Industry Leading Knowledge in Commercial Hydroponic Vegetable Production, Vertical Farming, Urban Farming, Urban Agriculture, Engineered Substrates, Fertilizers and LED Grow Lights
Founded in 2009, Hort Americas works closely with manufacturers to bring quality, technically advanced and cost effective products to greenhouse growers in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Headquartered in Fort Worth (Texas, USA) Hort Americas has partnered with the Dutch Company Horticoop Bv(see www.horticoop.com for more info about the parent company) to ensure top level technical support, global perspective and corporate stability. Hort Americas also has staff strategically located to make sure we reliably service the local needs of our customer base.
Hort Americas is currently manufacturing orchid substrates, hydroponic fertilizers and is a trusted Horticultural LED Grow Light Supplier. Hort Americas is also a well trusted partner of Acuity Brands and Grodan, as well as many other industry leading suppliers.
We are a proud sponsor of UrbanAgNews.com and TourDeFresh.com
Currently Hort Americas is offering these unique items:
- Hort Americas Orchid Mix
- Hort Americas Hydroponic Fertilizer
- The GrowRack
- Arize by Verjure from Acuity Brands
- eBook: Tomato Greenhouse Roadmap
- eBook: The Organic Hydroponics Guide
Hort Americas is constantly working on developing and designing products and tools that will help lead and inspire future horticulturalist and farmers.
Sales Team
John Frey, Horticulture Lighting Manager, Rocky Mountain Region
Based in Denver, John has been active with the Hort Americas team and lighting projects for over a decade. His experience includes all horticulture crop segments. With a problem-solving approach, he supports ownership groups and growers to make informed decisions with data. John holds an engineering degree from the University of Iowa.
Tony Beckmann, Regional Hort Lighting Sales Manager
Tony started his horticulture career carrying plants out to customers at the family garden center in St. Louis, MO. By his early twenties he satisfied his passion for horticulture designing and installing landscapes at homes in the St. Louis area while working as a horticulturist at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Tony moved to horticulture sales in 2001 working with growers in the midwest and mountain states while always looking for new ways and products to help growers and hort business owners succeed.
Brian Harris, Regional Sales Manager
An interest in horticulture started at an early age gardening with his father, building a hydroponic lettuce garden in the 80’s and competing in 4-H Horticulture contests where he won many 1st place prizes. Brian pursued other professional interests spending time as a fly fishing guide, completing a BS and MS Degree in Entrepreneurship from UTDallas and selling cybersecurity software for a tech startup. Throughout this time he continued to garden and grow edible mushrooms. While attending college he worked on a commercial mushroom project that introduced him to the indoor agriculture world, he ended up doing an internship with a CEA startup where he met the Hort Americas team. Brian currently resides in Frisco, TX, he covers the Eastern US and will also be working to expand Hort Americas presence in the indoor cannabis market.
Operations Team
Chris Higgins, General Manager
With over 20 years of experience, Chris is dedicated to the horticulture and niche agriculture industries. He is inspired by the current opportunities for continued innovation in the field of controlled environment agriculture. He is dedicated to creating change through a variety of non-profit and community minded projects. From educational content projects like Urban Ag News to supporting work at The Ohio State University, The University of Arizona and North Carolina State University to the support of the Green Bronx Machine, Big Tex Urban Farms and Feeding America. Chris is focused on a better future through access to information, education and fresh and healthy food.
Will Fry, Operations Manager
William who is a native Texan from Grapevine, Texas, graduated from Criswell College in 2009. He worked his way through college at a bicycle and bicycle parts distribution company before he went on to start his own bicycle shop. In early 2010, he traded in bicycle distribution and customer service for horticulture. His interest in farming started by visiting his great-grandmother and his great uncles farms when he was a child, the move to horticulture seemed like a natural fit.
Maria Luitjohan, Customer Service & Marketing
Maria’s introduction to the Horticulture industry started when she could walk. She grew up in a family greenhouse business, in Wildwood, MO. Maria studied horticulture at the University of Missouri – Columbia. During that time she ventured out with internships at Ball Horticultural as a trial garden intern, during Ball’s centennial anniversary. The next summer she spent at Goldsmith Seeds as a Breeder intern. For five years she worked as a Regional Supply Manager for Ball Horticultural managing young plant supply in the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Eastern Canada. There she learned the value of strong supply chain and quality input products to making greenhouses successful.
Matt White, Inside Sales and Technical Support
Matt was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His love for plants began to show at an early age – from an admiration of his mother’s cacti and tropical plant collections to a desire to help in her garden. He relocated to the Dallas area to take a job at a large local nursery. Originally loading customer’s cars and watering plants, his career grew into a management role. Matt looks forward to utilizing his eight years of horticultural experience and customer service to help growers meet their goals.
Ples Montgomery IV, Customer Experience
Ples is a Dallas native hailing from the Oak Cliff neighborhood. After studying advertising and sales at The University of Houston he moved back to Dallas and started working with FreshPoint, a wholesale produce distributer. Ples found his passion for agriculture while volunteering in the non-profit sector to eliminate food insecurity within his community. That work led Ples to co-found The Oak Cliff Veggie Project, installing community gardens and hosting free produce distributions and educational events. He earned his stripes working in multiple levels of food from urban cultivation to retail consumption. Utilizing his hard knock experience, Ples strives to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the agriculture industry and help us provide an exceptional experience for our customers.
Deidre Hughes, Inside Sales and Technical Support
Born on Earth Day, Deidre was destined to follow her love of plants and the environment. While pursuing her horticulture degree, Deidre worked in the Tarrant County College greenhouse, became the founder/president of the TCC Horticulture Club, and shortly after graduating became an active member of the TCC Horticulture Advisory Committee. Upon completion of the horticulture program she also managed a non-profit farm and a small landscaping company.
Having the opportunity to live in many different areas of the country throughout her life, Deidre developed a knack for adaptability, and has 10+ years of experience with customers and office support. This unique background feeds her passion to be part of this evolving industry which is bringing the best of technology and nature together for amazing results, and to provide the best support for our customers.
Mike Luster, Warehouse
Mike has a passion for cooking and working with his hands. He also enjoys gardening and most of all, loves the light he sees in people’s faces in the community as he shares recipes and educates them on gardening. From the traditional way to sow seeds, to nearly self-sustainable sow and grow techniques. Mike also enjoys educating people about fresh produce; from the hundreds of ways to prep them, to show how much of the produce look in raw form. As organic growing and good home-style cooking goes hand and hand. He has four children; 11 year-old daughter, 5 year-old daughter, and 3 month-old twin boys.
Mike has earned his Associates in Business Administration 2018, Entrepreneur Certification 2018, Human resource Certification 2019, Associates in Business Management 2020, and will earn a B.A Business Management/Entrepreneur 2021, Culinary bachelors- 2021 or 2022; this is his educational endeavors completion goal. Mike also loves to play sports. He has been on football, wrestling, soccer, tennis, and basketball teams. He also likes to fish and camp whenever he actually gets free time.
Karla Garcia, Technical Service
Karla Garcia is a plant lover who started her vocacional training in plant physiology over 9 years ago when she was a part of an Eco-physiology Lab as an undergraduate student in her home town Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Now, with a Master’s Degree in Plant Science, Karla specializes in plant physiology under controlled environment and has a vision to expand use of sustainable horticulture practices for food production. Therefore, she has dedicated most of her time to being an horticulture technical adviser to different companies and an instructor of short-courses in hydroponics, urban farming and greenhouse design all over Mexico. Also, she recently began as a microgreens grower. Today as part of Hort Americas team, Karla looks forward to guiding costumers on their horticulture related questions to help them make successful projects!
Follow her on Instagram @professor_grow
Emelda Ramirez, Customer Service Representative
Gerson Van’t Wout, Import/Export Manager
As a 6-year-old boy, I moved to the Westland region and since then, I have been ‘in love’ with the greenhouses and horticulture. At the age of 17, I coincidentally started working at a horticultural wholesaler (Maasmond Westland, later Horticoop). Initially, I was a jack-of-all-trades. This exposed me to all facets: purchasing, sales, planning, logistics, and I built a solid product knowledge. In 2002, I was asked to strengthen the export department, and since then, I have been selling everything a grower needs worldwide. I believe my strength lies in my customer service orientation. I aim to relieve the customer as much as possible.
Hort Americas Canada
Jordan Goulet, General Manager Canada
Dedicated and passionate, Jordan has been involved in the commercial lighting industry for over 15 years. Jordan has worked for the leading opto semiconductor manufacturer in business development, he has acquired deep knowledge in controlled environment agriculture and he is passionate about the opportunities for local crop production in Canada. Jordan has also spent the past 5 years developing his understanding of plant’s responses to photosynthesis lighting and environmental conditions which has allowed him to consult on vertical farming projects in Quebec. A proud Canadian – Jordan is leading Hort Americas’ expansion into Canada.
Gabrielle Verdon, Client Services Manager & Marketing
Gabrielle graduated in marketing at Dawson College in Montreal as well as the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. Throughout her journey in the commercial lighting business segment, she managed major accounts of professionals including architects and engineers. She is a customer-focused driven leader assisting clients achieve their stated project initiatives. Her outgoing and bubbly personality enables her to effectively work with all levels of customer and vendor stakeholders. She has over 10 years of sales and marketing experience and is also responsible for marketing at Hort Americas Canada.
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