what I needed to better manage the business,” he says.
Getting Involved in TPI The culture of the Bell family and the BioGrass business is to always be involved in local, regional and national trade associations. They joined TPI in the early 80s at the behest of Glenn Markum from Green Hills Sod in Colorado. Warren says, “He was the first guy my Dad met that was in the grass business and they become good friends. We bought our first mower and harvester from him and his fam- ily.” Warren and Tammy attended their first TPI conference in February of 1986 in Scottsdale, AZ, when Ike Thomas was president (1985-1986).
The Clark Bell family is pictured from left to right: 4-year-old Jaxon, Ethan who will be a 1 in Febru- ary, Clark, Jamilyn and 6-year-old Jayda.
Warren had studied at the University of Utah for about two years, but transferred to Utah Technical College so he could also work on the sod farm. “I took build- ing construction for a year and learned a lot of trade mathematics and how to read blueprints,” he says. “That was helpful getting into the sod business and interacting with contractors.”
Tammy and Warren married after Tammy earned her degree in elemen- tary education. Warren says, “We had our first child, Emily, 11 months later. Our second, son Clark, was born 17 months after that. Tammy was amaz- ing in her support of my dedication to growing the business and her devotion to our two young children; all while teaching at the elementary level in the
36 Salt Lake City public schools.”
When Ted Bell returned from D.C. at the end of 1984, he found the BioGrass business was operating ef- fectively under the partnership of his sons and Don Heslop. So, Ted focused on the field of education, corporate directorships and, as time allowed, fields of grass.
After a few years on the sod farm, Warren took an interest in plant sci- ence and started taking night classes through Utah State University. They offered an off campus option and he did that, adding some business classes along the way. “I decided not to pursue a degree, determining I’d gain more by dialing in my formal education for
TPI put out an initiative in the mid-90s to explore water issues through a water committee that would be headed by Past President Earl Flack of Pacific Sod in Camarillo, CA, and Art Campbell of Campbell Sod in Kansas. War- ren saw a blurb in Turf News calling for those interested in participating to contact Earl. “I wanted to take part in that. We were not having big problems with water at that time, but it’s an issue of international concern. I was fortunate enough to serve on the water committee and made some great friends from that. It was a really active committee, meeting four times a year, at the mid-summer and winter conferences and in the fall and spring as well.”
Warren’s involvement with the water committee led to his interview for a Board of Trustees position. He served a three-year term and was then elected to a year as secretary/ treasurer, going on to serve a year each as vice president, president, and past president. After going off the board, he was asked to serve as the TPI represen- tative on the National Turfgrass Evalu- ation Program (NTEP) policy commit- tee and did that for seven years. He also pitched in as chair of The Lawn Institute Research Committee.
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
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