Hall Of Fame Inductees

 

The individuals nominated should have made a significant impact or positive influence that assures the future of our industry in the lives of generations to come.

 

Once nominated, an individual’s biography and photo are updated on the site, and he or she is placed in the polls for voting. At the end of the year the committee takes into consideration the votes and decides which candidates are inducted.

 

Those with a star (*) next to their name below were either inducted posthumously or have passed away since being inducted.

 

Nomination Qualifications

  • Person with integrity and passion
  • Minimum 20 years in industry
  • Someone who has developed  or invented  new technology
  • Has made contributions that resulted in change
  • Contributed to mankind’s needs in his field
  • Provided education and encouragement  with self-sacrifice
  • Changed the industry

Sue York

Chairman, Ewing Irrigation Products

Celebrating more than 50 years of service in the Green Industry, Sue York has maintained a strong industry presence while guiding and growing the Ewing Irrigation Products brand as the nation’s largest family owned and operated distributor of landscape and water management products.

Sue served as Ewing Irrigation Products’ Chairman for 40 years, with responsibilities varying from human resources and finance to information technology and executive leadership.  Her intense focus and commitment to keeping Ewing on the cutting edge of computer systems technology helped thrust Ewing into an evolutionary phase of growth and progress as a full-line irrigation supply distributor.

She was instrumental in Ewing’s employment of computer systems and software to automate processes in the late 1960s. The company installed its first IBM system in 1972, and later became an IBM beta test site as a multi-branch organization in 1977.  Sue and others developed homegrown software programs that ran on the IBM platform and supported Ewing’s various locations, creating the ability to manage inventory in five states, forecast and plan purchasing more effectively, and start expanding the business at a time when most of Ewing’s competitors were operating manually.

By 1989, Sue helped evolve Ewing’s technology systems to support automated inventory analysis for 23 locations, setting the stage for continued expansion, growing to more than 100 locations by 2000.  Sue helped establish Ewing’s web presence in 1996, expanding the company’s online services business in 2006 to provide business tools for contractors to review inventory, place orders, pay bills and more.

With Sue’s diligence and commitment to advancing the business, Ewing grew from two locations in 1963 to more than 115 locations in 2002, when sons Douglas W. York and Richard A. York were appointed as President and Executive Vice President, respectively, establishing a third generation of Ewing/York family leadership.

Staying on the leading edge of technology, Ewing is the only one in its industry to use wireless RF scanning devices in its warehouses, and the first to use an advanced warehouse management solution with Manhattan Replenishment, capable of handling tens of thousands of SKU’s, hundreds of vendors, nine buyers and seven distribution centers serving nearly 200 branch locations in 21 states.

Sue is a Stanford University alumna (Class of ’60), and is an ardent supporter of many academic and community organizations, including the Keogh Health Connection, an organization focused on providing health care resources for women and children.  Sue believes in being active in industry associations, and served as president of the Irrigation Association (IA) in 1998. She also served on the Irrigation Association Education Foundation (now Irrigation Foundation) for several years.

Sue was named to the California Landscape Contractor Association’s (CLCA) distinguished list of Honorary Members in 2007 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the landscape industry.  In 2012, she received the IA’s Industry Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the advancement of the irrigation industry.  Sue remains active in certain aspects of Ewing operations, and helps oversee Landscape Products, a private-label manufacturer of professional grade landscape and irrigation products.

She is proud of her achievements as a pioneering woman in the landscape and irrigation industry, and is inspired by the many women working diligently to advance the Green Industry – many of whom have become close personal friends.