Cutting time, saving costs

Founded almost 35 years ago, Robinson Nursery has purchased liners from JLPN Inc. since the company’s beginning, Chris Robinson, manager of Robinson Nursery, says.

“My dad and mom started this company about 35 years ago,” Robinson says. “I would imagine we’ve probably been buying stuff from them every year we’ve been in business.”

The McMinnville, Ore., nursery has developed a close relationship with the family seedling operation after working together for years, but Robinson says he doesn’t keep business with JLPN just out of habit.

Robinson took over purchasing for the nursery about five years ago, he says, after his father, which is how he became familiar with JLPN. He says he continues to purchase liners from the seedling operation because of their quality, performance and customer service.

“They always have good quality, consistent performance, [they’re] a local company, great people to work with,” Robinson says. “Once I took over purchasing, I tried a bunch of other liner companies and I kind of just gravitated back towards for them just for the reasons I just mentioned.”

Robinson says JLPN’s growing methods help them lower costs because they speed up the finishing process.

“They grow plants in containers, so we can finish them faster,” he says. “The quicker you can finish the product, the lower your costs are and the more profitable you can become.”

He also says there is lower risk with JLPN’s liners.

“With their oaks, we get a high percent of transplant-ability. So, if we buy an oak from them, we’re able to finish and sell probably 95 percent of what we plant … They care deeply about what they're doing, [and] it’s shown in their product line.”

Robinson also says he likes working with the company because of their customer service and willingness to always improve.

“Their sales staff is excellent, their growing staff is excellent,” Robinson says. “The owners just really care about what they're doing, so they'll answer phone calls any time of day, they'll come out to the nursery if there [are] problems and they’re always trying to make their product better.”

“They do such a good job, we wouldn’t even look elsewhere if there was opportunity.”