Cole Mangum
Vice President at Bell Nursery USA LLC
Cole joined Bell Nursery full time 2008 working alongside Tom Wheeler assisting with growing operations. The following year, he moved to Allentown, Penn., to manage Bell's distribution center. He returned to Burtonsville in 2011, and now coordinates all annuals in and out of the greenhouse. Beginning with plugs, Cole coordinates labor and timing for planting, and shipping into Network and company greenhouses for finishing. When plants are finished he manages their return to the distribution center where they will be shipped fresh to The Home Depot. Cole also oversees Bell's Maryland recycling program, working with industry partners to recycle everything from pots and trays to sleeves, boxes, tags and signs. Cole started with Bell when he was 11, helping to build greenhouses at the Burtonsville location. Later he spent summers unloading trailers and housekeeping on the dock, before heading off to Salisbury University in pursuit of a degree in history, with a minor in philosophy. Cole currently resides in Baltimore with his wife.
Bell Nursery -- LOCALLY GROWN PLANTS AND FLOWERS.
Bell Nursery is an innovative company focused on growing superior quality flowers and plants, and seeing their care through retail at The Home Depot. Bell is the largest wholesale nursery grower in the mid-Atlantic, producing and shipping tens of millions of plants each year. Bell’s dedicated merchandising team is also on-site to manage deliveries and care for the plants along with Home Depot garden associates until they are in customers’ hands.
Bell’s environmental strategies are considered by many to be industry best practices, and in 2014 Bell was the first large grower nationally to eliminate neoniconitoids from its integrated pest management toolbox, as concerns were raised that the otherwise safe class of chemicals could possibly be harming bees. Many other growers have since followed this example, and The Home Depot was the first retailer anywhere to require tags in plants that advise consumers if the plants are treated with this chemical, at any time during the production phase.
