With the state awarding seven Agricultural Enterprise Fund grants to tree nurseries in Warren County, a local nursery expert said the grants reflect the importance of the tree nursery industry to the county.
Botanico Inc. President Jon Flanders said Warren County is the top county in the state for tree nursery production. Flanders said the tree nursery industry produces over an estimated $100 million a year in the county. Flanders said tree nurseries have been the number one economic driver in the local agricultural economy for over 100 years.
“It’s kind of what Warren County does,” Flanders said. “It’s self-described as the nursery capital of the world. There are some people on the West Coast in California that would disagree with that, but it’s always been a big thing in Warren County, is nursery production.”
Flanders said the grants also show how important the industry is to the state’s agricultural economy. Flanders said the reason for the state investing so much into the industry is that it brings them a good return on their investment.
“Agricultural nursery products in particular, it does not mostly ship locally,” Flanders said. “It mostly goes out of state, even into Canada, China, and other countries. We ship to both of those. But those dollars are multiplying dollars. That is out-of-state money being brought into Tennessee.”
Flanders said the industry provides the county with good-paying jobs to boost the local economy. Flanders also said that since the tree nursery industry is so successful, it even helps out other local industries.
“Not only the nurseries, but you know, it’s allied services,” Flanders said. “The people who make tractors and parts, and supplies, and wire baskets, and all of those kinds of things. So it’s got a whole subset of industries that it supports just so that we can get the production done.”
Tree Nurseries in Warren County that received Agricultural Enterprise Fund Grants are Cedarwood Nursery, Easy Tree Nursery, Hale and Hines Nursery, Haston Family Nursery, Scenic Hills Nursery, and Turner and Son’s Nursery.