WARREN BELL—ALWAYS SERVING —ALWAYS LEARNING

By Suz Trusty BioGrass®

Sod Farms, Inc. was

founded in 1979 by educator and former U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Terrel (T.H. [Ted]) Bell and his wife Betty. Thirty-seven years later, it’s one of Utah’s largest and oldest sod farm businesses and a leader in formulat- ing water-efficient seed mixtures that result in dense, durable sod. Warren Bell, president of BioGrass, served as TPI president in 2005/2006. He’s an innovator who is always serving and always learning.

In the Beginning The BioGrass story starts with War- ren’s father, T.H. Bell, and his service on education issues at the local and state levels, as well as positions in Washington D.C. during the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.

For his wife Betty and sons—Mark, War- ren, Glenn and Peter—life in the two cit- ies entailed immersion in two distinctly different cultures. The Bell brothers gained much from it. Warren says, “I lived in D.C. twice—once while I was in elementary school and once when I was in high school. We also traveled quite a bit with my Dad and his job. One of the great things about that was the oppor- tunity to interact with so many people from so many different backgrounds and discover they’re all just folks, just the same as I am.

“I’m so grateful to have been raised by a great Mom and Dad who instilled good, solid values. They taught us to look at the world and at business in the right way,” says Warren. “My Dad was a great influence. He never got caught up in the Washington elite society scene. He was the same dedicated fam- ily man wherever we were. He told us to make sure your heart is in the right place and that you are doing the right

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Name Notes Warren Bell says, “One of the odd things with my father’s public career is the different references to his name. Early in his career—per- haps up through the seventies—he was referred to as T.H. Bell or Dr. T.H. Bell. Commencing, and after the first Reagan term, he was always referred to as Terrel. Importantly, his friends, col- leagues, and family always called him by his nickname, Ted. And, of course, there are a number of folks on the extreme left and right that used rather creative and colorful names.

”

This explains the different name references to Dr. Bell throughout this article.

thing. Live your life that way and you’ll attract the things that you want to at- tract. And he lived that example. ”

Warren met his future wife, Tammy, shortly after the Bell family returned to Salt Lake City from D.C. It was in March of 1977, their senior year of high school. “It was kind of love at first sight,” says Warren. “We dated throughout the rest of high school and during our college years.”

With four boys, and the three oldest all entering college in a three and a half year time span, Warren’s parents were looking for a family business that would provide additional income and tax savings. Typical of the Bell family, they researched the options. They considered a Baskin Robbins franchise. But they were so impressed by the farm of a friend in the sod production business that they decided to pursue the sod business and leased portions of a 100-acre farm in Eagle Mountain, Utah.

They planted their first seed in the fall of 1979 and harvested their first

crop of sod in the fall of 1980. Warren says, “In December of 1980, we were packing up the U-Haul once again for Dad’s move back to Washington, D.C. The whole family was there in Janu- ary for the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan.” Dr. Terrel Bell had been called to serve his country once again, this time as U.S. Secretary of Education.

Warren remembers his Dad and Mom gathering their sons to address the next step, with the question, “Do you guys want to keep the sod business going?” Warren, his younger brother Glenn, and older brother Mark, were all in college. Youngest brother Peter was still in elementary school. The brothers’ unanimous decision was yes. And, Warren says, “We did our best to run that small business.”

“In April of 1981 we brought in my current partner, Don Heslop,” says Warren. “He’s been with us ever since.” Don’s father built a home right behind the capital building in Salt Lake City a year before Ted and Betty built the Bell family home there. Warren says, “I’ve known Don since we were both five. He became such a close friend to all of us that our Mom told him to ring the doorbell twice and come in; we’d know it was him. Our parents joked that he was their fifth son.”

Warren continues, “The story of BioGrass is not complete without Don Heslop. He’s very mechanical and an artist. He’s the farmer of the opera- tion and very, very good at it. He’s a down-to-earth, salt-of-the-earth guy; hard working and as honest as the day is long. Any of the success that we’ve had could not have been without Don Heslop. The same goes for our wonder- ful and committed office and farm staff. Our success is a direct result of their dedication and efforts.”

TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016