Innovative Growers Equipment Buys Midwest GROmaster’s Bench Business

Chris Beytes

Midwest GROmaster, a long-time manufacturer and supplier of ebb-and-flow benching systems and irrigation equipment to the horticulture industry, has decided to get out of the bench portion of the business to better support its sister companies, Midwest Trading and Midwest Groundcovers.

To do that, they’ve sold their ebb-and-flow benches inventory and customer information to a new firm, Innovative Growers Equipment of Sycamore, Illinois.

Bruce Zierk, a long-time Midwest GROmaster employee and two-time contributor to the Ball RedBook chapter on ebb-and-flow benches, explained that a few years ago, he and a Midwest GROmaster colleague Chris Mayer noted a rapidly increasing demand for benches, including for the medical cannabis industry, then in its infancy.

“We felt there was room in the industry for another quality growing bench manufacturer,” Bruce said, so they decided to start one that would focus on that new industry (along with traditional greenhouse and nursery operations). Their firm not only makes and installs benches, but also distributes injectors, LED lights and other greenhouse equipment. They started in 2016 and today have 62,000 sq. ft. of production space and about 40 employees on the payroll. GT