The 2000s
In 2003, Willard’s Marion plant reached the pinnacle of environmental safety standards, earning the DuPont Environmental Respect Award as the most environmentally sensitive ag retailer in the nation. The Pennsylvania facility was honored as embodying a personal and professional commitment to safety on a long-term basis.
In the same year, the company decided the time was right to move ahead with plans for expansion in Greenwood, Delaware. (Although Willard had purchased the property more than two decades before, the acquisition of Flo-N-Gro in Lynch delayed development of the project.) The facility was new from the ground up, except for the landmark silo, which remained on the property. It opened in 2004 with growth as its objective.
Ken Fry, who joined Willard in 2003, shared his international experience in construction design, management, quality control and safety as the Greenwood plant came online. (Ken had a strong family connection to the company: his grandfather was one of Willard Chemical’s first customers, and his father was one of the first customers in Lynch.)
“Greenwood is the culmination of 30 years of liquid fertilizer experience “everything we’ve learned from other facilities, said Bobby Willard. With its third large storage tank now complete, the plant manufactures 30,000 tons of fertilizer a year. The difference at Greenwood is that it’s more diversified, explained general manager Mike Twining. We do more for specific markets, like large industrial power plants, drip irrigation, and turf and lawn care, in addition to ag. More of our fertilizer leaves on a truck than on a spreader. Like other Willard facilities, Greenwood is over-engineered and built to exceed regs, said Twining. There’s zero discharge. State inspectors have told us that the water in the pond is cleaner than the water from our 400-foot well. Willard recently entered into a partnership with Southern States to allow them to warehouse nitrogen at the site, which Twining said reflects Willard’s reputation for environmental stewardship.
In 2004, a new opportunity emerged in Pennsylvania, where Willard established a partnership with Ken Clemmer to form SynaTek, which provides fertilizer, crop protectants, grass seed and equipment for golf courses and lawn care. Continuing its search for ways to utilize its plants for additional purposes, Willard also began studying the use of materials to reduce NOx emissions. It joined with Colonial Chemical in 2004 to service industrial markets with products from its fluid manufacturing facilities.
Three years later, the Agricultural Retailers Association (formerly the National Fertilizer Solutions Association) elected Bobby Willard as its chairman. The event, recognizing a second generation in the industry’s leadership, was the first in the history of the organization.
In December 2009, on the eve of its 40th anniversary, Willard Agri-Service was named the nation’s top agricultural retailer of the year. The award, announced by the Agricultural Retailers Association, recognized Willard’s leadership in providing high-quality agricultural technology and customer service to more than 2,800 growers in the mid-Atlantic.
