Features Business Grower Profiles
Family Business award for NH company

May
21, 2010, Durham, NH – Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon has been named
the 2010
Family Business of the Year by the University of New Hampshire Center
for
Family Business.

May
21, 2010, Durham, NH – Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon has been named
the 2010
Family Business of the Year by the University of New Hampshire Center
for
Family Business.

“The
life, history, and achievements of the Huntington family tell a remarkable
story of how hard work, dedication, and family unity can establish a thriving
business,” said Barbara Draper, director of the UNH Center for Family Business.

From left to right: Ben Huntington, Jeff Huntington, Eleanor Huntington, Jonathan Huntington, Sharon Huntington, Henry Huntington, Barbara Draper, UNH Center for Family Business, and Jack Sanders, chairman of the UNH Center for Family Business board of advisors.

Owned
by the Huntington family, Pleasant View Gardens is largest wholesale grower in
New Hampshire, and one of the largest in New England.

In
1976, Jonathan and Eleanor Huntington, and sons Jeff and Henry, moved from
Connecticut to Loudon to purchase Pleasant View Gardens, a wholesale greenhouse
company. At that time, the facility consisted of three greenhouses and 10
employees. The customer base focused on local florists and provided only
walk-in trade. 

Today,
Pleasant View has two facilities in the state with 13 acres of greenhouses, 15
acres of outdoor growing space, and $21 million in sales. Pleasant View Gardens
is a founding partner of Proven Winners, a marketing company that has created a
major brand in gardening. They are also a partner in Ticoplant, an offshore
stock facility in Costa Rica, and a partner in Plant 21, a breeder of new plant
genetics. 

In
the Granite State, the company employs 120 full-time people and grows to more
than 250 in the peak-growing season. Pleasant View ships Proven Winners young
plants to growers throughout the United States.

In
2008, Proven Winners was chosen by The Home Depot to fill the “best brand”
category in all stores nationwide. 

Pleasant
View continues to be a successful family business despite a devastating fire in
January 2010 that destroyed more than 30,000 square feet of its greenhouse.
Because of the efforts of employees, suppliers, and other community members,
the company rebuilt and had almost 60,000 square feet of new greenhouses in
production by April 1.

Today,
Pleasant View is owned and operated by sons Jeff and Henry Huntington, and a
third generation (Jeff and Henry’s five sons) has begun to fill the ranks of
the Huntington family business.

The
University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research
university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea and
space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution,
enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.