Select Trees Recognized as the Oconee County Agri-Business of the Year
Feb 3, 2010 by Select SustainablePlus Tree Trust
Select Trees' Brent Marable accepts the Oconee Agri-Business of the Year award from Chamber Chairman JR Whitfield
Select Trees, Inc., the southeast’s leading grower of sustainable shade trees, was named the Larry Risse Agri-Business of the Year by the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce at their annual meeting held Thursday, January 28, 2010 at the Oconee County Civic Center.
Select Trees is the wholesale grower of Select Sustainable Plus® shade trees for landscape architects, developers, contractors, government institutions, and other organizations. Since its founding in 1985, it has been the goal of Select Trees to grow trees that landscape professionals consider the best available. To that end, the Oconee-based company has developed a system for propagating, growing and harvesting sustainable shade trees that addresses the quality of the entire tree: from root structure to canopy structure, and everything in between. Select Trees is committed to the continual research and development necessary to evolve the process of tree selection in order to offer the best trees possible.
Select Trees focuses their attention on growing large sustainable shade trees, deemed Select Sustainable Plus®, that thrive in the urban environment creating significant, long-term and positive impact. Unlike typical landscape trees that have an average lifespan of only seven years in the urban environment, Select Sustainable Plus® trees have the potential to live for 50 to 100 years, providing plentiful environmental benefits such as stormwater management, improved air quality, reduced utility costs, increased property value, and immeasurable quality of life attributes. Recognizing that trees are the only part of the infrastructure that appreciates, Select Trees supplies trees that will pay large dividends to people and the environment now and well into the future.
Select Trees Vice President Brent Marable accepted the award citing the company’s gratitude for the long-time support of the county. “On behalf of Select Trees, we dedicate the award to our long-time mentor, Oconee County resident Forrest Ramser. Mr. Ramser has guided the principles and goals of our company since its founding and remains a champion and valuable advisor.”
“Select Trees is honored and humbled to be named the county’s agri-business of the year,” Marable said. “We are proud of our association with the Chamber, the local community, and the wonderful people, businesses and public officials that make Oconee such a great place to live and work. We regularly deliver our ‘home- grown’ Oconee trees to developments and cities from Florida to Maryland,including trees along Pennsylvania Avenue in our nation’s capitol, and west to Oklahoma and Texas. Most recently we sent hundreds of large Elms and Magnolias to the new Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A little piece of Oconee travels with each of our trees to their final destination.”
Select Trees and its non-profit arm, the Select Sustainable Tree Trust, have donated or significantly discounted hundreds of trees to projects throughout the county including the City of Watkinsville, Oconee County Parks and Recreation – Herman C. Michael Park and Oconee Veterans Park, Oconee County Sheriff’s Department, and various public schools throughout the county.
The Oconee County Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting the businesses of Oconee County, creating a healthy economy while striving to maintain a quality environment. The Agri-Business of the Year award was named for Oconee resident Larry Risse. Mr. Risse was a life-long farmer who retired from a research career in marketing and transportation of produce for the USDA – Agricultural Research Service stationed in Orlando, Florida. He was active in the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce and awarded lifetime membership. He served as President of the Clark-Oconee Cattleman’s Association and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Georgia Cattleman’s Association for five years. An active landowner and farmer, he was a longtime supporter of the Oconee County 4-H program, as well as the annual Oconee County Livestock Show. He was recognized with an award of excellence from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association for his research achievements during his career.
Previous winners of the Larry Risse award include Washington Farms, Athens Seed Lawn and Garden, Evergreen Nursery, and Oconee-Barrow-Clarke County USDA Farm Service Program.
The Select Trees Group encompasses three distinct entities, Select Trees (wholesale grower of sustainable shade trees), Select Sustainable Tree Trust (tree discounts and donations for impact projects such as college campuses, parks, cities, etc.), and Tree Introductions (research, development, licensing, distribution and marketing of new and improved tree cultivars) that share the same mission: to create long term, positive impact on the urban environment with sustainable shade trees. The group’s young partners include Brent Marable, Chris Hughes, Matt Nielson, Corey Browning and Mike Turner.
For more information about Select Trees, visit www.selecttrees.com, www.selectsustainabletreetrust.org, or www.treeintroductions.com.
Tagged: sustainable trees, shade trees, select sustainable plus shade trees, tree trust, select trees, select sustainable tree trust, oconee agribusiness of the year, oconee county chamber of commerce, oconee county ga, larry risse, forrest ramser, tree introductions