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SOUTHERN GRAPHIC DESIGNS:
PROOF THAT THE AMERICAN DREAM LIVES ON
Juan Bocanegra made a fateful decision when he was nine years old. “One day, I’m going to own my own business,” he decided, as he picked peppers beside his mother in a Plant City field. “I want to work hard, and I want to work hard for myself.” Today, at 38, he is living the American dream, with his wife, four children— and a business.
Juan and his wife, Fabby, of Lakeland, own Southern Graphic De- signs, which offers vehicle graphics, full vehicle wraps, exhibit graph- ics, and more. Through its Agri-Signs Division, it develops outdoor signage for agriculture operations. The Bocanegras have made it their job to help the agriculture community stay on top of governmen- tal signage requirements.
Juan and Fabby learned the agriculture industry as migrant workers. Juan’s family migrated from Mexico in the 1970s. Although they traveled extensively, they considered Plant City their home. Juan met his wife, whose family also worked as migrant laborers, when they were in the seventh grade.
A year later, when Juan was only in eighth grade, he had to quit school to help his family earn a living. He returned to school later and earned his high school equivalency diploma. He worked in a landscaping company, then found a job in a box company, where he swept floors. Eventually, he worked his way to the top as superinten- dent.
He credits his background as a migrant worker for his success, be- cause it taught him what hard work is. “I was very blessed to be able to grow up as a migrant worker,” he adds.
The couple began their business in their Lakeland garage in 2007. “I came up with the idea [to produce printed boxes farms' use],” he recalls. “Fabby made the idea a reality.” His brothers talked him into the sign business.
The couple outgrew their garage, moved into a little office, and even- tually outgrew that before moving to their current location in Mulberry. Now with a staff of seven, they serve more than 300 growers, doing some $200,000 in business annually throughout Florida and along the eastern seaboard. “It’s been an amazing adventure,” he says.
As the designer, Fabby “is the brains of the whole operation basically,” Juan explains. Now he is making plans to hire his mother, Maria, to work alongside him again— this time handling the embroidery of caps and t-shirts. His stepdad, Jose Roque, is a crew leader.
As the owner, Juan arranges his own schedule so he can still get “dirty” out in the field. “I don’t like getting stuck in the office,” he admits. “My favorite part of the job is installing the signs.”
GROWERS FERTILIZER:
FROM CO-OP TO CORPORATION
A group of Florida citrus growers banded together in 1934 to form a co-op. Eighty years later, the co-op turned corporation continues to serve the state’s agricultural industry, providing fertilizer for citrus, blueberries, peaches, and cattle hayfields.
Unlike other companies in the fertilizer business, Growers Fertilizer Corp. is a Florida company that serves Florida. Its product lines include custom fertilizers, plus pesticides and herbicides. The company employs 60 at its three locations in Lake Alfred, Dade City, and Newberry, near Gainesville.
The ninth largest fertilizer company in Florida, Growers Fertilizer made and sold more than 70,000 tons of fertilizer last year. Its sales topped $37 million for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. In addition to serving grow- ers, it is a major supplier of lawn care products. “We’re able to run all different kinds of fertilizer at the same time. That makes us pretty unique,” says Brent Sutton, president and general manager.
The company also has the ability to customize a product in a day. “We are able to custom blend a fertilizer mix for whatever situation out there,” he says. Soil and leaf samples are used so the fertilizer can be made to suit growers’ specific requirements.
Growers Fertilizer offers a broad range of fertilizers from the bone meal and blood meal dry fertilizer it distributes in bags, to its own fertil- izer blends manufactured from raw materials imported from all over the world. It brings in potash and nitrogen by boat from Russia to the port of Tampa, then trucks it to Lake Alfred. It also imports potash from Canada and Chile. The phosphate is from Polk County. “We bring in materials by rail, also by truck. It takes a lot of planning and logistics,” Sutton explains.
Rather than using the cheaper “dusty” ingredients, Growers Fertilizer prepares its bagged fertilizers with high-quality materials. “We pride ourselves in buying raw materials that are granular,” Sutton says.
The Dade City resident— from a citrus-growing family in Pinellas County— serves as vice chairman of the board at Lake Alfred’s Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). He rotates between Growers Fertilizer’s three locations, although most days he takes a country drive to the main office and plant in Lake Alfred.
The plant conveniently recycles runoff water through pipes to its next door neighbor— a park and baseball field.
At the core of the business are those same citrus-growing families who began it so long ago: Bob Barben, Sr. and his family from Avon Park, John Strang representing the Adams family in Auburndale, and Steve Sorrels representing his family from Arcadia. Strang chairs the board of six; Sorrels is vice chair.
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