After 26 years in the USA Greenhouse industry, Dave Fahrenbruch is retiring from Sun Valley Farms Inc. of Loveland, Colorado. In 1993 Fahrenbruch started with Colorado Greenhouse as the VP Sales and Marketing, responsible for over 260 Acres of production with greenhouse sites in Colorado, New Mexico, and Mexico. 6 years later he left and co-founded SunBlest Farms a niche 12 acre greenhouse grower in Payton, Colorado, and stewarded the company’s expansion by acquiring most of the Colorado Greenhouse’s assets from bankruptcy protection, growing SunBlest to 194 acres when he left the company in 2004.
Having built an incredible network of growers and retailers, Dave shifted gears from growing operations to greenhouse marketing, starting Sun Valley Farms Inc. in Loveland Colorado. By 2007, Sun Valley marketed for a network of growers with 170 acres greenhouses in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New York, Virginia and Mexico. At the time, they were listed as the 5th largest greenhouse producer in the USA. As the industry shifted and the smaller greenhouses that made up SVF acreage were acquired and consolidated by larger industry players, Fahrenbruch revised their model and began working with large greenhouse producers in the USA, Canada and Mexico to sustain their position in the industry and meet their retail customers’ demands.
In 2015, Sun Valley was acquired by Houweling’s Group, with Dave staying on as the CEO until his retirement this December. Alongside him for most of the way has been Craig Olson, VP Sales at Sun Valley. When asked to reflect on Dave’s career, Olson noted,
“I’ve spent 23 years working with Dave and couldn’t have had a better mentor to work with throughout my career. His passion for detail and never ending desire to be the best was his trademark and he wouldn’t except anything less. Dave’s ability to adapt to an industry that has changed immensely over the course of two decades and build a successful company with high level retail partners is nothing less than a gold medal achievement in my books. I will miss seeing him every day in the office, beyond our excellent working relationship over the years, I’m proud to call him my best friend.“
With Dave’s retirement, Craig Olson will follow in his mentor’s footsteps as he has been named General Manager of Houweling’s Colorado, an updated DBA for Sun Valley Inc. to better reflect that office’s position as an integral location in Houweling’s Group of companies servicing retailers in Canada and the USA.
Having counted Fahrenbruch as a competitor, a customer and colleague over his career, Houweling’s Group CEO Kevin Doran shared, “Dave is a formidable entrepreneur and leader who has contributed greatly to our business, he will most certainly be missed” Doran continued “he leaves behind a great team in Loveland, Colorado and with the leadership going forward of Craig Olson, the successes are sure to continue”
In retirement Dave will have the opportunity to spend more time with his wife Deidra, daughters Shallyn, Kaelyn, Ashlyn, and Step-son Denton, while continuing to foster his passion for classic cars and motorcycles.
For more information: 
David Bell
Houweling's
Tel: +1 (604) 398-5303
www.houwelings.com