Hoerr Nursery: Giving back

As a large grower and retail nursery, Hoerr Nursery has a lot of opportunity to give back—and they capitalize on that opportunity. It’s rare that the Peoria, Ill.-based business will turn a request down. The staff calls it being “good stewards to the community,” but it’s obvious the nursery goes above and beyond.

“We get asked to participate in a lot of community opportunities—and we say yes a lot,” says Ella Maxwell, a horticulturist and certified arborist at the nursery. “We’ve always been a very civic-minded company and our very generous owners believe that participating in community opportunities is our responsibility. We have the resources to do it, so we do.”

That community involvement has ranged greatly. One opportunity came in the form of the devastating emerald ash borer infestation. Hoerr not only took a proactive approach by ending their sales of ash trees, but its also helped with replanting some of the high-impact areas that were hardest hit.

“Because we can grow our own trees, we can afford to donate them,” explains Maxwell. “We’ve most recently done some donations to schools this past year. We’re also able to move trees and relocate them for various projects.”

But emerald ash borer hasn’t been the only threat to the area. In 2013, one of the local communities was ravished by a tornado and lost many long-established trees. Hoerr stepped up to the plate, doing tree plantings in affected areas.

Maxwell says that the nursery has become a resource for community projects and opportunities. It often donates trees as giveaways, is involved in regular Arbor Day plantings, performed landscaping for “Dream Homes,” and is all-around active in other civic projects.

“Basically there’s always an opportunity to get involved somewhere,” says Maxwell. “Unfortunately, you don’t have to look very hard to find someone in need. While our larger size affords us the ability to be active on a grander scale, even smaller businesses can find opportunities to give back.”

Recently, Hoerr has also gotten more involved with memorial trees. This appears to be a growing trend, in which people want to spread a loved one’s ashes during a tree planting.

“We’ve also gotten involved in living memorials where a tree is dedicated to someone who has passed,” Maxwell says. “We contact local park districts to get involved with these plantings.”

While all this community involvement undoubtedly leaves those at Hoerr feeling like they’ve done some good, it can’t be denied that it’s also smart business. Maxwell says that it’s common sense that the community prefers supporting businesses that give back. It ends up being a win-win all around. In fact, Maxwell says it makes “financial sense” to give back because it’s “just part of doing good business.”

“We’ve certainly reaped the benefits of being so civic minded through local recognition such as the People’s Choice Award,” says Maxwell. “But we see that as an added benefit. More than anything, it’s the right thing to do. The sense of giving back is instilled in our employees, as well. We are a group of people where our hobby is our job. We love what we do. And if we can help others while we’re doing it—well, that’s even better.”

For more: www.hoerrnursery.com