CNGA Board of Directors - 2023

Officers

President
Matt Edmundson | Arbor Valley Nursery, Brighton, Colorado

Matt is a third generation owner of Arbor Valley Nursery in Brighton, Colo. Matt has a BA in Economics from CU-Boulder. He is a Board member of CHREF and Plant Select. In the past he has served as CHREF president, on the ANLA Landscape Distribution board and on the GreenCO Legislative committee.

Officer At Large
Julie Echter | Echter's Nursery & Garden Center, Arvada, Colorado

Julie is a Colorado native and University of Colorado graduate, on track to be a third-generation owner of Echter’s Nursery and Garden Center. She graduated CU Boulder in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a certificate in Digital Media. Julie joined Echter’s full-time in 2017 as sales associate in hardgoods. She received the Horizon Award in 2018 after creating a philanthropy to donate excess Christmas trees to families in need. Julie became a Colorado Master Gardener in 2021 and remains an active volunteer for the organization. She is passionate about inspiring a new, diverse generation of gardeners and fostering collaboration to advance the industry.  

Mandy Gerace
In Memoriam - Mandy passed away on February 4, 2023. She was the CNGA Board president for 2022 and 2023 and had served on the Board since 2017..

Mandy grew up in the greenhouse industry. She graduated from Colorado State University in 2002 with a degree in communications. In 2007 she began working for the family business, Welby Gardens/Hardy Boy Plants, in sales, production and marketing.

In August 2020, Mandy joined the Syngenta Flowers production team as a Root-N-Sell Account Manager. As Mandy’s health would no longer permit her to travel, which she enjoyed tremendously, Syngenta transitioned her to Sales Operation and CRM Lead working closely on the company’s Salesforce.com project.

Directors

 Derek Anglemyer | West Canyon Nurseries, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Derek is the owner/manager of West Canyon Nurseries in Glenwood Springs, Colo. West Canyon is a retail/wholesale nursery serving the Roaring Fork Valley of the Western Slope offering a full line of retail and wholesale products. Since purchasing the nursery in 2018, Derek has run the field operations and wholesale side of the business, he also does the ordering for both finished and production growing areas of the business. He graduated from Wichita State University in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering and worked in the paint industry for 6 years before buying the nursery and shifting focus to a new career. Although his time in the industry has been limited, he has the passion to learn and can offer a new perspective. Derek has started the process of becoming an arborist to further his education. He runs the nursery along with his wife, and they have three amazing daughters. Derek enjoys fly fishing and mountain biking when he can get away from the farm. 

Kent Broome | Rocky Mountain Horticulture Services, Hygiene, Colorado

Kent represents Baxter Wholesale Nursery in Emmett, Idaho as well as Bylands Wholesale in Kelowna, B.C. He was a sales representative for Bailey Nurseries for 22 years and has been in the industry for over 40 years. Kent has served on the CNA Board, CNGA Board and the ProGreen Board as well as several CNGA committees. Kent is also a CNGA Hall of Fame recipient. 

Jeremy graduated from the University of Kansas with a business degree in 1994. Since then, he has managed the marketing endeavors for the small ski resort town of Telluride, Colo., put on the biggest dog parade in history for Big Dog Sportwear in Santa Barbara, Calif., and worked his way from apprentice carpenter to general contractor with a boutique custom home builder in luxury markets throughout Denver. In 2010, Jeremy switched careers and acquired Brown’s Greenhouse, now Blooma Farms, in Arvada, Colo. Over his 12-year tenure he has launched two additional companies, Rocky Mountain Liners, a supplier of young plants to regional markets as well as Plum Creek Garden Markets, which in 2022 had grown to 6 retail pop up garden markets across the Denver metro area. Jeremy’s varied career endeavors have allowed him to develop a range and depth of skills and knowledge in business development, greenhouse production, and the ornamental horticulture industry. He is passionate about the industry and is honored to bring that passion to the board. Jeremy has been married for 23 years and when not working he tries to keep up with his high school senior and freshman boys.

Beth Gulley | Gulley Greenhouse, Fort Collins, Colorado

Beth has grown up in her family’s business, and currently is managing the young plant and wholesale finished divisions at Gulley Greenhouse. She majored in Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University and still keeps close ties to the horticulture department there. She loves being a part of the Colorado green industry, and always looks forward to getting to know new people, plants and innovations in the greenhouse business. Beth is passionate about looking for ways to help the nurseries and greenhouses around the state have the tools they need to be successful in this ever-changing world.

Courtenay Koontz | Trees of Corrales, Corrales, New Mexico

Courtenay grew up on his family’s farm and nursery, Trees of Corrales, in Corrales, NM. He attended college at Texas A&M University, studying Agricultural Systems Management and Horticulture. At A&M, he joined the Army National Guard and served for a total of nine years. Upon completion of his education and military service in 2008, he moved home to work full time at Trees of Corrales. In 2018, he enrolled and graduated from Dr. Charlie Hall’s Executive Academy for Growth and Leadership. After surviving the great recession, and being promoted to General Manager in 2010, he oversaw the expansion of Trees of Corrales to include additional field tree production in eastern New Mexico, the development of Trees of Corrales Wholesale (Landscape Distribution Center) which was sold in 2022, as well as production of a larger plant palette in the container division (with an emphasis in growing Plant Select selections). Courtenay feels that having a representative from New Mexico will help broaden CNGA’s reach, as well as bring a different perspective to the board of directors.

Giovanna Romero | Welby Gardens, Arvada, Colorado

Giovanna is the Sales and Marketing Manager at Welby Gardens. She grew up playing in the greenhouses and has worked with her family business for over 20 years. She graduated with honors from CU Boulder with degrees in Humanities and Communication in 1998. Giovanna served on the Garden Centers of Colorado Board for several years. She is a wife and mother of 4 freethinkers. She enjoys listening to audiobooks and is a young adult fiction book and film fanatic.   

Terry Shaw, CCNP | Harding Nursery, Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado

Terry is an owner of Harding Nursery, Inc. in Colorado Springs.  He has grown Harding Nursery from twelve acres on Powers Blvd. to 172 total acres, including 160 acres of growing fields on their farm in Calhan, Colo,, with an additional 40 acres of growing fields located in Idaho. Terry has worked on green industry projects through the years from helping with the continuation of the H2A program, developing educational programs and contributing to the development of the Colorado Plant Guide that is in use today. 

Ex-Officio Director
Mike Bone, CGG | Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado

Mike is the curator of steppe collections at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Mike is a graduate of FRCC with specialties in propagation and nursery management. Mike works very closely with the Plant Select program and is engaged in plant collections from around the world with an intent to study and understand the flora of the worlds steppe regions.