Yoder Brothers Inc. Contact: Christine Kelleher 115 Third St. SE Barberton, OH 44203 USA Tel: (330)745-2143 Fax: (330)753-5294 kellehc@yoder.com

From modest beginnings - as a partnership of two, hardworking Mennonite brothers, Menno and Ira Yoder - Yoder Brothers Inc. has grown to be a world leader in flowering research and breeding. Today, more than 80 years after its founding, G. Ramsey Yoder, Menno's grandson, heads a company of 1,200 employees.

William G. Rasbach, president and chief executive officer, is in charge of day-to-day operations and shares with Yoder the responsibility of leading the company into the 21st century. Several developments give a good indication of what the future of Yoder Brothers will hold.

First there was the formation of a new company, Blooms of Bressingham North America, to introduce exclusive Blooms perennials from England to North America. Next came the acquisition of Green Leaf, one of the North America's leading perennial growers. Now Yoder is participating in The Flower Fields® program through a marketing alliance with the Paul Ecke Ranch. The Flower Fields product line includes about 700 cultivars which covers most of the products grown and marketed as spring garden plants. These venues put Yoder in an excellent position to capitalize on the increasing popularity of gardening, which has become North America's No. 1 recreational past time.

As Yoder breaks new ground with perennials, the company continues to expand its support of the horticultural industry with new varieties and starter plants of many types. While chrysanthemums remain Yoder's largest crop, the company has added the development and production of azaleas, hibiscus, poinsettias, impatiens, pot roses, dahlias, asters, annuals, gloxinias, exacum, lisianthus and pentas.