Greenhouse cultivates color, community, and connection
Step inside Dakota Greens in the spring for pops of color and earthy scents amidst a hum of activity as the greenhouse prepares for its busy season. It feels like a warm, welcoming gathering place, and that’s exactly how owners Jeff and Robin Prior like it.
“People don’t come here because they have to,” Jeff says. “They come here because they want to. They come here to be happy.”
For more than two decades, the Priors have been growing plants, a family, and relationships just east of Custer. They’ve turned what two decades ago was a small vegetable stand into a long-standing business that enhances the beauty of the area.
From Michigan to the Black Hills
Jeff grew up in Michigan with gardening as part of his daily life thanks to his mother and grandmother. Robin was born in Spearfish, but her father’s job as a firefighter took the family to Michigan. The two became high school sweethearts, married in 2000, and soon joined Robin’s family in purchasing the property that would become Dakota Greens.
While Jeff completed the last of his 22 years in the U.S. Army, Robin moved to Custer with their two young children to be close to her family. Jeff retired from military service and joined his family in 2006.
Greenhouse growth
With degrees in horticulture and science and a passion for ornamental plants, Jeff saw potential in the small greenhouse already on the property. The Priors expanded steadily, building additional greenhouses in 2009, 2011, 2018, and then added The Shed, a store selling a unique selection of pottery, accessories, and gardening essentials.
Dakota Greens offers more than 120 varieties of perennials along with premium annuals and sells about 3,000 hanging baskets each season. They select everything with the Black Hills weather swings and short growing season in mind, incorporating their personal touch.
“What you see here is us,” Jeff says. “The colors, the combinations, and the plants we choose are all a reflection of what we love.”
Their art is also visible in the flowerpots and baskets adorning downtown Custer, which Dakota Greens creates, maintains, and waters throughout the summer. In addition, they help bring outdoor spaces to life by planting trees, landscaping, and coordinating regional commercial projects.
It’s a family affair
Jeff and Robin’s son, Gunner, works alongside them every day, and their daughter, Dakota, returns from Alaska to help during the busiest months. Their three-year-old granddaughter is already a familiar face and appears poised to grow up among the flowers.
Still, the family can’t do it alone. Over the years, the Priors estimate they have hired more than 150 seasonal employees, many of them students and young adults from the area.
“We’ve always seen this as a place to teach life skills,” Jeff says. “Showing up, working hard, treating people well – that matters.”
Connected with BizWorks
Dakota Greens relies on Golden West’s fast internet service, including the BizWorks Internet Suite, to keep the business running smoothly. BizWorks provides dependable Wi-Fi across the operation’s many buildings. Among other things, it also creates a point-of-sale network separate from guest and staff use to keep information more secure.
Golden West’s fiber-optic service allows their daughter to join weekly business meetings via Zoom from thousands of miles away. As a family-owned greenhouse, Jeff and Robin appreciate Golden West as a cooperative that prioritizes its members and the communities it serves.
“When you call Golden West, you’re talking to someone local,” Jeff says. “They know us, they know our setup, and they’re there when we need them.”
Reaping a good life
After more than 25 years in the greenhouse business, Jeff acknowledges they haven’t gotten rich – at least not monetarily.
“We’ve been able to raise our kids, work side by side as a family, and be part of this community every day. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
