“I’ve always found I get so much more out of serving than I put into it,” says Warren. “What I love most about what I do professionally is the opportunity to interact with so many people. I’ve learned so much and been so fortunate to be around people that knew so much more than I did. They give their time to teach you—and you can never repay that. Some of my closest friend- ships have developed because of TPI and I’m so grateful for that. Being able to talk to a good close friend who does the same thing I do 10 to 16 hours a day; talking at such a deep level about our busi- nesses; sharing in confidence—the value of that networking is too great to measure.”
Today’s BioGrass
Business Structure Don and Warren are now the majority owners and run the business. All three of Warren’s brothers have a financial interest in BioGrass and are active in one way or another. Mark is a lawyer. Warren says, “He handles all the company’s legal work and serves as our legal counsel.”
Glenn left the company in 1989 to pursue a degree in fisheries biology. He now lives in Big Sky, Montana, and manages the family-owned lodg- ing business about 40 miles south of there in West Yellowstone, Montana. Warren says, “Glenn is an excellent business person and serves on the Bio- Grass board. We’re all fly fishermen because of Glenn.”
Peter left the company about six years ago to take a position with the Larry H. Miller Group of Compa- nies, the conglomerate that manages the multiple business enterprises of the now-deceased Miller, including the NBA’s Utah Jazz and a massive car dealership. “Peter is with one of their Toyota dealerships in Salt Lake City and is doing very well there,”
Isaac, Blake, Tammy, Warren, Emily, Olivia and Audrie head for the July 4th parade in Coralville, near Iowa City.
BioGrass had negotiated a long-term lease for their Bluffdale farm in 1989. They hosted TPI’s 2005 Sum- mer Field Day at that site. Part of the lease agreement was the land- owner’s option to develop the land for other uses with adequate notice to BioGrass of exercising that option. Warren says, “We’ve had a very good working relationship and, over the years, they’ve sold the land in spurts. It worked out very well for us. They sold to a BioGrass customer and we ended up supplying all the sod for the developments from our fields there. Those were very short delivery trips for us.”
By early 2015, the housing developments surrounding them had squeezed the BioGrass operations at Bluffdale to less than 30 acres, and that was slotted for development. Warren says, “The timing was fine from our standpoint. We’re grateful to have had that property for as long as we did. By December first, we’d
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
says Warren. “It’s no surprise all of us now drive Toyotas.”
Physical Locations
and Logistics The first three BioGrass sod farms were leased properties, one of them virgin sagebrush prior to the lease. In 2004, they purchased a 587 acre farm in Vernon, a little town about 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
harvested the last bit of sod on that farm and moved trailers of irrigation pipe and our equipment to Vernon. All of our growing operations are now concentrated on the farm in Vernon.”
BioGrass does a sizeable business of direct ship from the farm. Warren says, “We have a pretty broad base of customers. We sell direct to the public; sell to independent nurseries; and to landscape contractors and to builders. We do a fair amount with city proper- ties, the parks and recreation districts and universities.”
The company doesn’t do major sports stadium work because they don’t have the right soil profiles. But, Warren says, “Some of the universities have their own sod nurseries. We supply the base turfgrass material and they grow it on their own sand spec profile.”
BioGrass does golf course work on a design-build basis. “We work with the architect and the superintendent and will custom grow for them. Our projects are typically the higher-end courses, country clubs or courses in resort areas such as Park City.”
While BioGrass did installation for a long time, they now sub it out to several companies that they work with regularly. “The subcontractor gets paid directly by the customer,” says Warren. “Our role is delivering the sod to the job site.”
BioGrass also has a retail/wholesale location in the city of Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. It’s a commercial property that had been owned by the family until a little over a year ago. “We sold it then and leased it back from the buyer for another three to six years,” reports Warren. “We’ve had our small sales office there since 1985. It has just enough office space for our phone banks, along with a large yard with easy access for trucks in and out.”
They offer the BigYellowBag program, with a variety of soil and mulch prod-
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