This Saturday [Oct. 5] is the annual MSU Horticulture Club and SAIFD fall plant and wreath sale at the Dorman Hall Greenhouses. In addition to the sale, Scott Kitayama, the CEO of his family's floral distribution company, Greenleaf Wholesale Florist, will present two seminars.
The first seminar is at 3 p.m. in the Dorman Greenhouse classroom and is titled "Where Do Flowers Come From." The second will be at 4 p.m. and will be on "The Future of the Floral Industry." The seminars are open to all students, faculty, staff and the public.
For over 45 years, Greenleaf has been serving professional florists in 16 cities in the west and in the south. Prior to joining Greenleaf Wholesale in 2001, Scott spent 15 years in marketing management roles in Silicon Valley. In 1996, he co-founded Callidus Software (nasd: CALD) and acted as vice president of marketing as well as business unit manager. He received his bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley and his master's degree in business administration from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
Scott grew up in the flower industry in Colorado where his father, Ray Kitayama, managed both the greenhouse operation and the wholesale division. Married with one daughter, Scott is based in Northern California. Scott is arriving at MSU from a trip to Quito, Ecuador.