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Walla Walla Nursery Co. sold to management team

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Walla Walla Nursery’s new owners, from left: Bradley Wright, Dale Lauby, Ernesto Salamanca, Jeremy Maddess, Lorne and Auralea Blackman, Noel Ortiz, Alex Ramos, Cody Connor, and Jo Anne Simons. Photo Courtesy of walla walla nursery co

Lorne and Aurelea Blackman have sold a 90 percent stake in Walla Walla Nursery Co. Inc. to a team of managers and a customer, the company announced.

The wholesale nursery is situated on the Oregon-Washington border near Walla Walla, Washington, with about 50 acres total on both sides. Founded in 1992 by Lorne Blackman, it grows perennials, shrubs, annuals and tropicals, and sells them to retailers and rewholesalers.

According to Lorne, the new owners are buying the company via a hybrid employee stock ownership plan. They include Operations Manager Alex Ramos, Customer Service Manager Jo Anne Simons, Logistics Manager Dale Lauby, Production Manager Jeremy Maddess, Manager of Growing Operations Noel Ortiz, Potting Foreman Ernesto Salamanca, IS Manager Brad Wright, and retail partner Cody Connor. 

“They came up with a down payment and it will be a 10-year transition,” he said.

The price was not disclosed, but Blackman said the initial deal is for the business alone, not the property. The second step will happen in 10 years, when the ownership group will purchase the property. Terms for the purchase of the property have already been agreed to as part of the initial sale, Blackman said.

The agreement was finalized in early October after three years of serious discussions and planning. “We first started talking about this probably six years ago and it didn’t go anywhere,” Blackman said. “Then three years ago, we received an offer from a competitor.” That re-started the conversation.

“My first choice was employee ownership,” Blackman said. “I feel much better about that. Our neighbors and our customers appreciate that too.”

For Blackman, the nursery has, from its beginning in 1992, been an all-consuming project. It was time to begin turning the reins over to more energetic hands, Blackman said. “After 31 years, I’m not a good multitasker,” he said. “The business was always occupying my thoughts. I want to learn how to have fun.”

Blackman said he’s looking forward to spending more time at his recently completed cabin on the 140-acre family property in the Blue Mountains east of Walla Walla, which is now equipped for remote work. The property has been in the family 120 years, he said.