Vishal enjoys working with soils and plants, especially in the urban ecosystem. He completed his graduate studies focused on soil-plant interaction from South Dakota State University and the University of Idaho. On any given day, Vishal can be found checking out the growing media high up on a green roof, taking temperatures and adjusting mix ratios out in our composting facility and managing our testing procedures.

Jim’s the man who makes it all work. If Laurel Valley was a restaurant, Jim would be the head chef and kitchen manager. He makes sure our crew of line cooks / loader operators are following the best recipes and turning our ingredients into masterful, mouth-watering entrees. Jim constantly juggles production schedules as new orders arrive, ensuring every client gets their order at just the right time.

If you have spoken to her on the phone, it’ll be no surprise to you that her nickname is Bunny, and you probably have already thought that her first name should be ‘Energizer’. Whether it is 5:30 am or 4:30 pm, this Energizer Bunny is ready and happy to help with taking orders and scheduling deliveries.

Jenny is the bubbly personality you hear on the phone who is happy to assist every time you call. Jenny gives you service with a smile and treats every customer with the highest priority. She really believes coordinating your deliveries on time to keep your business running smoothly is of the highest importance.

Suzanne is LVS’s cheerleader—getting the crowd revved up and excited in every venue, from Facebook, to Twitter, to blogs, webinars, and more. A true marketing geek, Suzanne has been delivering highly strategic and engaging creative campaigns for over 20 years.  Suzanne loves to help our customers grow their businesses and is always available to answer questions, provide creative assistance, or just chat about the awesomeness of compost. Suzanne also currently Co-Chairs the US Composting Council’s Market Development Committee!

It’s Jake’s passion and obsessive love for soil and compost that makes him so adept at understanding customer needs and developing soil and compost based solutions for all types of projects. Jake makes it a priority to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding the science behind compost and soils. 

The industries we support with our products are rapidly evolving and the performance demands are more technical than ever before. Jake has identified the importance of bioretention and engineered soils which are now the fastest growing product category LVS produces. Jake thrives on the knowledge that our products provide layers of ecological benefits, from soil restoration, carbon sequestration and stormwater management, which all align with his personal mission to dedicate his energy in leaving this planet in better shape than he found it. Jake has a Bachelor’s of Science from Colorado State University and has been serving as Laurel Valley Soils’ Sales Manager since 2003.

Rick holds the record as being the longest tenured team member in the entire company. Having been with Laurel Valley since 1979, Rick has watched more sunrises from the seat of a loader than most people see sunsets from their back porches. He’s the one who keeps all the day-to-day operations moving: from inventory management, quality control, production scheduling, equipment acquisitions and repairs, facility improvements, logistics and transportation scheduling, to forecasting the weather, and carefully calculating and testing mix ratios and product formulas. Rick manages to squeeze 25 hours out of a day and despite all that, still keeps his cool while quite literally moving mountains (of soil).

The son of a mushroom grower and original member of Laurel Valley Farms, composting is part of Joe’s DNA. If Laurel Valley Soils were a baseball team, Joe’s role as supervisor would place him as both our coach and our catcher. He’s here to back stop our wild pitches and snag those short hops we get from time to time. Having Joe in the skybox gives the rest of the team the confidence to play hard on the field and leave nothing behind in the dugout. A constant source of advice and guidance, Joe has been with Laurel Valley since 2002 and is also the co-founder and principal for Skyland USA, producer of rooflite green roof media.

General Manager of both Laurel Valley Soils and Laurel Valley Farms, Glenn is responsible for running one of the largest composting facilities in the world. In fact, our compost is responsible for growing 11% of the country’s mushrooms! Glenn not only directed the construction and expansion of our production facility over the last several decades, but also analyzes all the raw materials purchased to make the compost and monitors the active composting production on a daily basis. If that weren’t enough, he also oversees the operations of the Soils Division as well. This puts Glenn in the unique position of hitting daily doubles, so to speak.