C Raker & Sons, Inc. specializes in the production of high quality plugs and liners, through seed and vegetative propagation. Production is to order, with plugs and liners grown and shipped year round. Teamwork and modern technology is important to Raker Power Plug® and liner production. We strive to create an ideal production environment, with double layer acrylic greenhouses, rolling benches, computerized environmental controls, bar-code tracking technology, production automation, and custom software for order entry and production management. The company has also invested in robotic systems for tray patching, helping us to achieve the guaranteed number of usable plants per tray.
The company’s roots go back to three generations of fresh market vegetable producers in the Detroit area. In the winter of 1978, brothers Dave and Gerry, along with their nephew, Tim (present owners of the family-held corporation), relocated to Litchfield and built their first greenhouse. Greenhouses have been added steadily, and now enclose over 440,000 square feet.
Currently, our annual production is 180 million plugs and liners, distributed nationally. Approximately 65% of our business is ornamental annual plugs, and 35% is perennial plugs. Raker plugs have been shipped to all 50 states and internationally to Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and the Bahamas.
Raker places a high value on employee accountability and participation in decision-making. Polishing team leadership skills, maintaining team efficiency, and staying aware of changing production technology are demanding and time-consuming tasks. Our approach is to share this responsibility among employees at all levels. As part of this process, there are regular meetings for Raker Teams to discuss work needs, scheduling, problems, ideas, opportunities, and concerns. We also have a full time employee dedicated to teambuilding, coaching, and mentoring of employees.
We employ 81 full time employees year-round, plus 25-35 high school students and up to 110-120 additional people as the season demands. We also regularly host interns from the USA and many other countries.