(Photo above | Courtesy of NW Green Panels)
Bend’s premier greenhouse builder will be designing a growing space for nationally renowned Sunset Magazine’s test gardens in Sonoma Valley. “They are relocating their headquarters which is open to the public. The fact that they found us and we were their choice with all of the other much larger companies in the world, is a huge honor,” says Founder Jeff Sagner. He refers to the project as the company’s biggest success.
As the owner of a small business, it isn’t surprising that a new addition to Sagner’s household is what initially prompted him to design and build greenhouses.
Sagner’s future sons’ nutrition was an important topic. He explains, “We began discussing the type of foods we wanted our kids to eat. We liked the idea of growing as much food as possible without chemical additives to provide our family with nutrient rich foods. It quickly became obvious that to grow food year round we would need a greenhouse.”
When Sagner explored greenhouse options, he was dissatisfied. “Some were poorly made and looked as though they might blow away with the first gust of wind. Some were nice but extremely expensive permanent structures. Almost all the kits we came across were complicated to install with inadequate instructions and cheap materials. We decided that building our own greenhouse was the better way to grow!”
Starting out as a part-time gig in 2013, NW Green Panels mainly sold on Craigslist. Sagner recalls selling approximately six greenhouses the first year. Today, Sagner is designing and building nationally recognized greenhouses and has brought aboard partner Zeb Hannon.
“We have grown substantially over the last four years,” says Sagner, “we have built over 300 greenhouses and we anticipate selling around 200 this year. This will be the first year we put a cap on how many we will sell.” He explains that it has been challenging to stay ahead of the curve, remarking that the company has “gotten busy so fast that it is tough to slow it down. Knowing when to say no, we can’t take anymore orders.”
Sagner notes one of the difficulties in planning orders is obtaining specialized materials. “We had problems in the beginning sourcing a consistent supply of lumber, he says. “We only use incense cedar and its not a very widely spread milled lumber.”
When asked what new product attributes customers could look forward to this season, he shared, “This year I redesigned our roof to be about twice as strong as before. It lets more light in as well. We have a couple new panel designs and a really cool custom greenhouse that will be auctioned off this year at the home show in Redmond. It is a one of a kind structure that I will never recreate.”
NW Green Panels
1716 NW Harris St., Madras, OR 97741
503-830-8124, jeff.sagner@gmail.com, www.nwgreenpanels.com
CEO: Jeff D. Sagner
No. Employees: 4 employees in the shop and sub contract a few for installs.
Year Established: 2013
Product/Service: Modular green-houses and help with installation.
Outlook for Growth: This year we are projected to do a little over a million dollars or 230 greenhouses. That will be our limit until we get to the point of procuring a larger facility.
2 Comments
We have had a NW Green Panels Greenhouse going on our 3rd summer. We feel so blessed to have gone to a home show where these beautiful greenhouses we being shown. We love our Greenhouse, it’s beautiful and I have grown many beautiful flowers, tomatoes and other veggies. Wonderful customer service and wonderful people work here. Thank you Jeff!
These greenhouses are something that was needed for a while now. They are not only sterdy and expandable, but also very beautiful. I think they hit the nail on the head between cost, beauty, and building stability. I’m amazed at each one I see.