Friday, August 12, 2022
CapitalPress.com
5
WOODBURN NURSERY AND AZALEAS
Investing for the future
By MOLLY CRUSE
Capital Press
WOODBURN, Ore. —
In 1968, changing economic
trends and a competency
for growing fl orals were
driving factors in Bob and
Jean Fessler’s decision to
shift from raising mink and
hazelnuts to starting Wood-
burn Nursery and Azaleas.
Today, their six chil-
dren — Tom Fessler, Rick
Fessler, Karen Jaeger, Sandy
Traeger and Jodi Arritola —
are co-owners of the nursery.
Tom Fessler, current
president of Woodburn
Nursery and Azaleas, grew
up pulling weeds and help-
ing his parents run the irriga-
tion equipment. After gradu-
ating from high school, he
started working at the nurs-
ery full-time.
“People ask me if, from
my parents’ perspective,
‘Did they ever dream it
would become what it is?’
and (my parents) had no
idea, it just kind of evolved
this way,” said Tom. “They
didn’t say, ‘I want to be this
size’ or whatever it is. It
just kept evolving. The cus-
Molly Cruse/Capital Press
Tom Fessler, president of Woodburn Nursery and Azaleas. “Probably the biggest thing
that I think I appreciate about my parents is the fact that they were willing to spend
money to be innovative with greenhouses with equipment, you name it,” he said.
tomer demand was there, so
every year they would just
do more.”
His parents started on
15 acres. Today, Woodburn
Nursery and Azaleas has
grown to approximately 500
acres. Before Tom became
involved with the nursery
full-time, Bob and Jean had
begun transitioning from
solely growing azaleas to
also growing landscape
plants. Tom expanded on
this by growing rhododen-
drons and other shrubs.
“Probably the biggest
thing that I think I appreci-
ate about my parents is the
fact that they were willing to
spend money to be innova-
tive with greenhouses with
equipment, you name it,”
said Tom.
For him, the investment
his parents put into the busi-
ness paved the way for both
the business and his family’s
future.
“My parents ran a very
successful business and they
invested back into it for the
long term,” said Tom. “And
my siblings and I are doing
the same thing right now.”
And that investment is
felt by the next generation of
Woodburn Nursery and Aza-
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lea growers. Kyle Fessler,
Tom’s son, is now in charge
of growing and production
at the nursery. For Kyle, the
investment of time, energy
and innovative thinking
that the generations before
him invested have allowed
him to focus on enhancing
the quality of the plants the
nursery grows.
“Quality is the standard
here that really sets us apart,”
said Kyle. “A lot of the
mechanization and technol-
ogy that we’ve used to help
keep that standard up and
keep our effi ciencies up has
been really the driving force
over the last few decades.”
In addition to the gener-
ational support, Kyle says
collaborating with other
industry professionals has
been a huge help with the
nursery’s success.
“Working with (the Ore-
gon Association of Nurser-
ies) has gotten me a lot better
at our own operation,” said
Kyle. “I’ve learned a lot. We
work with a lot of diff erent
growers and business own-
ers that know a lot about a
lot of things. You learn a ton
of stuff from those guys.”
Today, Tom hopes that
Woodburn Nursery and Aza-
leas will continue to grow
and support other nurseries
in the area.
“One of the things that
my dad always said, was
he wanted the West Coast
to work together to pro-
duce high-quality plants,
because we are competitors,
but we’re not fi erce compet-
itors,” said Tom. “...We hope
that we, as the West Coast,
develop a good reputation
throughout the industry.”