40 Under 40, Class of 2017

Aren Phillips

Company

Spring Meadow Nursery

Job Title

Assistant Propagation Manager

Accomplishments

Responsible for converting small-scale research tissue lab into an in-house production lab in one growing season.
Helped ramp up company’s automated transplanting machine from installation to full production and increase production rates by 250 percent.

Extracurricular

During the Off and On Season: During the winter season, Aren likes to make botanical specimen orchids out of stained glass. He also enjoys hiking along Lake Michigan, collecting native seeds and filling his small woods and prairie with native plants.

Fun Facts

Color His World: Aren has synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon where his brain links colors and symbols. “For me, A is always yellow, 8 is always orange, Monday is always red, June is always blue, and triangles are always green.”