DURHAM, N.H. - The Huntington family will share its remarkable story of how hard work, dedica­tion, and family unity turned a small New Hampshire nursery into thriving multi-million dollar business at a joint meeting of the CEO Forum and Center for Family Business at the University of New Hampshire Thursday, May 5, 2011.

The program begins at 9 a.m. at Huddleston Hall in Durham. Coffee and networking begins at 8 a.m. and a full buffet breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m.

In 1976, Jonathan and Eleanor Huntington and sons Jeff and Henry moved from Connecticut to Loudon to purchase Pleasant View Gardens. At that time, the facility consisted of just three greenhouses and 10 employees. The customer base focused on local florists and was 100 percent walk-in trade. Today, Pleasant View has two NH facilities with 13 acres of greenhouses and 15 acres of outdoor growing space, and sells 38 million plants a year.

Hear from CEO Henry Huntington how his father and mother's original intent of making this a family business that would be carried through by multiple generations is coming to fruition. He will discuss the value of branding and the innovative business practices and strategies that have contributed to company's success. He also will share how the company created a strong brand for a farm commodity item that is known and trusted by every link in their marketing chain.

Henry Huntington graduated from UNH Thompson School and is co-chair of the New Hampshire Ornamental Horticulture Endowment, member of the Leadership Advisory Board for the UNH College of Life Sciences, past president of Bedding Plants International, and a member of the Loudon Planning Board.

To register or become a member of the UNH CEO Forum or Center for Family Business, call Barbara Draper at 603-862-1107, or e-mail her at barbara.draper@unh.edu.

Initiated in 1997, the UNH CEO Forum is an outreach program of the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics and the UNH Graduate School serving CEOs, presidents, and senior managers of companies in northern New England. The forum provides its members with opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with their peers in business and industry in an informal setting. The UNH CEO Forum is sponsored by the law firm of Pierce Atwood, People's United Bank, Sprague Energy, Crystalvision, and Berry, Dunn, McNeil and Parker. For more information about the CEO Forum, visit http://www.unh-ceoforum.org/.

The Center for Family Business, under the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics and the UNH Graduate School, is sponsored by Mass Mutual Financial Group; Moitoza Consulting; Baker Newman & Noyes; Pierce Atwood; Management Planning, Inc.; and Optima Bank and Trust. It is a membership program to provide owners and managers of entrepreneurial businesses with an opportunity to exchange ideas and information and to discuss business challenges, concerns, and solutions. For more information, visit http://www.familybusiness.unh.edu/.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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