John Hoogeboom

D.O.B.: 7 October 1941 Langweer, Netherlands

Johannes (John) Hoogeboom was educated in the Netherlands and received a degree in electrical engineering from a technical college in the Netherlands. Prior to entering the greenhouse industry John worked several years for a large Dutch electrical contracting company as a project manager.

John Hoogeboom has been involved in the greenhouse industry since 1972 and was employed by some of the leading support companies in the global greenhouse industry, including:

From September 1972 to June 1973:

-Van Vliet Pijnacker, B.V. of the Netherlands

During this time John studied the various systems relating to climate control in greenhouses. This included ventilation, cooling, heating, fertigation, irrigation, CO2, grow lights, etc.

From June 1973 to June 1982:

     -Glasshouse Automation, Ltd. of England – General Manager

(The UK branch of Van Vliet Pijnacker, BV)

From June 1982 to August 1987:

-Van Vliet Pijnacker, B.V. (HortiMax) of the Netherlands – Export Manager

From August 1987 to November 1995

     -Van Wingerden Greenhouse Co. of the USA. – General Manager

During this time John was involved in design and realization of greenhouse projects in several countries, including Holland, England, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Soviet Union, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

In 1995 John started Agronomico International, Inc. to provide greenhouse operators with consultancy services relating to the design, construction and operation of state-of-the-art greenhouse facilities for the production of vegetables, cut flowers, bedding plants, etc. During the next 8 years John worked on greenhouse projects in the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, India, Ecuador and Columbia. For example, in Mexico he was responsible for the design, construction and operation of a 6 Ha bell pepper growing facility.

In 2003 John joined Cincinnati based greenhouse manufacturing company Rough Brothers, Inc. as a greenhouse project development engineer, responsible for designing small, medium and large scale vegetable production facilities, both for US and overseas customers.

John is a regular speaker at greenhouse conferences, including the annual Tomato Short Course at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has also written several articles for US trade magazines.

John is the past president of the National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association (NGMA) 1994-1995