The Ruppert Nurseries team brings many years of combined industry expertise to every task they undertake with the goal of ensuring that we are employing the best practices and the most up-to-date knowledge in the industry. The company employs team members with expertise in urban forestry, agriculture, landscape contracting and entomology. Additionally, several team members have Certified Professional Horticulturist (CPH) and Certified Arborist certifications.
Our Team
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Craig Ruppert
CEO
As the company’s founder and chief executive, Craig has been instrumental in developing the company’s mission, culture and values. His experience and involvement with outside board memberships in other industries has allowed him to bring innovative ideas and management approaches to Ruppert Nurseries. He has been with Ruppert since its inception in 1976.
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Sophie Ruppert Felts
President
A Second-Generation Ruppert, Sophie joins the company after nearly a decade spent building Sophie Felts Floral Design, recognized by Florist Review as one of the top 50 wedding floral businesses in North America. Sophie brings a creative approach as this beloved family nursery grows into the next generation. She lives on the farm with her husband, Mike, and four kids.
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Kelly Lewis
General Manager & Tree Moving Sales
Kelly’s responsibilities include oversight of the day to day operations and long term planning activities for Ruppert Nurseries. With a particular emphasis on team building and personnel growth and development. Kelly started with Ruppert Nurseries in 1994. He is a Certified Professional Horticulturalist and has a Texas A&M Certificate of applied business management.
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Ronda Roemmelt Sneider
Sales Representative
She is responsible for maintaining customer relations, sales and marketing initiatives in the Mid-Atlantic. Ronda has been with Ruppert since 2013 and has a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science from Pennsylvania State University with a minor in Horticulture. Ronda is a Certified Professional Horticulturalist and an ISA Certified Arborist.
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Jim Davenport
Sales Representative
Jim has been involved with the landscape industry for over 25 years and has over 20 years of experience specifically in nursery sales. He has been servicing clients in the New England market for over 15 years and with Ruppert Nurseries since 2008. He holds a bachelors degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Temple University and BS in Accounting from Clarion University of PA.
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Kelly Garcia
Sales Representative
Kelly has been with Ruppert since 2022 and is responsible for in-house sales. She helps our local customers with orders, tagging trips and pictures. Kelly is originally from Mexico and fluent in Spanish, which allows her to facilitate communication between our Latinx crew and the rest of the team. She has previous experience with marketing and photography in the agricultural business.
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Ashley Miles
Administrate Production Assistant
Ashley has been with Ruppert since 2013 and she has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Ashley is a Certified Professional Horticulturalist with a professional background in Urban Forestry and Organic Farming. As the Admin Production Assistant, Ashley assists with inventory management and sales reporting, in addition to social media and marketing.
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Nick Graves
Nursery Maintenance Manager
Nick oversees production and farm maintenance at Ruppert Nurseries. He has been with Ruppert since 2006 and has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Landscape Horticulture with a minor in Agricultural Business and Entomology. Nick is also a Certified Professional Horticulturist.
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Alex Solano
Farm Production Supervisor
Alex has been with Ruppert Nurseries since 2005. Alex is a skilled machine operator, especially when it comes to tree spades! Over his many years with Ruppert, Alex has worked his way up from being a Crewman to a Farm Production Supervisor. Alex leads our digging crew and often assists with loading.
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Wilfredys Hernandez Cruz
Farm Production Supervisor
Wilfredys has been with Ruppert Nurseries since 2002. Wilfredys started as a Crewman and has worked his way up to being a Farm Production Supervisor. Wilfredys is often one of the first people to welcome you when you arrive to pick-up your trees. He is fluent in both English and Spanish. Wilfredys leads our loading crew and he is also skilled at pruning our trees.
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James Guernieri
Head Grower
In James’ role as the Grower, he is responsible for liner planting, pruning, irrigation, turf maintenance, and managing our cover crops which are planted throughout the farm. James says the favorite parts of his job are the variety each day provides as well as his time he gets to spend working with the nursery K-9 crew. James is a graduate of Salisbury University with a degree in Environmental Science with minors in Biology and Sustainable Agriculture.
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Casey Custodio
Controller
Casey is responsible for all things related to finances and accounting. Casey has been with Ruppert since 2016. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management and Rural Development with a minor in Environmental Economics from West Virginia University. Casey is also the safety representative for the company’s safety program.
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Tyler Anderson
Tree Moving
In his role as senior supervisor, Tyler leads up a team which specializes in on-site large tree transplanting and installation. Tyler has experience in craning, boxing and transplanting big trees. Tyler started with Ruppert Nurseries in 2012 and has worked his way up from crewman to Senior Supervisor. Tyler is an ISA Certified Arborist.
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Howie Burrill
Operations Manager, Tree Moving Division
In his role as operations manager, Howie oversees the day to day production, staffing and scheduling needs of the tree moving division. Howie comes to Ruppert Nurseries with a wealth of knowledge in moving large trees. Prior to Ruppert Nurseries, Howie owned his own landscape business for many years and even dabbled a bit in the mortgage business.
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Shelly Mingone
Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Shelly has been an accounts payable manager for 22 years and worked in accounting for four years before starting a Ruppert nurseries. Her current role as office manager / bookkeeper includes accounts payable, accounts receivables, and making sure we have everything we need to keep our office running smoothly.
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Nate Petrohilos
Resident Mechanic
Nate’s position as resident mechanic consists on maintaining, fabricating, and repairing company vehicles and equipment. He is our in-house problem solver for anything mechanical and has been with Ruppert Nurseries since 2020. Nate started learning about cars and machines as a hobby that rapidly developed into a career.
Our Field Crew
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Carlos
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CJ
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Douglas
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Lucas
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Luis
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Robbie
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Walter
