Industry-Leading Growers Earn EAGL Certification

Ellison Chair for International Floriculture Charlie Hall is proud to announce the graduation of the ninth cohort of the elite Executive Academy for Growth & Leadership (EAGL) program for nursery & greenhouse growers.

Eight industry leaders received their Certificate in Applied Horticultural Business Management from Texas A&M University on February 3, 2022.

“Though there was a lot of business diversity in this group, the Kappas developed rapidly into a cohesive ‘unit’ – supporting each other both personally and professionally,” EAGL Founder Hall said in a news release. “After nine years, no two groups are the same, but I remain so impressed with the caliber of the industry leaders who come through the program; the way they commit to both their personal and professional growth through the nine months. The future is bright for each of these businesses, and the industry.”

Capstone projects were again judged this year by W.J. Rossi (Koss-Olinger Financial) and Ed Bales (Motorola University, retired). They join Dr. Hall, Kellee O’Reilly and the other members of the faculty, Kip Creel (StandPoint), Corey Bordine (MonkeyBar Management), Barry Sturdivant (TS Ag Finance) in congratulating the Kappa cohort of the EAGL program on achieving their certification:

• Chris McCorkle (McCorkle Nurseries – Georgia)
• Philip Statile (L.P. Statile Inc. – New Jersey)
• Chris Robinson (Robinson Nurseries – Oregon)
• Jeff Olsen (Brookdale Treeland Nurseries – Ontario)
• Kim Hainsfurther (Forrest Keeling Nursery – Montana)
• Chris Uhland (Harmony Hill Nursery – Pennsylvania)
• Lyndsi Oestmann (Loma Vista Nursery – Kansas).
• Mike Miller (Decker’s Nursery – Ohio)

Marie Robinson and Josh Robinson received individual module certificates for the marketing and finance module participation, respectively, and they also supported Chris – participating as a team during the Capstone presentation.

These graduates now join their peers in the EAGL Network (a comprehensive list of each year’s graduates is available upon request). The tenth group – the Lambda cohort – is accepting applications now (three available seats remain) and will begin their curriculum in June 2022 (note that direct competitors are not accepted in the program in the same year).

To learn more about the curriculum, visit www.eaglnetwork.com.

Above, the growers’ Executive Academy for Growth & Leadership (EAGL) Kappa cohort received certifications on February 4, 2022 in Austin, TX. Pictured Left to Right: Ed Bales (faculty), Chris McCorkle (McCorkle Nurseries – GA), Philip Statile (L.P. Statile – NJ), Josh Robinson, Marie Robinson, Chris Robinson (all with Robinson Nurseries – OR), Jeff Olsen (represented by the egg!: Brookdale Treeland Nurseries – ONT), Kim Hainsfurther (Forrest Keeling Nursery – MO). Dr. Charlie Hall (faculty), Chris Uhland (Harmony Hill Nursery – PA), Lyndsi Oestmann (Loma Vista Nursery – KS), Mike Miller (Decker’s Nursery – OH) and W.J. Rossi (faculty).