Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Brice.
Hi Colin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born just outside of Dallas, TX in 1995. I moved around alot throughout the south as a kid. We eventually landed in middle TN just south of Nashville, where I mostly grew up in Franklin/Spring Hill. from 2005-2013. As a kid, I spent most of my free time playing the guitar, helping in the garden, and getting into trouble as some young boys do. I always bonded with my family members over music, and that has been a deep passion that has only grown.
Eventually, I left middle TN to attend school at UT in Knoxville in 2013. I became enamored with biology, especially that of plants, and I eventually completed my bachelors in plant sciences focusing on horticultural crop production. At this time, I started a successful business growing and selling microgreens to Knoxville area restaurants which I owned and operated for 3 years while finishing graduate school. I worked for several years through college as a part time research assistant, where I studied the effects of different grow lights on the nutritional contents of leafy green and vegetable crops. I took this crop production model to heart, and eventually deployed some microgreen production systems at the Barbara Ford Center for Peace in Guatemala, where I interned for a summer. This was the first true discovery of my passion for human health related outcomes via the way we cultivate the foods we eat. Realizing the amount of impact a simple crop could have on the dietary nutrition of consumers and still generate a profit for a farm was eye opening.
I came back to the US and in 2020 completed my master’s degree in biosystems engineering technology, as I wanted to learn more about industry and large scale production principle and equipment to be better equipped to accomplish my long term goals. so I joined the team at Philips Lighting specializing in lighting applications over large-scale crop production facilities (greenhouses and indoor farms). Since, I have worked with North America’s largest controlled environment crop production companies, ranging from providing consultation services on behalf of Philips, to a more recent transition into account management for the southeast US. Through this work, I have been able to continue leveraging my knowledge and passion to help improve outcomes for our largest greenhouse and indoor food production companies, but there is always a striving to do more and learn more. I moved to Nashville in 2023 to be closer to family and to immerse myself in a more competitive and developmentally-minded culture. I currently live in Germantown with my two dogs, Leroy and Sasha, a Great Pyrenees and Australian Shepherd.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has absolutely been a roller coaster. There were some severe challenges along the way. Losing my father to liver cancer in 2020 was probably the single most challenging situation I’ve ever faced. Every man faces a litany of challenges in his own personal development, but having the opportunity to bring those challenges and seek advice from my dad was something that always kept me grounded and enhanced my perserverence through it all. My mom also had a tough fight with cancer in 2019, which was part of what prompted my return to middle TN. We were blessed in that she successfully fought it and is in remission. Without strong faith in God, family support, and wonderful friends that have always been there through it all, I have no idea where I would be today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My background is in Plant Sciences (bachelors) and Agricultural Engineering Technology (Master’s), so I bring a comphresive training set to the horticultural projects I work with. I have worked in the horticultural industry for 10 years.
Nine to five, I work as a full-time employee of Signify (formerly Philips Lighting). I have worked in the Holritucltural LED Solutions team for 5 years, bringing best in class lighting products to industrial scale greenhouse growers. I started as a Horticultural Scientist in the Application Specialist team, offering knowledge and application based services to the largest greenhosue growers in North America. I have since transitioned into account management, faciitating the project design and fulfillment process for the Southeast region of the USA. It is my personal mission to help accelerate and improve efficiency and production outcomes for greenhouse growers in the South.
My personal business is rooted in sharing a deep understanding of commercial horticulture business standards, operational models, and practices. I have offered consultation services, partnered with local growers, and have specialized into many areas of horticultural business operations over the last 8 years. I started my business in 2017 and focused initially on growing wholesale microgreens for local restaurants, so started by cutting my teeth as a grower/owner/operator. Since beginning my work in the broader horticultural industry on behalf of Philips Lighting, I now bring a comprehensive set of skills to greenhouse and indoor farm operators, including equipment and system design, business performance analytics, maximizing efficiencies in terms of labor and overhead expenses, as well as crop handling and production techniques across a wide range of crops. I am unique in that I’ve seen all the ins and outs of production models at the highest scale and capital investment that exist in North America and Europe, and have married that experience with my strong technical background and deep relationship network in the horticultural industry to bring maximum value to those that want to work together. My primary focus is to help growers grow more, grow better, and grow smarter, as it always has been.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see a mass transition in lighting technologies moving from inefficient high-pressure sodium (incandescent) to highly efficient and customizable LED lighting solutions. Many utility rebate and governmental grant funding sources are cropping up and helping to incentivize the switch. I also see a trend that more greenhouse producers are testing higher flavor and quality varieties to bring to local grocery stores. So, think of your high-quality clamshell-packed tomatoes, strawberries, and pre-packaged salad mixes. The bar for quality on these things is only going up. Interestingly, the plant breeders are bringing to this space are a huge part of this, coupled with the local production centers.
I also think we will see a significant growth in greenhouse production in the US in coming years. There are some massive operations taking hold in the states, and historically a majority of greenhouse production in North America has been focused within Canada and Mexico. A lot of factors go into this, especially labor availability, but I predict we will see a continued expansion of operations in the USA as far as size and numbers. People want quality and people want local. Farmers are making that happen and we’re really only seeing the beginning of innovations within that sphere in North America.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colingbrice/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgb/
