John Gaydos (L) and Noah Derohanian (R) at Pleasant View Gardens | Proven Winners
Here at Greenhouse Grower, we covered the recent leadership change at Proven Winners, with Noah Derohanian set to take over the role of Director of Product Development from John Gaydos, who plans to retire in April 2025. Additionally, we were able to catch up with Derohanian to ask him about his new role, responsibilities, past experience, and thoughts on the current state of the industry:
GG: How did your previous experience prepare you for this new role?
Noah Derohanian: Prior to accepting a new career with Proven Winners, I worked at Pleasant View Gardens in New Hampshire as the Lead Grower at the Loudon facility. I thoroughly enjoyed managing a team of highly passionate growers, propagating Proven Winners annuals. It was during this time working under the direction of Mike Goyette that I gained a firm understanding of the Proven Winners product as well as a sense of team. During my seven years with PVG, I was able to grow as a manager, gaining a strong understanding of people and processes. I believe that this understanding of people and processes, as well as Proven Winners product, will stay with me and serve as a solid foundation as I continue my career with the Proven Winners team.
GG: What are some of the biggest issues or concerns you’ve heard from the growers you work with and how do you plan to help them deal with these issues?
Noah Derohanian: Communication and transparency between the stock facilities to the propagators is one of the bigger issues and concerns among the growers. It is very important to make sure that there is full transparency along all fronts of the operation. And it’s very important that the propagators have the right tools and metrics to make decisions at their fingertips. We have begun to satiate the propagators’ needs by having a central database that allows frequent uploads of nutritional and fertility data from our stock sites, which allows the propagators to make educated decisions. This is just the beginning of information sharing and transparency that I believe we can achieve.
GG: What are the biggest challenges this industry is currently facing? Conversely, what are some of the biggest opportunities on the horizon?
Noah Derohanian: Labor has always been one of the largest challenges during my tenure in horticulture. I believe a good way to look at this problem is not necessarily that more people are needed but it’s more a question of how we can be more efficient in what we do. If you take a deep dive into operational processes, you will find waste. Removal of this waste helps the bottom line while increasing morale and employee retention. Incorporating 5S into your operation or utilizing LEAN events will help to identify waste and could uncover completely new ways of performing a task, reducing the need for extra personnel or time. I believe the implementation of these processes will provide some of the biggest opportunities for our industry.
GG: Looking ahead, what role can you play in moving this industry forward?
Noah Derohanian: Technology is quickly taking our industry by storm. I hope to be at the forefront of these advances, working with both the propagators and our stock facilities, sharing ideas and solutions that benefit internal and external customers.
GG: If you weren’t in this profession, what would you be doing?
Noah Derohanian: I believe that if I weren’t in horticulture that the ocean would play a large part in my career path. Growing up on boats and living near the ocean, I think that the Coast Guard would have been a career I would have gravitated toward.
