Josh Richardson is a Project Salesperson and Estimator and works out of our main office in Princeton.  Josh has been an employee since 1998.  Josh received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology with a Botany emphasis from St. Cloud State University in 1998.

Josh has been involved with project sales and design, as well as commercial project estimating with Prairie Restorations Inc. for about 10 years. Prior to that, he was a Restorationist for the PRI Services department. Josh has a passion for native plants that he enjoys sharing with customers, and he enjoys fielding technical questions and helping them make the right decisions for their restoration projects. He has a history of involvement with shoreline and wetland restoration projects and often collaborates with wetland professionals to establish high quality mitigation and banking projects. Being involved with project sales requires insight into all aspects of PRI, including our products, services and support, and Josh finds satisfaction in helping bring these elements together to help create a great experience for our customers.  

When not at work, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife, Jennifer Kalpin at their home in St. Cloud and strolling along the Mississippi River with their golden retriever, Iris. He also enjoys spending time with numerous nieces and nephews. He loves cooking and vegetable gardening and is currently "Sowing it Back Together" by establishing a native woodland garden in his front yard. Josh also has a passion for music performance, and much of his vacation time from PRI is spent touring with his band, Flavor Crystals and several other musical projects.
 

We'd like to introduce to you Plantables, a small business with lofty ambitions.  They're located in Hudson, WI where they strive to create a work environment that accommodates workers of all ability levels.  Special needs adaptive equipment and assistive communication devices are used to involve all workers regardless of ability.  What do they make, you ask?  They make a variety of products designed to benefit bees and other pollinators.  Our favorite is the "Bee Bombs" which are seed bombs made of clay, compost, and native wildflower seed - some of which use our PRI Conservation Wildflower Mix.

Plantables owners Jim Schreiber, a former special education teacher, and his wife Karen Klyczek, Professor of Biology, UW-River Falls, started the company in 2013 in response to the needs of their special community and the environment. In particular, they were concerned with the lack of fulfilling employment opportunities for people with special needs, as well as the dramatic decline of pollinators.  This includes the honeybee, which is used as their logo.  With their combined talents, education and experience, Jim and Karen are accomplishing wonderful things with their company.

We encourage you to check out their website, purchase their products and perhaps get involved.  Have a special event coming up??  They do special orders, you provide the seed (native we hope) and they'll make the bombs!