Our Growing & Shipping Team
Fred Higginbotham III - Growing Operations Manager, OCNT, OCPA
fhigginbotham@millcreekplants.com | extension 28Fred earned a B. S. in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, where he majored in Crop Science. He also holds an Associate’s Degree in Floriculture from Alfred State. Fred joined Millcreek in March of 2005 upon completion of his six month internship with us. He began as an Assistant Grower in our IMPACT Department and later as the Head Grower. After a few years as the Head Grower in the IMPACT Perennial Department, Fred was promoted to Growing Operations Supervisor.
Jay Dingledine - Team Leader - Production
jdingledine@millcreekplants.com | extension 26Jay interned with Millcreek in 2005 and upon graduating from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in June 2005 with degrees in both Greenhouse Production and Management and Nursery Management he joined our team full-time. Throughout his tenure he has worked as an Assistant Grower in the Perennial Quart and Herb Departments. Jay currently leads our Production Department where he oversees Production of every container size across the company.
Sara Gribble - Inventory Planning & Purchasing Director
sgribble@millcreekplants.com | extension 29Sara joined Millcreek in the Spring of 2011. She graduated from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in March of 2011 with an Associate’s Degree in Horticulture Science. Sara initially worked as our Order Accuracy Coordinator in our Shipping Department. Her primary responsibility was the processing and organization of customer orders as they arrive in our shipping department. Her duties included conducting accurate variety and unit counts and plant quality inspection of orders prior to shipping.
Mike Benedict - Section Grower - Propagation
mbenedict@millcreekplants.com | extension 27Mike interned with Millcreek in the summer of 2013 and shortly after completed his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University where he majored in Sustainable Plant Systems, with specialization in Horticulture. He joined our team full-time in the spring of 2014 as a Coordinator working primarily with our PRO #1 Perennials. In spring 2015, he was promoted to Section Grower in PRO #1 Perennials and Stepables®.
Peter Gordon - Section Grower - Quart Perennials
pgordon@millcreekplants.com | extension 33Peter joined the Millcreek team at the beginning of 2017 as the Section Grower for the Quart Perennial program. While he was born and raised in central Ohio, he has had various jobs in different states throughout his career in the green industry. He attended Ohio University.
Matt Hutchins - Section Grower - Annuals, Shrubs, and Specialty Crops
mhutchins@millcreekplants.com | extension 30Matt joined the Millcreek team in February of 2015 as our Quart Perennial Coordinator. He arrived with over 13 years of experience working in the Green Industry where he first began as a landscape maintenance technician. Over the years he moved his way up to Landscape Crew Leader where his projects focused primarily on high-end softscapes and low voltage lighting systems as well as irrigation systems. He also has over 3 years experience as a grower and production manager and has owned his own Landscape and Design company.
Jim Palmer - Shipping and Facilities Section Leader
jpalmer@millcreekplants.com | extension 18Jim began at Millcreek as a seasonal employee in the spring of 2014 where he worked as an order picker in the Quart Perennial Department. He joined us full-time in the spring of 2015 as the Quality Standards Coordinator in our Shipping Department. In the Fall of 2015, he changed roles and became our Order Accuracy Coordinator where his primary responsibilities included processing, preparing, and organizing all orders as they are picked for shipment. In February of 2018, Jim was promoted to Section Leader of Shipping and Facilities. Jim now oversees all aspects of order handling and shipping tasks to ensure flawless orders are shipped to our customers. He also coordinates our driver availability and scheduling, he coordinates scheduling and maintenance of our fleet of delivery vehicles, and he also leads our Maintenance Department where he coordinates, prioritizes, and assists with maintenance and equipment tasks for our entire facility.
Laura Richards - Section Grower - Herbs
lrichards@millcreekplants.com | extension 32Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University with a major in Horticulture and minor in Business with a Floriculture specialty. She joined Millcreek as a grower in 2008 after working in the floral, commercial holiday decorating, garden center and interiorscape fields. Laura was the recipient of both state and national design-build landscape awards for 16 consecutive years.
Stephen Rogers - Section Grower - IMPACT Perennials, Peonies - OCPA
srogers@millcreekplants.com | extension 34Stephen arrived at Millcreek from the warm south of North Carolina! He graduated from Franklin High School in 2006 and began working at Millcreek in the Spring of 2010 as a technician primarily in our IMPACT Perennial department where he worked as one of our main order pickers.
Kyle Dresback - Growing Coordinator - IMPACT Perennials, Peonies
kdresback@millcreekplants.comKyle joined Millcreek in the Spring of 2007 working in our Production Department. In the summer of 2012, Kyle was promoted to IMPACT Perennial Coordinator, where his responsibilities include watering, pruning, weeding, moving, spacing and general plant care and maintenance of our IMPACT Perennials. He also supervises work crews in the IMPACT area and leads a picking crew for order fulfillment in the spring season.
Hannah Frey - Growing Coordinator - Herbs
hfrey@millcreekplants.comHannah joined Millcreek in Spring of 2010 as a seasonal worker. Since that time she has worked in both our Shipping and Herb departments as a Technician before finding her current home as our Nursery Coordinator for Herbs. Her primary responsibility is assisting our Herb Grower, Laura, with keeping our herb crops healthy and happy.
Micah Frey - Shipping Floor Coordinator
mfrey@millcreekplants.com | extension 18Micah joined Millcreek as a high school student in 2010, working seasonally until he graduated from Green Tree Academy in the Spring of 2013. He then joined our team as a full time Nursery Technician working primarily with our IMPACT Perennials. His duties included pruning, spacing, weeding, watering, and general plant maintenance and care. In spring 2015, Micah was promoted to Shipping Floor Coordinator where he is involved in getting plant material that has been picked and processed properly loaded onto racks, organizing the racks for shipment to our customers, and performing final counts on orders.
Rob Horney - Shipping Coordinator
rhorney@millcreekplants.com | extension 18Rob joined the Millcreek team and entered the field of Horticulture in the early spring of 2015 as a Technician working primarily in our Shipping Department. Throughout his time here he has worked in several departments ranging from our Shipping Department to various Growing areas performing horticultural tasks. He has enjoyed learning about plants and the ins and outs of the growing process.
Edward Luersman - Growing Coordinator - Quart Perennials
eluersman@millcreekplants.comEdward graduated from the Ohio State University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in Plant Health Management. After gaining experience in the retail garden center environment, Edward joined the Millcreek team in the fall of 2016 as a Growing Coordinator in our Quart Perennial Department. Edward’s day to day activities include coordinating the fulfillment of orders for shipment to customers, as well as organizing and completing plant care and maintenance tasks in order to grow quality, healthy perennials.
Lyndsey Maruna - Growing Coordinator - Quart Perennials
lmaruna@millcreekplants.comLyndsey graduated from Ohio University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Biology and a minor in Plant Biology. Her passion for plants relocated her to the Columbus area when she joined the Millcreek team in Spring of 2018 as a seasonal staff member working on our picking crews. After spending the summer in our Annuals, Shrubs, and Succulents department, Lyndsey was promoted to Growing Coordinator for the Quart Perennial Department and joined our team full-time. Her primary responsibilities include fulfilling orders for shipment and plant care/maintenance to insure quality plants. Lyndsey joins the Millcreek team with 6 years previous experience in a nursery/greenhouse setting.
Mark Noble - Facilities Coordinator
mnoble@millcreekplants.comMark joined Millcreek in 1991 as a member of our Maintenance Department. He is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all our heavy equipment and tractors as well unloading incoming deliveries. He is involved in all aspects of our physical facilities including building new greenhouses, running irrigation, gas, and electric lines, and installing heater and shutter systems.
Maggy O’Reilly - Growing Coordinator - Quart Perennials
moreilly@millcreekplants.comMaggy joined the Millcreek team in the early spring of 2017 as a seasonal employee on our picking crew. Maggy continued throughout the summer after many seasonal staff members had departed and was welcomed aboard as a Plant Technician in the Quart Perennial Department. She quickly advanced to her current role as Growing Coordinator in the same department. Prior to her career with Millcreek, Maggy worked assisting those with developmental disabilities. She attended the Columbus College of Art and Design and graduated with a BFA in Illustration. After spending several years in the creative field, she hopes to bring her design skills to Millcreek whenever possible.
Bobby Post - Growing Coordinator - IMPACT Perennials, Peonies - Master OCNT
bpost@millcreekplants.comBobby started at Millcreek as a seasonal employee during the Spring of ‘17 and quickly climbed to full-time status as a Coordinator for IMPACT Perennials. Bobby’s passion for plant life has led him to many experiences in the green industry. Most notably, his attainment of a Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Plant Systems from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in Horticulture. Before arriving at Millcreek, he managed a landscaping business in the Arlington and Dublin suburbs for over 12 years. In 2018 Bobby attained his Master OCNT status, which is granted to individuals who have successfully attained certification in all three areas of specialization: Garden Center, Grower, and Landscape.
Keith Dresback - Plant Technician
kjdresback@millcreekplants.comKeith began working at Millcreek in the early spring of 2013 in our Production Department. He can be found either working on the potting lines or more regularly as our chief offloader leading our seasonal help in laying down newly planted production in the growing areas. When we aren’t busy potting plants Keith helps out in many other areas of our nursery – anywhere from the growing areas, to our shipping department, to helping with facilities tasks.