Company Information
QUALITY, VALUES, TRADITION A History of Yoder Brothers, Inc. Barberton, Ohio
From modest beginnings – as a partnership of two, hardworking Mennonite brothers, Menno and Ira Yoder – Yoder Brothers Inc. has grown to be a world leader in flowering research and breeding. Today, almost 90 years after its founding, G. Ramsey Yoder, Menno's grandson, heads a company of 1,100 employees.
William G. Rasbach, president and chief executive officer, is in charge of day-to-day operations and shares with Yoder the responsibility of leading the company.
Yoder continues evolving to meet the changing horticultural market. In 1995 Blooms of Bressingham
® in North America was set up as a new company to introduce exclusive Blooms perennials from England to North America. Shortly afterwards came the acquisition of Green Leaf Perennials, one of the North America's leading perennial growers and a marketing alliance with Paul Ecke Ranch. Yoder is participating in the Flower Fields
® program with the Paul Ecke Ranch. The Flower Fields product line includes about 500 cultivars which covers most of the products grown and marketed as spring garden plants. These venues put Yoder in an excellent position to capitalize on the popularity of gardening.
The company continues to expand its support of the horticultural industry with new varieties and starter plants of many types. While chrysanthemums remain Yoder's largest crop, the company develops and produces azaleas, tropical hibiscus, perennials, poinsettias, pot roses, dahlias, asters, annuals, gloxinias, exacum, lisianthus and pentas.
Founding Tradition Remains
Though Yoder has become a highly scientific and sophisticated horticultural enterprise, the founding tradition has remained untouched. The company retains a family spirit and a family sense of values remarkable for a company of any size.
Through the years, Yoder's production facilities have moved to other locations with the last Barberton greenhouse closing in 1978. However, the company remained close to its roots by establishing its worldwide corporate headquarters in a former dairy barn of the Barber estate.
The building was renovated in 1985 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The old water storage tank serves as an entrance and meetings are held "in the round" in a conference room in a former silo. Soaring ceilings and massive, exposed beams add architectural interest. More than 50 handcrafted Amish quilts hang from walls and rafters. The building reflects Yoder today:
an honorable melding of strong traditions with a commitment to being the best.
Production Facilities
Yoder's largest operations are in Florida. The Fort Myers Farm, encompassing 118 acres, produces most
of Yoder's mum cuttings. Dormant budded and ready-to-force azaleas ship year-round and are Fort Myers' second largest crop. No one else ships fresh azaleas 52 weeks a year. Yoder’s breeding activities for pot mums, garden mums, azaleas and hibiscus are done in Fort Myers as well.
Live Oak Farm (18 acres of greenhouses), established in 1975, produces flowered azaleas and hibiscus.
The farm has the largest 6-inch hibiscus potted plant program in North America.
In 1989, Yoder purchased the chrysanthemum research and production facilities of the PanAmerican Plant Company, formerly a division of Geo. J. Ball, Inc. in Parrish, Fla. After the acquisition, Yoder added six acres
of greenhouses at Parrish for producing mum cuttings. An additional nine acres are used for the production
of several specialty crops, including asters, pot roses, dahlias, hibiscus and poinsettias.
Yoder is the largest North American producer of vegetatively produced perennial starter plants, which includes unrooted cuttings. In 1997, as part of our expansion into garden products, Green Leaf Perennials in eastern Pennsylvania was purchased. Yoder built a new production facility and moved the perennial product line to Lancaster, Penn. in 1999. Today Yoder’s customer service department is located at this facility, which is also home to an expansive perennial trial garden.
In 1977, Yoder purchased Yoder Atkin, now Yoder Canada Ltd., in Leamington, Ontario. Yoder Canada has nearly 29 acres of greenhouses and sells Yoder cuttings to Canadian greenhouse growers. Yoder Canada specializes in finished mums, Fleurettes, azaleas, poinsettias, Easter lilies, Persian violets and other flowering plants, including perennials.
| Yoder at a Glance |
| Main office |
Yoder Brothers, Inc.
P.O. Box 230, 115 Third St. S.E.
Barberton, Ohio 44203-0230
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| Telephone |
330.745.2143 or 800.232.9557
Fax: 330.745.3098
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| Number of Employees |
1,100
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| Breeding and production facilities |
Fort Myers and Parrish, Florida
Smoketown, Pennsylvania
Leamington, Ontario, Canada
Flores de Amanecer, Bogota, Colombia
Empresa Colombiana De BioteChologia, Bogota, Colombia
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| Established |
1920 by Menno and Ira Yoder
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| Products |
World's leading breeder and propagator of all types of chrysanthemums: pot mums, garden mums, cut mums and Fleurettes. Also a leading propagator and marketer of perennials, asters, azaleas, dahlias, hibiscus, poinsettias and pot roses.
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| Key Personnel |
G. Ramsey Yoder, Chairman
Thomas D. Doak, Vice Chairman
William G. Rasbach, President and Chief Executive Officer
Scott Schaefer, Chief Financial Officer
Doug Holden, Vice President, New Variety and Product Development
Patrick Crump, Vice President U.S. Operations, Fort Myers, Fla.
Chris Jacobs, General Manager/Sales Vice President (Yoder Canada, Ltd.), Leamington, Ontario
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| Website | www.yoder.com
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