025: Julie Gilbert-Vijverberg - G&V Greenhouse Solutions

G&V Greenhouse Solutions has been meeting customer needs all over the world for 16 years. They are focused on providing greenhouse structures, greenhouse construction greenhouse project supervision, and all greenhouse installation services . They are proud of our knowledge and experience thru our Dutch heritage and American business style. They employ highly qualified supervisors who have experience building/installing every style of greenhouse to ensure we can bring you the quality and solutions your company deserves. They work with reputable companies in the United States & Holland to bring you the supplies you need, when you need them. They listen to your needs as every greenhouse is different and know your solutions are needed quickly.

More about Julie Gilbert-Vijverberg:
Website: https://greenhousesolutionsusa.com/

More about Joe Swartz:
Website: https://amhydro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HydroConsultant

More about Nick Greens:
Website: https://www.nickgreens.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/InfoGreens

Transcript

Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of the poly greens podcast. I'm Joe Swartz from am hydro, along with my friend and colleague, Nick greens of the Nick greens grow team. And we're here to talk to you about all things controlled environment agriculture. We have another great guest this week in the greenhouse industry.

Uh, for many, many years, most growers will build their own greenhouses. I've built. Dozens of them, myself, um, for larger projects or projects where people aren't necessarily mechanically inclined, they'll hire local contractors to build greenhouses. And that sometimes provides mixed results, but usually it works out fairly well, but the.

Increasing size and complexity, especially of, of many of the new greenhouse ranges that are coming along in North America really require kind of a specialized approach. And there are so very few contractors that are very specifically greenhouse contractors. And so we're very fortunate today to have Julie Gilbert Viber bird.

From GNV, greenhouse solutions of Indiana. And they have been building high-level greenhouses for many, many years all over North it's America. And so we'd love to hear a little bit about her expense. So Julie, thanks very much for joining us today. Welcome to the poly greens podcast. And, um, we love to hear a little bit about your background, how you got involved in a greenhouse, uh, construction, uh, to begin with.

Well, thanks for having me. I'm super excited, Joe. We've been friends for like years now. I'm going to say years, uh, and I'm a fan of the podcast and excited. I'm just very excited today. Um, okay. So my story is probably, uh, unconventional, uh, for the most part. So, uh, how I got started was I was young. I was 21.

Uh, I just got my boss a boon job, uh, and we went on a cruise together. And so the first stop of the cruise was in The Bahamas and we got off the port and I went to this place called senior frogs in Nassau, and it was late. It was clubby. I was young, you know, and I have to meet a whole bunch of Dutch guys.

So these Dutch guys hung out with me all night and I met Yoast and Yoast, uh, was living on the Island at that time because he was building a greenhouse and as. My Midwest American brain goes, it was, Oh, like the plastic things. And, you know, with the, with the covers over him, and that was new. I was a hairdresser.

I had nothing to do with horticulture. Um, I understood more agriculture with the animals than, than, um, than I would have ever learned about a greenhouse. So he's like, no, no, no. This is five acres of glass. What you know, and, um, we, we swapped our phone numbers and, uh, two and a half months later, uh, and a bunch of talking in between, Hey, fly me out.

And I went to this greenhouse and it was five acres. Uh, it's the Lou cayenne greenhouse. It is adults and bill. Um, it was a beautiful greenhouse and I worked there. My first installation was there in their irrigation room because that's where it goes with specializing at that point in time. And so, um, my first job was a broom.

Uh, he handed me a room, he said, sweep. I'm like, great. I'm going to be sweeping all day long, you know? Uh, so, so, uh, I asked like what parts and pieces were, and I learned. On that way. And then, um, two weeks later he like broke his ankle. Um, And I still went back to the States with me and two and a half weeks later, we got married and we started our business.

Um, then, uh, we work a lot for doll, some, um, we have a lot of background with them, uh, and I would go with my husband at that point in time and do installations. Uh, we worked in Mexico. A lot, uh, central Mexico in the heart. Uh, so I have a special place for Mexico and all their greenhouses down there. And I continue with learning, uh, to do irrigation and the parts and pieces of the greenhouse.

And I did a lot of research online as well, you know, kind of be a business person and. Um, naturally, uh, we had a baby, so I had to stay home and, um, continued the business on the background while he lived in Mexico. And he would travel back every eight to 10 weeks, um, for, uh, till Sophia was five until the, until the, um, the collapse.

Right. So, um, Then after the collapse, which we moved to California to Watsonville area and work with system USA, Peter friend Cole, Bach, who I love to this day still. Um, and then I started repping for KGP, which is now. GAC on, which is now net as him and GAC on together or hack on. I'm going to say it, the normal tones.

So I repped for KGP and there I met Dennis elements from Agra locks, um, who became. My mentor in this industry, um, just, he was always my cheerleader. Like go, Julie, go, you know, you always need that person. And he became that person. And then I was obsessed with boy Deniece. At that time, he was 40 daily, not obsessed with his looks, but just his newsletter.

I was so enthralled with that, with the horny daily at that time. And so I would, um, I'd go around and try to 4k GP make sales for them. And. And I learned all about quoting and, and installations from their team, which were great. The girls there are fantastic and they're still around one, I think, works for prima now.

Um, and Paulina and the other one, I think she still, she works for hack on, but in the rush of department. Um, and then, um, So it's brought me full circle to now, like, um, I don't really rep for any company in particular. Um, and yeah, uh, just constantly building, um, so part from the business part after Sophia got to a certain age and Mick got to a certain age, we started traveling our children around with us.

Um, at times even go to different schools, uh, which made it hard. Right? Cause your kids are constantly being pulled out of school and moving to a different state or whatever. So they would have six months on, at a job site school, like in Toledo, uh, where we worked for nature. Sweet, uh, our nature state, I'm sorry.

Uh, nature, fresh farms at Delta. Uh, we did it. And you were there as a consultant or were you there as a, as an employee there? Um, no, we were, uh, sub contracted in for project management. Okay. Got it. Yeah. So there, we assisted them with that, uh, project management part. Um, we also did the, they've been subcontracted at SL for irrigation, um, and then screening and leveling.

Um, during this time, you know, you're always learning. You're just always learning for me personally, because my husband's been in this for years upon years, he grew up with it is I think he's like. Fourth generation, maybe even fifth generation greenhouse builder. And, um, I'm not a super girly girl. Uh, I can definitely say that.

Um, I do dress up at the shows. Everybody sees me, and then they're like, Oh, you can't know the greenhouse. Look at you when you look so sweet. And I'm like, no. And I'll see you on the back of that backhoe a little while ago. Yeah. Oh, I just roll greenhouses. I'm on tractors and I'm in wholesome pumping, you know, um, uh, that the guys that, um, That really got to see, get to see me on the job site.

Uh, most of the times they go to shows. For instance, we had, there was a subcontractor and I was waving at them at a show and they're like, Hey, like winking at me and stuff. And I'm like, I'm like, guys, it's me. And they're like, Oh my God, you look completely different. I'm like, yes, I can dress up. I'm not always in mud and case and steel-toed boots and a hard hat.

I'm also able to look nice. Believe it or not. Um, I'm just as rough, you know, you get as a woman in this industry, men. Men have made me who I am today. It is a woman did not develop Julianne to who Julie is today. Men have, uh, educated me in this industry. Um, there are not very many females in this industry and especially building greenhouses.

Um, I, I don't know, one. That builds greenhouses. Like I do, like actually on the job site, I'm pulling concrete from a Tiffany's sunglasses on because I have nowhere else to wear them on a job site, you know? Uh, I I'm in it, I'm in it. And I like it. And, um, It's intense, uh, the, when your Gantt chart and, you know, you're having bad weather or an installation, didn't go as well as you expected it to go because there's boulders or, uh, whatever's in the way, you know?

And, um, so yeah. Um, yeah, and I love going to those shows and that's where I've like met everybody that has made me basically who I am today. Um, I will say that my father in law, who is, who is. Has passed away, I think five years this year. Um, he definitely in his last couple of years, I think he finally realized that I was serious about this.

And, uh, his last two years with me, he really explained stuff. So my father-in-law even had a huge part. And then my husband as well, um, was a big part for me to learn all the parts and pieces. And I still call him all the time. Like, what the hell is this? And then like, uh, Arthur from total energy group and Dennison Alvin and one.

Uh, those guys they're always helping me. Um, uh, yeah, no, I mean, this industry is so great. Um, I don't have any women I can call, but I plan to be that woman for the next girl that steps up. So, um, I am. I'm I want women to succeed in this industry. And, um, my daughter may be my, my successor. If she decides to go into this, she is interested.

Um, all of her projects are on like embrace. I rep for Orien now, uh, for their, their water-cooled lighting. I think it's excellent. It's a, um, I, I can talk about it another day, but I think it's an excellent product, uh, for, especially the vertical farms. And, um, I think it's for the hot in the hot areas and for just quality in general.

But, um, she, she just, she made up a whole tear website. She showed me this morning. She says she had a standing ovation. So, um, I'm, I'm super excited. She may, you know, take on some parts of the company and then, um, and I've expanded and it M Hispanic, yesterday I bought a warehouse. Uh, and a new office. Um, so ag tech holdings is going to be the newest, greatest, uh, uh, uh, warehousing for greenhouse parts.

And I discussed that on a later date, if you guys don't want to hear about it. Um, and then I turned GNV, uh, greenhouse solutions just into the construction. And then greenhouse solutions is for my sales. Um, ag tech holdings is, uh, going to be the warehouse. And, uh, that is where I'm going to be taking people, uh, the customer's products from the European market off of their properties and storing them in my, uh, in my warehouse and selling parts and pieces.

And then I'm expanding into the agriculture part where poultry, swine cattle and , um, So GMV is very busy.

Yeah. So, I mean, so really, I mean, you are construction company, but obviously when you look at the types of structures related to horticulture, there's a lot of very unique aspects. And of course, a lot of that, especially as we start looking at climate control, structural stability materials that also blends over of course, into the, the, the.

Conventional ag industry. Do you always, are you always involved or mostly most often involved kind of in the design and the development of a project, or are you more often stepping in as the project manager and construction? Uh, anyway, can you tell us a little bit about that process, um, and how that might relate to, you know, uh, whether it's an existing farm expanding or a new, uh, facility.

Okay. So a lot of the times I would say half and half, um, half the times, if I'm in it with the design. Uh, like explaining to them that. A lot of times they come to me and like, Julie, this didn't work. So how could we have done this better? So then, uh, I work with them like, okay, so, you know, you have this type of greenhouse, I'm a glass greenhouse girl.

And, uh, and I like polycarbonate walls and sandwich panel walls. Um, I have no, no problems with anybody I calling poly. I think that's their great greenhouse. So please understand that. I'm just in the, uh, uh, how do I wanna explain this? I'm just, um, we, we mostly focus on glass, but we do repair work and we do pull Polly.

Um, but we're in the glass. So I'm telling him I liked the Venlo style. I'm a Venmo girl. Um, uh, that is just what I grew up on. Since I was 21 with my husband. And, and now that I'm 48, uh, that, that now, like I've come to realize that I really liked the Venlo style greenhouses. And, um, I liked the fact that there's not a big lot of air up top and you have to worry about the peak.

And anyway, so I, I will advise them the way I prefer in. I think I've seen like the go large commercial growers grow. So. If the commercial growers have huge success, then I see, I feel that they will have that success as well. And I only want my customers to be satisfied and successful. I'm not going to sell them something that isn't going to work because then it's on me.

I have to sleep at night. Great. Thanks. Uh, that is a very big motto. For me and my company and our policies, like we want to sell something that they're gonna be like, Hey, this was great. Let's do it again. Um, I do at times, like people are like, Hey, I don't have somebody to install my ponds or screening, or a contractor walked off or, uh, some other installation irrigation.

Like, can you come in and help us with this? And I'm like, yeah, sure. You know, um, And then we roll in and, and we assist with that. And then we talk to them about their greenhouse and, um, everybody has a different way to grow. And I've come to realize that whether you were on a poly house or you brought in a glass house, if you have a great grower.

You're going to be super successful. Um, that grower can do a lot of magic. I have it out for growers, man. These people don't sleep. They, you know, that is a life that is every it's 24, seven, seven days a week. Over top of your family. It's God greenhouse family like a that's what a grower is like, uh, you know, And, uh, so we've listened to the growers we get in and, and, and, uh, we give them what they need and I think they need, and then we come to a plan.

Yeah, that's great. And that's something, I mean, am hydro that's always something that we've focused on is, um, practical solutions. I mean, right now, of course there's a lot of debate and discussion. Everybody's talking about this technology, that technology, glass houses, poly houses, fully automated systems into a vertical.

I mean, you, it goes on and on and on, but at the, at the end of the day, you're farming. And you need the right tools for that situation that provide the right economic benefit, because that's why we're growing, we're growing and we're going to expand. So can you, can you touch on that a little bit, as far as your approach goes, as, as it relates to, um, you know, not that singular model, not that well, every application requires a three acre Dutch Venlo glass greenhouse, but rather than how you look at it, For that project, maybe there's a few kind of unique projects, whether it's small scale and unique or a large scale and, you know, focusing more on large scale production, but how you kind of approach that.

And you're looking again at ultimately the economics of it, so, okay. So I always approach, uh, a buyer, an investor, or a grower in this meaner. What's the problem. Let's say they already have a green house. Tell me what you hate. Tell me what you don't mind. Um, cause I don't want to give you something that you're not gonna lie.

And so we, we, I start out that way. I listen, tell me, tell me your stories. Tell me, you're telling me what's going on with this. And we walk around the greenhouse and I'm like, okay. So how do you feel about that? How's that Dirk working for you on the ground or how's, you know, you know, you have to be honest and they need to be honest with you or you can't give a, uh, a solution.

That's going to, again, my migraine house solutions, I guess, solutions is in the name, uh, that is our motto. And so you, listen, you have to listen to your customer. Uh, the customer is going to tell you. A lot of stories. They're going to tell you, well, our growth, we're not really happy with our grower. Okay.

Well, what's going on with your grower? Well, they can't figure out the climate control. Okay. Well, have we taken classes? No. Okay. Well, What schizo classes, what let's find, find who your control person is. And, uh, you don't have to buy my, my Privo or my open door or my horny Mac system. If you have a lead for, let's go talk to the link for people, you know, like we got to get you set up.

I want you to succeed. Even if they're not going to buy that for me there, I want them to succeed. Uh, you know, um, It's what's best for them. They're people, they're just they're business people. Like I own a business. I hope people want me to succeed. Maybe they don't. Um, but, uh, but yeah. Um, so I worked with them and then we developed, we started developing.

Okay. I like to develop around your crop installation, not the greenhouse. Okay. So you tell me you want lettuce. And am hydros stuff. We're going to first develop, okay, Joe, what are we going to do with us? What should my base base things be? Yeah, because we want to cram as much crop as possible. So your return on investment is as high as possible.

And then I'm going to talk to you about cooling and your line. Uh, if you have leafy greens, well, we don't want far red Doobie now, so. You're not going to have that. You're going to have, you know, low blue, uh, you're going to have, you know, as much natural light coming through as possible. Uh, that is the key of a greenhouse, right?

You don't want all this conduit pipe clogging up your natural light, causing your percentages. Didn't go down and your energy building go up. So then we're gonna, you know, go down and, um, uh, we're going to figure out which if you're going to choose Polly. We're going to figure out which film is the best.

And that's what I'm going to give you because I'm not going to give you something that is not going to be able to you're you're just going to be yellow in two years and be satisfied with what's the percentage of efficiency between glass and Polly. Well, the first year Polly is good. Right? And then you continually lose percentages wise in the fact of like, uh, 15, and then it also depends on the radiation and where you're at.

So that's kind of a, that's kind of a tricky question. Got it, got it. So it depends on the patient. It depends on the bunch of different scenarios. Not a lot. Yeah. Yeah. And then what if you have a corn crop around you, right? Like. And then they're harvested and all that corn dust is flying over to you and on your greenhouse in the Midwest, you're going to have that problem.

So yeah, if you will, or wheat or soy or, you know, but yeah, so, uh, it all depends on what's around you. There's a lot of factors with that, but, uh, Polly, uh, and then he asked me, changed out every five years. So then you have that application that you got to worry about. It might be cheap up front, but then you're losing your life.

You're losing your, you know, five years, you got to have that replace. And Oh my God, what if a tornado comes by? And you know, I think it mid-west brain. So, uh, um, yeah, or hailstorm that can happen anywhere. You see how dangerous it is to replace the poly. I got a solution for that. I've heard stories, especially.

I know I heard. Hey, Joe, I heard a story where they, uh, they, they put on a Polly. I'm not going to say names or anything, but they put on a Polly and it was windy that day. Oh, you do? Like somebody took off. That's all I got to say. I've fallen. I've been blown off greenhouses. Um, and that's why I'm jealous.

I'm, you know, a GMV we'll be posting, um, online, you know, their, their racks to slide down the gutters to unroll Polly. And I'm like, where was that? When I'm climbing up with, you know, 20 guys and we're. We're climbing over purlins and yeah. And, you know, recovering at 6:00 AM because there's no wind and there's no forecast and you're three quarters covered and have Gavin security yet.

And all of a sudden the wind decides, Hey, I think that's a good time to start to rent the forklift to  at the time. I think, I think at the time I was covering that greenhouse, I think Julia was running around The Bahamas. Oh yeah. I was, I was loving my Dutch man. Yeah, that's fine. Walks up in Massachusetts trying to put poly on a green house.

So yeah, so we make poly carts, um, that is tailor made to people's greenhouses. Um, OSHA runs the United States. Uh, right now. So the ag industry has either got an update itself or get on board and understanding that, uh, we can't do it the old way anymore. Um, because if, if a man falls off a roof, I, then I have to fall.

Thought a whole bunch of frigging OSHA forms. Uh, three Oh one  you know, like, uh, like, Oh my God. And then my employee is going to be filing workman's compensation and hell no, you get flagged for being inspected too, as well. I don't get a lot of inspections, but the day I don't follow OSHA rules is going to be the day.

Julie gets a fucking $55,000 fine. So no, it's not happening. Well, I'm glad that you I'm glad that you said I'm glad that you told everybody on how serious it could be though. Oh no. Oh, no death, like, um, People have fallen off, like, and have died over the poly garbage sheets. It's like a fucking cut. Like they just get slum for like, it's not it's, you know, you hope they land somewhere nice.

Like, no, I'm not having that. Uh, I, um, Oh my God. I want every person that works for me to come home and. To their spouses in four weeks, because obviously we don't work locally and we travel around the United States. So I want them in four to five weeks to be able to go home to their kids with all their arms and legs and fingers.

And so they can play ball and have a happy life with the life that they chose to have. And, uh, I don't want to be responsible for that. Um, and, and United States, you know, we're all like very Sue happy, so, and all rightfully so my, my employee that is not tied off to that part can Sue me and Sue your customer too, because your customer open allowed it and you know, no one's going to your reputation.

There goes my reputation, you know, I am not reputation of being the cheapest person either, but it's because I'm a deputy do, right. That has to, you know, follow the rules, you know, like DDOT, DDOT numbers are not cheap. And following got walls is another thing too. And you're on your you're on your employees.

Did you do your report? Tension in your report? Well, I'm working on it. Like, no, you got to do it now. Like I gotta have this, you have an audit, you know? And, um, that costs money. Uh, also pulling your vehicle out of Hawk costs a lot. VOT sucks. We joke about it and we're having fun here today. But, but, but what Julie's saying is, is really very, very true that.

Um, when you look at greenhouse, uh, construction, um, especially, you know, when we're looking at a farm application or kind of a small scale application, people don't really think about it in the scope. We're talking about working with very large pieces of equipment at significant Heights off the ground with large scale and Julia and I, I I've, I've, I've actually taken a ride with the polycarbonate shaped myself.

Um, so, so you're, you're handling materials that are very prone. To, uh, to wind issues, to, to lift, um, you're using power tools at great height. Um, we're all very substantial issues. So, so obviously if you're hiring someone like Julie, that that's covered for you and they do an excellent job, and that's why they're one of the most well-respected professionals in the industry.

But a lot of people still do a lot of that construction themselves and. Those safety issues are definitely a very major, you know, and I, I joke about, you know, getting blown up a greenhouse, but I was also very lucky. And so, uh, and I know of people that have, have lost limbs and, and, and been very seriously injured as well.

So that's something, if you are handling yourself that the safety aspect is overlook even our glazing machine. So we just purchased a glazing machine. We had it equipped with eight. Line offs on it. Um, a lot of the, a lot of the other builders, they dropped their take. You're not allowed to drop your cage.

It is, you are not allowed to have an open platform. And, uh, as for investors or whatever, if you see an open platform like with the, with the rails down and people are not lined off to something. Like, you're gonna end up, if that person walks off, they're going to end up suing you and yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna, like, they want these like 40, 60 acre greenhouses built in nine months.

That's great that like, We understand we are. We understand that the more time that you don't have, you know, your crop, but there's a humanity aspect in this as well. And I I'm hoping sooner or later that people will get involved in the humanity aspect of the construction building. There are people that are building this for you, and if it's faster, because the cage is dropped and someone goes home with parallelization, like.

Um, I understand it's money, but you could also be liable as a company yourself because you allow that to happen on your, on your ground and you knew it was happening. So, so investors should not focus on the, on the, on the return of investment. Uh, they should focus on the safety first and then the ROI, right?

No, I think ROI, but have a more realistic view instead of nine months. It may take 10 instead of nine. Yeah. All right. And time is always a big issue, but just be more realistic than got it. Yeah. Yes, because safety takes a little bit more time, but like a lawsuit. Um, I mean, I don't know what the going rate for four lawsuits are nowadays, but it depends how many years they take you to court.

Oh, well, so that one depends. Yeah. Yeah. Marquis Salamone are listening right now to the podcast and they're waiting to follow Julie to her next project. Yeah. You know, um, you like, uh, It's so important too, to make sure that your contractors are insured as well. Um, a lot of contractors use freelance, um, contractors, right as subcontractors, but technically those subcontractors are supposed to hold the exact same amount of insurance as.

The, um, the contractor itself. So say I have to have a $5 million umbrella and I have to have a 2 million per aggregate, you know, blah, blah, blah. Uh, you're not going to have $36,000 to be able to pay for that. They're just making probably $20 now. And don't realize with all the hours they work in and all the taxes they take out, they make five 25 an hour paper, you know, so you need to do your due diligence with your contractors, uh, and make sure that.

Uh, are these people legit? Um, cause they're, a lot of them are not. And um, and you need to be careful. All of it is, is a cloud of, of you got to do just your due diligence to make sure that your contractor is correct for you in your applications of life. Because in America he gets sued in North America just because, just because yeah.

So obviously greenhouse construction is a little more involved and sometimes people tend to, to realize. And, and so that's, so, um, Julia, I mean, obviously you, you, you guys are involved in, you know, all aspects of the industry, cannabis, production, food production, Laurel, and sheep. Can you tell us a little bit about some of that maybe?

Um, well, one what, you know, some of the, maybe the bulk of your, of your projects, um, what kind of segment of the industry they, they follow and, and maybe, can you tell us about one or two, but like your more innovative or interesting projects. Okay. Um, let me, um, okay. So I love bright farms. I love them.

They're a great company. They have great people working for them. Um, we must start with them. Um, uh, I've seen them grow. You know, throughout the years of different projects and they keep getting more innovative and they, there, they are making excellent decisions. And so I was there from basically ground to completion, um, and they, uh, they do leafy greens and I'm seeing them go from.

An acre, two acres, five acres. I'm sure they're going to be in the 20, 30 range anytime soon, because that's where all the guys are going to, uh, right now in the commercial industry. Um, I've seen them go from not having, um, Uh, applications of cooling to now applications of cooling. Um, I've seen them just do magnificent things in their, in their greenhouse, uh, applications.

Um, I'm trying to think, uh, Oh, uh, for like the marijuana. Uh, love highlight farms. Uh, they're located in, um, two different areas right now. One's in California and one's in, um, uh, um, Michigan and their applications that they do or XPLAN for their, uh, I don't know how much exactly I can say. So, uh, you know, just moving and growing and growing because they keep changing applications that keep making their facilities better.

And so seeing that, um, going to the Midwest, um, how difficult is it to, uh, to have a year round? Greenhouse is a very energy efficient. Can it be energy efficient, I guess is my question. I say, look then if it could be okay. So buying the correct applications, that makes sense for your greenhouse. So if it is cheaper to have a warm water boiler, uh, and to utilize the CO2 from it, Then do that.

Uh, and you can have like a tickle man system, which is the piping system where it gets, uh, like larger, smaller, smaller, or, uh, yeah, it just goes down or it goes up. I can't remember. I think it's smaller, bigger, bigger, bigger. Um, so having the Tillman system, uh, depending on your size, uh, rather than constant heating air flow, right?

Like geothermal you're referring to right. No, no, no. Um, that I, uh, I don't, I have not done a geothermal obligation yet. Um, I understand it, but to me, I think the geothermal knees are run vertical and not run on the ground. And I think America, we tend to do, uh, It across the ground instead of down. And to me that doesn't make sense in my head.

Uh, so we haven't messed with geothermal. Um, but it is just, uh, a low it's called a warm water boiler, hot water, it's warm water. And that water just runs through the pipes and then goes back in and then it gets heated and I'm going to exchange or whatever. Also, if they utilize Oreo on lighting, They can use the heat coming out of their LEDs to heat the underneath of their benching so they can utilize heat.

That's already there and heat the greenhouse that way. So that's another application that would be a wiser investment, right. Because you already have it heat, you know, you're looking at waste products like CO2 scrubbing and waste heat from lighting to use as inputs. Yeah. It's usually it's a heat is vented out.

Right. It's just vent it out usually. Right. Well, they do open vents, right. Or they have those pad pad, fan walls or exhausts, and that pulls out that and pulls out that heat. Yeah. Um, but yeah, cause you can only have your greenhouse so warm and I know a lot of people use our HPS lights to help heat the greenhouses.

So, uh, and they shut those curtains that heat, that heat them up. Uh, which is that's utilizable. I mean, I, I give it to them to utilize that heat utilize any bit of heat that you have, especially in Wisconsin. Uh, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, you know, Maine. Good. Gosh. Although the North Dakota, and then we can get rattle on who needs to have that, but, um, but utilizing every bit of heat source, so you don't have to keep using.

Uh, electricity as you know, cause that's, that's your biggest cost in most areas? I think Oklahoma right now how's the cheapest, uh, electricity. I'm not for sure. I think that, I think Oklahoma right now is the cheapest, um, which is a hard sell for any kind of led, uh, in Oklahoma. Um, good for the environment and technically for using LEDs, but, you know, um, but it's when it's cheap, it's hard.

That's a hard sell. For a customer. Usually when we talk, I always recommend that, you know, people who are listening to go back and hit the rewind button and go back and listen. And, and so this, this part that Julie had just spoken about as well, it's earlier on in our conversation when she was talking about the applications and how GNB goes about their approach.

Those are really important things to consider wherever you are in the greenhouse production. Again, we like to get kind of pigeonholed into certain technologies, especially in the indoor vertical farming world where it's this model or that model, but it's not, it's, it's all about taking your technological tools and using them appropriately.

You hadn't selecting them as well for that application. So as Julie's talking about heating, um, in certain areas of the country, I mean, it's not simply a matter of you're going to run a boiler and you're going to put in this much heat, but you're actually utilizing all the different components and what that looks like at cayenne in The Bahamas.

And actually I was there and I didn't realize that you guys had built that, um, Uh, I did some consulting for them a few years back. And, and you know, what, what, but how you, how you approach that in The Bahamas versus Minnesota or Southern California is all the different and the greenhouse construction, the environmental control systems, the ventilation, um, fan and pad or flogging, or just natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation.

All of those LEDs or HPS is, or some hybrid of those. All of those things are not absolute. So all of those things are, are, um, yeah. And I'm glad to see, um, you know, how you do that. And that's, that's a really important piece to remember, and that's why, you know, professionals like yourself are really important to this.

Every, every bit of mechanism mechanisms in a greenhouse can probably produce some kind of heat. Uh, that you may not exactly know about. And so if you just go Willy nilly and throw some whites up, you know, like there's a, there's a rhyme and reason for everything in a greenhouse application. And even in construction, uh, you know, there's a rhyme and a reason that constructions, you know, do this, do what they do.

Uh, you know, there's a reason why we start this way and we don't do it another way. You know, I know every project is different and the size of the project obviously impacts that. But if someone needs to have, um, a, a greenhouse construction project, To perform by you. What type of timeline? I mean, how far, how far along if say, if I were ready with the role with a, an acre project right now, how long would it take?

How backlogged are you, how long would it take for you to get here? And then what? What's an approximate timeline for an average project of a certain size. Okay. So back logged maybe two months. Uh, it just depends. Uh, sometimes our crews get done sooner and then I'm able to go, okay, well, I can put that crew on you right now.

Like we're going to go or, or. Sometimes people, like I said, like total project-wise, uh, depending like a half a half acre, we'll take maybe four, four and a half months, depending on your state, depending on your, uh, are you ready? A lot of times, it depends on if I don't sell you the, the structure. Then it depends to make sure that your manufacturer has everything lined up and then some people end up losing their builders or their installers because, uh, their manufacturer wasn't able to get it here in time or in their contractor walked away and that happens.

And so we always try to work with them, you know, as we even can put a small crew, which has get them started, we try. Right. Um, It's all about assisting because inevitably every customer that comes to me, the asked me for help. They need help. Right. And, uh, I'm going to do my best as a company and my, and power abilities to be able to make sure you have a successful bill, even if I can get you started, I'm like, okay, I'm going to get you started.

I'm like, but this part, I need you to find somebody else because I'm not gonna be able to do it. So, uh, I'm like, they're like, can you know of anybody? And I'm like, I can try, you know, but I don't want to give them somebody that's going to. Be bad for them either. You know, I have a quality issue, like, um, I want to make sure my subcontractor is not going to like walk off on them.

You know, we got a bigger job. See you later, Julie, you know, that's happened to me before, you know, so I've stopped using subcontractors. I've now created my entire team internally because, uh, like, well, we decided that this 15 acre job. Like, and we know we're finishing and we need to finish, but we need to start this 15 acre jobs.

So we're going to go, Oh my God. You know? So then you're stuck as a contractor trying to figure that out and I don't want that to happen to a customer. Uh, so I try to, you know, get them along. Uh, so I feel like screening. If you need a screening application, like two weeks, I can get somebody on that. Um, if you need, um, uh, structure res.

Just the structure raised. You don't need a Glazer? Uh, probably three weeks. Um, uh, it just, everything,

I think it just depends on the size. Right. So if you're doing a nine, go ahead, please. I'm sorry. Um, if you have like a nine acre per cell, five to nine acre facility, it's going to take nine months. To build approximately, um, if you have an acre, it's going to be like seven and a half, and this doesn't include the planning time.

Right. Because it depends on how picky they are during the planning process. Correct. So, uh, we, the, if, if they already have their profit, if they already have their, they didn't buy the stuff through me. Uh, this is the day I arrived. The trucks are coming in so I can offer instructors to build out. Correct.

Hmm. Yeah. And the permits are already filed for and, and, uh, yeah. You just need a builder. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen you at a show to be honest with you, but now with things opening up, obviously some more shows are coming online and Hydro's got a seminar coming up in June that everyone's excited about.

It's about some of the upcoming events that you've got planned or where people can see you and talk to you. Okay. So I definitely am going to cultivate it better happen, or I'm going to fucking pissed. Uh, uh, I'm over this jaw. Um, I'm over it. Um, I need to see my people, uh, uh, I got a call today. I typically speak at cultivate.

I've spoke two years in a row, um, and, uh, gave, uh, like a list out of what construction about greenhouse construction, what do and not to do. Uh, but so cultivate is all way on there. Um, I typically am at my, my people. I only sponsored the best, so I go to the booth and I will stand there for, um, Oregon has a booth.

Um, uh, I'll stand there if, uh . Cause I do love their, uh, uh, their irrigation parts are pretty freaking awesome. Uh, I do go there. Joe has a booth. I'll be there. Uh, um, then I'm going to be going to my next one. October is a busy month, right? She goes, look at October, we got in your Agon, which I haven't.

Excellent. I'm having a party up. I'll be there. That's right. That's right. We haven't some drinks at my booth. Uh, um, the first day I do believe, uh, uh, I'm at I'm I'm excited about that in drag con and then the cannabis show is in October. And I think the PMA is in October, right? So I, I will be at, uh, the canvas show.

I have not been through it's lined out yet. Um, I'm nervous because the last time we did interact on at Vegas, they just canceled. Yeah. So, uh, a little nervous about that. Not gonna lie. Um, I think he has been wide open for awhile though, so yeah. Yeah. PMAs in Louisiana in new Orleans, again, that was a hot time not going to lie.

I had a great time price data, a little too late. Um, But, um, but no, so PMA is on and then I think Greentech in Amsterdam is going to happen. Is that, is that in November? Um, I can't remember when that date is anyway, so I do always make a trip. To Amsterdam. I think it's in September, Joe. Okay. My calendar just September.

Um, they change it around and typically it's in July. So like, if it's not in July, it's in my brain. It's always in or, sorry, June. It's always in June. It's like the second week of June. Uh, and so typically I go the in gym and then, uh, I think that's it. Um, I may do Mexico. I don't know. Uh, that's a really nice show as well.

Mexico has a really good, uh, a good, nice. Okay. So if people want to reach out and get a hold of you, so maybe see what you're doing or get in touch with you about a project, how what's the best way to go about doing that? Well, they find me on my website, right? Uh, www greenhouse solutions, usa.com. Uh, and I have my office number is on there.

Um, and then if we may contact, uh, you may end up, uh, just, just asking for me. And I will, I usually try to make, if someone asks for me, I try to, uh, make a phone call back to them. And then, um, I work with them and their sales person that will be working with them. Yeah. And then I'm, I'm in and out into this entire thing, uh, because, uh, All salespeople, if they've not been, uh, basically raised in a greenhouse, we like, we walk them and help them through it because there's a lot of applications.

It's not just a greenhouse. Oh yeah. And then, um, hopefully we can build for you, you know? Um, that's what we want. I do have one question though. All right. Um, if you can go back to a teenage, um, you know, a teenager yourself, what, what would your advice be to the teenage version of yourself? Oh my God. Are you ready for this?

I had just thought about this the other day. Teenage mean teenage mean go to business school. Yeah. Get an associates degree. And be your hairdresser selves that you work. Cause I was a hairdresser wild as wild for me. Uh, go ahead and do that, have fun with it. Um, but that way, um, this industry, you can't go to school for.

I have decided unless you're a grower. Yeah. I understand that. But as a, as a contractor, uh, on the contractor and. It is hands on. It is not, it is not something, I mean, a blueprint. Okay. Let's take it back. Take blueprint, reading classes, and then crumble them all up and throw them away because you're not going to get a blueprint that makes any sense in a great house compared to residential.

Um, and, uh, associate's degree, definitely an associates degree. Um, Specializing. And, uh, if you want to specialize with specializing and, um, construction management. Yup. There's a lot of disciplines, a lot of different disciplines kind of woven into all, all different horticultural businesses, but particularly something like construction.

Yeah. So I taught myself how to, uh, how to build a Gantt chart and how to do a Gantt chart. And then now I've created a builder software for my customer. So when we do a bill that they can see their Gantt chart, they can see every day, all the pictures of the day, they can see the issues of the day. They can.

It's fantastic for the customer and the manufacturer as well. And then all meeting notes are in a cloud document. So you see two meetings a week, you're going to see the Rideout of who was there. And, you know, I mean, I've taught myself so much that I don't know if I'm can learn this from school. Um, I'll just be honest.

Like I don't, I don't, I just think an associates in construction management. Excellent. Well, that's a hands-on business and so you've learned the right way. So, yeah. Well, listen, um, Julie, thank you so much for your time. Um, we really appreciate it, obviously. Um, anyone interested in, in a project or needing a Julie's guidance, please feel free to reach out and get in touch with her.

And, and as always, we thank you for your time. We appreciate you listening today and hope. But we hope to hear more from you as soon as far as guests, but definitely Julie's been one of our favorites. So, so thank you again, Julie, and thanks again, everyone for listening and we hope you all have a great day.

Thank you. Thanks, Nick. And Joe. Thank you.