Triangle Nursery was started by three gentlemen in Irving College 70 years ago as part of a general nursery industry build-up in this area. 
The start of the nurseries here is attributed to the Boyd family in the late 1890s. One could ask why Warren County? Several factors are favorable – rural location, climate, annual rain fall, available agri-labor, and central location to serve east and middle U.S. states where a high percentage of the population is in relative close proximity. 
How big it this business? Per Rickey Minton, a partner at Triangle Nursery, total nursery sales in Tennessee are approximately $300 million a year with over one-third of that revenue stream being from Warren County.
Well-known local leader Ed Porter (deceased) bought out the original Triangle Nursery partners by 1966. Current partner Rickey Minton married Ed Porter’s daughter while in college at Tennessee Tech and joined the firm. Rickey then changed his major from electrical engineering to agriculture. 
Rickey has since earned a master’s degree from Liberty College (2006) in religious studies and is currently pursuing a PhD degree at Liberty in religious arts. Both advanced degrees are from well-developed online programs and support Rickey’s expanding involvement with prison ministries and missionary projects. Rickey is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. 
Rickey’s partner is David Hill. They operate the firm with complementary management functions. Rickey’s wife is a nurse practitioner at St. Thomas River Park Hospital and often accompanies Rickey on missionary trips. They have two sons, ages 30 (Zachery) and 25 (Wesley). Zachery is active at Triangle Nursery and manages daily operations.  Wesley is a production engineer at Bridgestone-Warren. Rickey and his wife have two grandchildren. 
Rickey is a chaplain at Bledsoe County Prison (largest prison in Tennessee) where he typically spends a couple of days a month on-site. In addition to providing counsel, speaking, preaching, and teaching, Rickey started a weightlifting program there that is doing well. 
Rickey is also a chaplain at a prison in Haiti where he visits four to five times a year on missionary trips. Trips have been made to multiple continents. 

I asked Rickey about what nursery items are grown and sold from Warren County. The list is longer than I would have thought and includes:

•  Flowers
•  Annuals
•  Perennials
•  Small-pot growing containers
•  Landscape-size shrubs
•  Landscape-size trees
•  Shade trees
•  Hedge plants (forsythias)
•  Foundation plants
There are a recognized 300 species of nursery stock being grown here. Trees can include red and white oak, red and sugar maple, flowering fruit trees, Bradford pear trees, dogwoods, etc. 
Triangle’s top sellers are oak and maple trees. Triangle currently has 300 acres in active nursery farming with more acres in reserve. Triangle employs 10-12 during the non-ship periods and double that during the two shipping times – end of February to early May and early October to mid-December.  
There is much nursery maintenance required during the non-ship times – trimming, spraying chemicals, removing weeds, fertilizing, etc.  Triangle’s “scrap” factor (losing product due to age, pests, disease) is less than 1 percent which is very complimentary.
Chemicals are 2 to 3 percent of Triangle’s operating budget. Both the federal government and state government have nursery inspectors who visit six times a year to monitor for plant disease and pests, proper spraying, and overall standards compliance.  
The University of Tennessee Extension Service is available to help firms like Triangle with analyzing soil samples, answering questions, etc. The Nursery Research Center on Cadillac Lane works on industry issues such as chemicals and pests. 
One of the challenges to this business is Mother Nature in the form of droughts, floods, freezes, and severe heat periods. There are options for nurserymen such as field irrigation systems, insulated barns, insulated blankets, and sprinkler systems. These add cost, as does catastrophic insurance.
There are multiple trade associations serving the nursery industry – American Nursery & Landscape Association in D.C., the Tennessee Nursery Association, and the Mid-TN Nurseryman Association. These associations do lobbying, industry promotions, operate trade shows, provide educational programs, provide college scholarships for member children, etc. The annual nursery show that used to be held at the Civic Center returns to McMinnville this October. 
Triangle’s target market is South Carolina to Massachusetts where it derives 60 percent of its business. Repeat customers are 90 percent and thus very important. A key factor, according to Rickey, is that a semi with a flatbed can deliver a load of nursery stock in one day to most of their customers served (representing 75 percent of the U.S. population). This includes such shipping destinations as Kansas City, Cleveland (OH), New Jersey, and Dallas. 
Nursery items are perishable, so quick delivery is a must. Triangle has an active business in Canada. Shipments normally would not go past the Rocky Mountains due to freight cost and time. Nursery competition comes from in-state firms (can be nearby counties) North Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. Of these, North Carolina is the most active competitor.
Business is deemed very good now and mirrors new homes, new highways, and new construction.  
Triangle maintains an active company website at www.trianglenursery.com. Triangle advertises in the yellow pages, industry magazines, and trade association collaterals.  The company also sponsors local sports teams. Rickey is a past member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He and partner David Hill also own the old A.O. Smith building on Red Road, which currently houses McMinnville Police Department and new industry Litewire.
The Business Roundtable congratulates Triangle Nursery and the nursery industry of Warren County for successful business investment and operations now part of three centuries. This industry adds greatly to the natural beauty of this area, particularly during the spring. This also aids tourism to this area.