Irrigation Supplier Nelson Splits Into Professional And Consumer Units

Nelson’s turf strategic business unit, which will be headed by Dave Eglinton, produces professional irrigation products for residential and light commercial applications. The company’s products include electronic controllers, gear drive, spray head and impact sprinklers, valves and SoloRain™ battery-operated/wireless actuators.

"Turf is really a different industry than lawn and garden, but in the past, we’ve treated it similarly," explained Rick Keup, president and chief operating officer of the company. "We’ve been successful in doing that, but we believe we can make our turf business more profitable and more efficient if we separate it from lawn and garden. Creating a turf business unit will allow us to focus on the special needs of customers in this industry."

The newly formed retail strategic business unit includes Nelson’s lawn and garden product line, which includes garden hose nozzles, couplings and accessories, timers, snap connectors, hose repair and a variety of sprinklers.

Nelson also created two corporate support groups as part of its reorganization: Corporate Supply Chain and Corporate Finance & Administration. The Supply Chain Group is responsible for quality assurance, procurement, information technology, facilities and strategic planning. The Corporate Finance & Administration Group includes finance/treasury, corporate accounting, human resources, legal, risk management and business development support.