyle will oversee the receiving, cleaning, and quality control of plant material as it arrives from being picked and enters the Supermarket. We are excited to have Kyle's many years of experience leading a picking crew to transition to his new role in our Shipping Department.
Outside of work he enjoys volunteering his time working with the youth from in his church, hanging out with friends, and spending time with his wife and daughter.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University with a major in Horticulture and minor in Business with a Floriculture specialty. She joined Millcreek in 2008 after working in the interiorscape, floral, commercial holiday decorating, and garden center fields. Laura was the recipient of both state and national design-build landscape awards for 16 consecutive years. She's been working with plants professionally for 40 years!
Laura found her home at Millcreek as the Section Grower of Herbs and prides herself in delivering a quality finished product to our customers. She is especially proud of the working relationships she has built with the members of her herb team and rapport with her customers. For 13 years she has provided and mastered the craft of growing herbs.
Laura is a great teacher and speaker and shares her knowledge and passion of growing herbs while promoting the benefits and uses of them, especially in the kitchen.
Laura often assists walk-in customers and Shipping and once the peak of herb season is over in spring, she can be found assisting in our Propagation, Production and Perennial Departments.
Outside of work, Laura tends to her herb, kitchen and perennial gardens while bringing in her harvests to the table. She is very proud of her three children; Emily, Erik, and Luke. Emily is a professional runner, track coach and writer and presses on to earn a spot at the next Summer Olympics. Erik is a college and children's diving coach cultivating Champion divers, boomerang thrower and avid fisherman. Her youngest, Luke, is a United States Marine and expert rifleman. Laura's husband, Troy, is a registered landscape architect and together as a family, they retreat to the shores of Lake Erie.
Levi is a driven and accomplished professional who joined the Millcreek team in March 2023 as the Assistant Grower of IMPACT, PRO#1 Perennials, and Peonies. In September of 2023, Levi was promoted to Section Grower of our Annuals and Shrubs. We look forward to Levi bringing great energy, ideas, and his strong work ethic as our leader of Annuals and Shrubs!
After years of honing his skills in a factory setting, he decided to shift his focus to greener industries. His fascination with plant life was sparked in 2019, when he helped oversee greenhouse operations and biomass production for a hemp/CBD startup in southern Colorado. Since then, he has been exploring innovative ways to merge his background in manufacturing and automation with his intrigue for plants and sustainability.
Levi is an enthusiastic, innovative, and motivated individual who brings energy and a diverse set of skills to the team at Millcreek. When not at work, he enjoys exploring his interests in computer science, watching competitive sports, and spending time in nature.
With a passion for acquiring knowledge and a desire to make a positive impact, Levi is dedicated to contributing to the success of Millcreek and enriching communities with high quality plants.
Job Titles:
- Growing Operations & Nursery Supervisor
Lyndsey graduated from Ohio University in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Biology and a minor in Plant Biology. Her passion for plants relocated her to the Columbus area when she joined the Millcreek team in Spring of 2018 as a seasonal staff member working on our picking crews. After spending the summer in our Annuals, Shrubs, and Succulents department, Lyndsey was promoted to Growing Coordinator for the Quart Perennial Department and joined our team full-time. Her responsibilities included fulfilling orders for shipment and plant care/maintenance to insure quality plants.
In December 2019, Lyndsey was promoted to Section Grower of our IMPACT and PRO #1 Perennials as well as our Peonies. Her responsibilities include regular plant care and maintenance, maintaining plant availability, ensuring crop health, and overseeing work crews throughout the year. Lyndsey does a great job leading our IMPACT team to produce amazing, high quality crops that always look their best. Prior to joining Millcreek, Lyndsey acquired 6 years previous experience in a nursery and greenhouse setting.
In 2022, Lyndsey took on a role with AmericanHort's GenNext Connector Group where she meets monthly with other Green Industry Professionals and plays an active role in the selection of HortScholars, proposing Cultivate sessions and activities, and collaborating on other industry focused AmericanHort hosted education sessions.
Early in 2023, Lyndsey was promoted to Growing Operations and Nursery Supervisor. Her responsibilities include day-to-day operation and labor allocation across all areas of the Growing department at Millcreek. She works in collaboration with our Growing Operations & Production Manager to support long-term planning and staffing needs, departmental objectives, and overall operating processes across the growing areas.
Outside of work, Lyndsey enjoys spending time with her husband, Tyler, and their 3 pets; Izzy, Lilo, and Penny. As new Delaware, Ohio residents, they enjoy gardening and exploring local places. Additionally, Lyndsey enjoys traveling, partaking in a variety of outdoor activities, and visiting family and friends in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
Job Titles:
- Sales & Customer Service Specialist
We are excited welcome Lynette to the Millcreek team as a Sales & Customer Service Specialist. Lynette's background has been primarily focused on the more artistic and design-related aspects of horticulture and floriculture, joining us after spending the previous 12 years as a wedding florist and the beginnings of her career in interior plant design and container design. Lynette holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University where she studied landscape horticulture and agribusiness.
Mother of four, and spouse of Fred Higginbotham, Lynette enjoys jogging with her dog named Dutch, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, hiking on beautiful scenic trails, and spending time with family.
Job Titles:
- Facilities Coordinator
- Member of Our Maintenance Department
Mark joined Millcreek in 1991 as a member of our Maintenance Department. He is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all our heavy equipment and tractors as well unloading incoming deliveries. He is involved in all aspects of our physical facilities including building new greenhouses, running irrigation, gas, and electric lines, and installing heater and shutter systems. He also maintains our facilities and can build and fix anything!
Matt joined the Millcreek team in Autumn of 2020 as a Growing Coordinator in the IMPACT perennials department. In January of 2022, Matt was promoted to Growing Crew Leader for Annuals & Shrubs, Herbs, and Propagation, a new role at Millcreek in which he worked directly with Section Growers across multiple departments to care for and grow the best plants possible!
Most recently, in January 2023, Matt was promoted to Section Grower of Propagation. His job responsibilities include propagating perennial, herb, and annual starter material and managing the cultural and growing requirements of all plants in our propagation area. Additionally, he works alongside all section growers to develop and improve crop recipes, schedules, and production plans. We are excited for Matt and looking forward to growing on the more than 600,000 plants a year that he will produce!
Matt grew up in Columbus and graduated from Ohio State University in the Spring of 2015 with a degree in Environmental Policy & Management, focused in water conservation. Throughout his time at OSU, the curriculum influenced Matt to consider a career in horticulture in addition to other avenues he had considered. Since then, Matt has dedicated his time to numerous local organizations as both an educator and horticulturist, including the Franklin Park Conservatory, Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, and most recently with McCullough's Landscape & Nursery as a plant health care specialist.
When not at Millcreek Matt devotes most of his time to music, yoga, climbing, ingesting art & information, and taking care of his plants at home.
Job Titles:
- Assistant General Manager, Office Operations Manager
Megan joined Millcreek in July of 1998 upon graduating from Ohio University with a B. S. in Environmental and Plant Biology. She joined Millcreek Gardens as our IMPACT Department Production Supervisor and since that time she spent over ten years as a Head Grower of the IMPACT line of perennials. In the fall of 2009 she transitioned into a new role of Business Office Manager where her responsibilities included work in Accounting, Human Resources, Payroll, Technology and Sales and Customer Service. In June of 2012 Megan was promoted to Assistant General Manager and given additional company-wide responsibilities including Budgeting and supporting overall company-management.
As Millcreek continued to grow Megan's role adapted as well. Megan enjoys her current role as Office Operations Manager where she leads and supports both our sales and business side of things with our amazing Sales Office Supervisor and Business Office Supervisor. As Assistant General Manager she works with our Growing Operations and Production Manager and Human Resources Manager to ensure we are growing the best plants and team members possible. As a member of the Leadership Team at Millcreek she leads and supports Millcreek company initiatives and operations.
In 2004 she was named the recipient of the Perennial Plant Association's Young Professional Award at the annual symposium in New York City.
As a mom of two young boys Megan, along with her husband Kevin, spend most of their time outside of work taking kids to sports practices or attending their games! She loves being a soccer and hockey mom. When time allows, she enjoys being outdoors and working in her home gardens, daily walks with her Labrador Retriever Brutus and enjoying the company of her family and friends!
Job Titles:
- Account Manager & Sales Office Supervisor
We welcome Mike to his new role as Account Manager and Sales Office Supervisor as of November 2022! We are excited for him in this new position and eager for him to connect and build relationships with our amazing customers.
Mike has been with Millcreek since the summer of 2013, originally joining our team as an intern and shortly after completed his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University where he majored in Sustainable Plant Systems, with specialization in Horticulture. He joined our team full-time in the spring of 2014 as a Coordinator working primarily with our PRO #1 Perennials. In spring 2015, he was promoted to Section Grower in PRO #1 Perennials and Stepables®.
In the fall of 2016, Mike transitioned to Section Grower in Propagation. His job responsibilities include propagating perennial, herb, and succulent starter material and managing the cultural and growing requirements of all plants in our propagation area. Additionally, he works alongside the perennial and herb section growers to develop crop recipes, schedules, and production plans and secures plant material and supplies for our propagation area. He produces over 600,000 plants a year and is constantly improving our quality and processes through his innovation, energy, and enthusiasm.
Mike also spent 6 1/2 years as our our Safety Coordinator where his responsibilities included Safety Training and onboarding of our year-round and seasonal staff and also maintaining our safety program including reporting and compliance.
A native of Wisconsin, Mike developed his passion for plants through countless outdoor excursions and family camping trips. In his spare time Mike enjoys hobbies such as hiking, biking, cooking, visiting botanical gardens and photography.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Grower - Annuals, Shrubs, Propagation
Nick joined Millcreek in March of 2023 as an Assistant Grower. He graduated from Ohio University in May 2021 with a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Plant Biology.
Throughout his schooling he was enthralled with plant biology and the outdoors. Nick gained experience learning from an internship at a small organic farm and working a farmers market booth to eventually graduating and gaining experience post college in the wholesale nursery industry.
In his free time he enjoys fishing, hiking, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, and playing with his pets.
Job Titles:
- Inventory Planning & Purchasing Director
Sara joined Millcreek in the Spring of 2011. She graduated from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in March of 2011 with an Associate's Degree in Horticulture Science. Sara initially worked as our Order Accuracy Coordinator in our Shipping Department. Her primary responsibility was the processing and organization of customer orders as they arrive in our shipping department. Her duties included conducting accurate variety and unit counts and plant quality inspection of orders prior to shipping.
In the Fall of 2015, Sara was promoted to her current role as Inventory Planning and Purchasing Director. She works directly alongside our Growing Operations Manager to purchase and organize rotations of all plant material across all of our growing departments. She is also responsible for setting up and maintaining production schedules and plans for each of our product lines. Sara also oversees placing all orders for labels for all of these plants too!
She loves spending time with family and friends, her cats Stewart and Zeus, and enjoys reading any mystery novel. She dreams of going on a road trip and traveling all around the states!
Shannon joined the Millcreek team in January of 2021 as the Order Staging Coordinator in our Shipping Department. In January of 2022, Shannon was promoted to Shipping Director where she oversees all aspects of order handling and all shipping processes. Shannon works collaboratively with the three Coordinators in the Shipping Department to ensure flawless orders are shipped to our customers. She also coordinates our driver availability and scheduling as well as scheduling and maintenance of our fleet of delivery vehicles. She is currently working on obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Policy and Decision Making from The Ohio State University. Her interest in plants stemmed from a small home garden and flourished by spending 6 years in a nursery, watering and maintaining plants.
When Shannon is home from work, she likes to enjoy outdoor adventures such as hiking and kayaking, but also enjoys playing videogames and board games, participating in her book club, listening to music and seeing concerts, and most importantly, spending time with her mini pit bull, Raya.
Job Titles:
- Sales & Customer Service Specialist
Sharon joined the Millcreek team in the spring of 2015 as a seasonal employee working in our Production Department. She quickly fit right in and in the Fall assumed a new position as our Office and Growing Support Technician. Sharon is now our Sales & Customer Service Specialist and supports our wonderful customers! You will likely speak with her on the phone or receive an email message from her. She brings a pleasant attitude and kind spirit to work each day. In late summer, fall, and winter she can also be found assisting in various areas including production, propagation, and in our finished container growing areas.
A native of Buffalo, NY, Sharon moved to Ohio at the age of 5 and then moved to New Jersey at the age of 12 where she lived for quite some time. Before coming to Millcreek, Sharon worked for many years in various administrative positions for large corporations in the Flavor and Fragrance Industry on the East Coast. She moved back to Ohio a years ago and in her spare time she enjoys shopping, gardening, and spending time with her family, friends, and dog!
Troy joined the Millcreek team as a Growing Coordinator early in 2024. He is an enthusiastic and devoted plant lover, eager to delve into the intricacies of nurturing sustainable ecosystems and fostering physical growth from the ground up.
His fascination with plant life blossomed during cherished moments camping, kayaking, and visiting national parks with his father. This gradually evolved into a deep passion for local gardens and plant life. Prior to joining Millcreek, he honed his expertise in retail plant distribution.
In his downtime, Troy takes care of his personal plants at home as well as his two cats Fern and Euca (Eucalyptus). An avid reader, his favorite book is ‘The History of American Poetry'. He also enjoys the outdoors and cooking with his partner.