Only God Makes Things Grow

Gary Lebo and Jeff Reed, co-owners of Quality Greenhouses and Perennial Farm, are passionate about the company they’ve built together in Dillsburg, Pa. They are equally passionate about the faith they share in Jesus Christ. In fact, for Gary and Jeff, there’s no dividing line between the two.

“Quality Greenhouses was given to God a long time ago and anything that’s here we recognize as being His and not ours,” Gary explains. “We are stewards of it and that’s how we try to operate—not only with the business part of it, but with the people part of it, too.” And from the looks of the operation, Gary and Jeff are living up to their own standards.

Quality is an appropriate name for a company where the commitment to superior product and service has resulted in almost constant expansion since its start in 1986. In the beginning, Quality Greenhouses consisted of a one-acre heated greenhouse and two acres of outdoor perennial production space. Today, Quality operates out of three facilities and totals 11 acres of heated greenhouses and 20 acres for growing perennials. The company specializes in mass production of bedding plants and perennials, supplying independently owned retailers in south-central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C., northern Virginia, and parts of New Jersey and Delaware.

As the business has grown, Gary and Jeff (members of the Dillsburg and Cumberland Valley BIC congregations, respectively) have also grown in their understanding of how they and their business can best be used by God.

Cultivating customers

Challenging the negative stereotype associated with mass production, Quality handles its products with great care and attention to detail. In addition to the standard product mix expected by their customers, they carry a number of new and rare varieties each year. Every order is hand-picked and hand-filled within a week of its receipt at Quality’s headquarters. The company also offers pre-pricing for interested retailers, which involves manually attaching a price sticker to each pot in an order. It is a time-consuming process, but the result is well worth it: healthy plants that are 100 percent sales-ready at the time of delivery.

Service is a way of life at Quality. Gary praises his office staff—many of them affiliated with local Brethren in Christ or Mennonite churches—for their tireless efforts to accommodate customers. “When you get these people who are steeped in the Anabaptist tradition, it’s wonderful,” he says. “They already know how to serve because it’s a part of their heritage.” This attitude of service, exemplified in the office, infuses the entire workforce.

Growing across borders

In an industry that’s become known for the exploitation of cheap (and sometimes illegal) seasonal labor, Quality models a different way. Gary explains Quality’s approach: “There are a lot of people that have the opportunity to come to us on a seasonal basis and we have the opportunity to assume great responsibility.” Part of that responsibility means bringing those men and women into an environment where they are surrounded by people who follow Christ.

Over the years, Quality Greenhouses has developed a close relationship with the Mexican community in south-central Pennsylvania. But it hasn’t always been easy.

When Gary and Jeff first began hiring seasonal workers from Mexico, they were torn between the desire to provide the Mexican community with employment opportunities and their commitment to hire only workers with proper documentation. Concerned about the legitimacy of some documents they received, Gary began to explore the possibility of using H2B, a guest worker program through the U. S. government. “I had a passion to pursue something but I got absolutely no encouragement from anyone,” he confides. “It was very difficult here in Pennsylvania to find somebody in our industry who was using the program.” Gary eventually connected with a labor solutions company in Texas that assisted him in completing the necessary paperwork to enter the H2B program.

Finally, in the early spring of 2002, about 20 workers arrived from Mexico, none of them having known each other previously. So in addition to the language and cultural barriers, the men had to adjust to working together full-time and living together in the house provided by Quality. While Gary admits that the company made a lot of mistakes that first year, they were quick to recognize the potential value of the program both to the company and to the guest workers.

Harvesting blessings

Five years later, Gary considers the challenges of the guest worker program inconsequential compared with the blessing it has been—both professionally and relationally. “We travel to Mexico each year,” Gary explains, adding that the 10-day whirlwind trip includes visits to 40 employees and their families and approximately 1,000 miles traveling from town to town. “Words are not able to express this experience for us.”

The annual trips have enabled Gary, his wife Gloria, and other travel companions to build a strong sense of trust with their workers. Rather than receiving dozens of unac-quainted individuals each year, Quality now employs a number of family groups. This reduces the loneliness factor for new recruits and encourages accountability within Quality’s workforce. Many of the guest workers return year after year, and some have assumed leadership roles at Quality.

What’s more, through the ministry of Luz, Alegria, y Esperanza Brethren in Christ Church, a Spanish-language church plant in York Springs, Pa., some of Quality’s guest workers have begun to follow Christ. Some have been baptized and are sharing their new faith with their families in the U. S. and Mexico.

This close bond between Quality and the region’s Mexican community was tested in the 2007 growing season when, just weeks before the workers were scheduled to arrive, the company’s application requesting 50 workers was suddenly denied—with little reason given as to why. As Gary, Jeff, and the rest of the Quality team struggled to make it through the busiest part of the season (March through May), members of the local Mexican community stepped in to help until the guest workers were permitted to come.

And come they did, as soon as they were able. When they stepped off the bus in mid-May, it was a lot like a family reunion, with tears and hugs in abundance. But for Quality, it was—and is—business as usual.

Gary, Jeff, and the rest of the Quality Greenhouse crew plan to keep on planting spiritual seeds even as they deliver a product that celebrates God’s creation. In fact, at Quality Greenhouse and Perennial Farm, there’s no dividing line between the two.

Read more about current issues of migrant workers in the United States and Canada, including a crucial update on the H2B program.

For more information on how to integrate faith with the world of business, click here.

Ruth Rosentrater of Nappanee BIC Church (Ind.) is in the process of moving from her hometown in Bremen, Indiana to begin coaching volleyball and working in the athletic department at SUNY in Oswego, N.Y. She enjoys drinking hot tea, even in the summer.

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