Our mission is to grow resilient, high-quality seedlings that help forests thrive—partnering with our customers to support sustainable land stewardship, environmental renewal and the long-term health of our natural landscapes.
Our Story
Arbutus Grove is a family-owned business which began in 1979 when Hans and Susan Stoffelsma purchased a five acre piece of land which was to become their home and place of work. Construction of the first greenhouse was completed in 1980 and the first crop of 200,000 seedlings was sown in the spring of 1981. Their children, Nathaniel and Sarah, grew up while living at the nursery.
Generations of expertly-grown seedlings.
Nathaniel took over ownership when Hans retired in 2001 and we’ve gradually expanded over the years. We currently grow 20 million seedlings annually at our 40 acre facility, and day to day operations are managed by Sean Webb and an experienced management team.
Nearly all of our seedlings are grown on a contract basis for our customers, many of which have been growing with us since the early years. We specialize in container stock, most of which is directly out-planted but a significant portion of which is also shipped to transplant nursery beds for the US market.
Quality people, quality service.
We take great pride in our staff who with their skills, commitment and passion provide our customers with top quality seedlings and excellent service. We have a work-place culture of continual learning and improvement, and we are committed to running a safe, profitable and environmentally responsible operation.
Our Core Values
People over profit.
We grow millions of seedlings, but our business has always been about people. Relationships come first—with our customers, partners, communities, and each other. We earn trust by showing up, following through, creating a safe place to work together, and building partnerships that last decades.
We sweat the small stuff.
The little things become healthy forests. We pay attention to the details, make thoughtful decisions, and never stop improving.
Reliable. Every season.
Premium quality and service are realized only when we deliver consistency every day and on time - and we take that seriously. You can rely on us.
We stay grounded.
The best growers know there’s always more to learn. We leave our egos at the gate, listen first, and let our work speak louder than our words.
Curiosity is our middle name.
Our minds are wired for optimizing, testing and continuously asking ourselves how we can improve.
Our Management
Sean Webb
Nursery General Manager
-
Sean began his career with Arbutus Grove Nursery in 2001 and has had the opportunity to take on a wide range of roles; from early-career positions through to his current role as General Manager.
The hands-on experience over more than two decades has given Sean a deep understanding of the people, operations, and the many details that go into producing high-quality seedlings for reforestation.
Sean studied Horticulture through the University of Guelph and continued his education with the Greenhouse Management program. That education with years of hands-on experience has strengthened his passion for growing seedlings and for the science, technology, and teamwork involved in growing healthy, resilient seedlings.
Sean is steadfast in his passion for growing forests of the future. He’s proud to work alongside a dedicated and talented team who share a commitment and strive to produce high-quality seedlings, continually improve growing practices, and play a part in supporting the future of the Pacific Northwest’s forests.
You can read more about Sean’s lifelong purpose-driven career on his blog.
Kelsey Webb, CPA, CGA
Controller & Business Services Manager
-
Kelsey joined Arbutus Grove Nursery in 2021 and is our Controller and Business Services Manager. As a CPA, CGA, she brings a strong financial and analytical perspective to the team and enjoys digging into the numbers, finding efficiencies and helping turn information into practical solutions.
That said, her role is definitely about more than accounting! Kelsey is involved in many different parts of the nursery, including contract management, seedling orders and seed information, customer visits, HR, and plenty of the day-to-day coordination that happens outside of the greenhouses.
She enjoys the variety of the role and the opportunity to work with both customers and the nursery team. She always says it’s “cool” that she can be an accountant, but work for such an interesting and impactful part of the green economy, even when she occasionally gets pitch on her hands and holes in her pants.
Steven Kiiskila, MSc PAg RPF
Crop & Growing Team Manager
-
Steven has been involved in reforestation his entire career; from collecting seeds to organizing and monitoring tree planting programs, although his primary focus has been growing seedlings.
He has worked at various forest seedling nurseries throughout B.C. and has been the Crop and Growing Team Manager at Arbutus Grove Nursery since 2020.
Steven loves the combination of art (i.e. vibes) and science used to grow forest seedlings, and the fact that as a “Grower” he is always learning something new. He has a Master of Science degree in Forest Biology from the University of Victoria, a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, horticulture major from the University of Guelph, and a Horticulture Diploma from Olds College.He feels the success of each crop is judged on how well they perform once planted in the field. As a RPF, Steven says the best way to receive feedback on your crop is to spend a day in the field digging up trees so you can observe how different nursery practices influence seedling out planting performance under different environmental conditions.
Observations you can bring back to the nursery to make small adjustments here and there as necessary.
One of his favourite tree growing sayings is: “Growing trees is not rocket science, it’s much harder.”
Hans & Nathaniel Stoffelsma
Founding Family Members
-
Nathaniel Stoffelsma was four years old on Halloween 1979, when his family moved into a camper on the raw land that would become Arbutus Grove Nursery. He grew up around the greenhouses and earned his first paycheque there the summer after Grade 9.
His parents were careful never to make the nursery feel like his destiny, and his path first led elsewhere: a Chemical Engineering degree from UBC, a place on Canada’s National Sailing Team, and a coaching career that took him to the US Merchant Marine Academy in New York.Coaching shaped how he would later lead. He learned that everyone learns differently, and that when an athlete succeeds, the credit is theirs, and when they struggle, the coach shares the load. He brought that same principle to AGN when he returned in 2002. He started by working through each part of the operation, asking questions to understand why things were done before trying to improve them. He learned quickly that growing seedlings is as much art as science.
As AGN grew, Nathaniel built “Team AGN” around trust: hire people who take ownership, give them room to run, and let initiative open the door to the next opportunity.
Sean Webb, who started in the cold storage warehouse the same year Nathaniel arrived, is now AGN’s General Manager.
More recently, after more than 20 years leading the business, Nathaniel stepped into an advisor role, making room for the team he helped build. He still visits clients, and takes pride in knowing that some trees AGN grew early in his career are now nearing harvest.
Outside the nursery, he enjoys time with his family and volunteers as a coach and board member with his local youth soccer club.
“My parents planted this business and trusted me to grow it. Now I get to watch our team do the same. That’s renewal, in the forest and in the people who care for it.”
— Nathaniel Stoffelsma
Meet the Team
Along with Sean, Kelsey and Steven, Arbutus Grove has a small year round team that has provided reliable and skilled support to the nursery, some for more than ten years.
Many of you know Paul in the warehouse, Angela in the office, Roderick in operations and Regan as the senior grower. They are backed up by 3 growing technicians, a maintenance supervisor and a cold storage coordinator. All of us are further supported by even more experience from past “retired” growers and owners.
Finally, our seasonal team is what makes all the magic happen through our busiest seasons! We are grateful for their dedication and appreciate all of those who return year after year to get the cuttings stuck, the seeds sown and the trees into the boxes.
We take serious pride in our robust team of kind and hard-working service experts!
Join the team
Join the team
Annually, we hire for 3 key seasonal sessions per year:
Lifting - September through January
Cuttings - January/February
Thinning -March through June
Our openings are posted on Indeed and Job Bank during our hiring period.
Generally, there is no experience necessary – we will give you all of the on-site safety and job training needed (yes, it is a lot!). We offer flexible shifts during some seasons as well as modified piece rate for cuttings and thinning. You get the opportunity to work independently and as part of a team and there is always more to learn if you are interested.
Plus, you can get through a lot of albums, podcasts or audiobooks (as long as you can hear your supervisor out of one ear!)
If you have questions, reach out any time to employment@arbutusgrove.com.
“We’re just farmers.”
- Sean Webb, Arbutus Grove Nursery Manager
