Petal Pusher.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.
• Position: Chet Thompson of Pressed Petals - Brief Article

"When my children are asked what their father does for a living, they squirm a little when they say, 'He presses flowers.'"

But for Chet Thompson, pressing flowers has led to an expanding company and an enviable lifestyle. His family-operated Pressed Petals, which markets dried flowers as bookmarks, magnets and stickers, is a New Economy success story for Utah.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Richfield, the venture is a non-extraction-based industry and a swing away from the region's cornerstones of forestry, mining and agriculture. It has provided Thompson and his wife, Lenita, who is also his corporate partner, with a lifestyle containing a nice balance of bucolic, hometown peace and fast-lane travel and planning.

Thompson lauds his two-minute commute to work, the rich supply of dedicated employees available locally, and less business restrictions than he would experience with a more urban operation. Challenges? The three-hour drive to the nearest large airport and limited resources available during product development.

"Fear and uncertainty are major motivators in my life," the 41-year-old Thompson admits. "We have been at this for over 10 years now, but I still do not feel any sense of security.

"Two things are very evident to me in our business," he says. "One, there are tremendous opportunities, and potential markets are vast. Two, there is an ever-new and regenerating group of talented, motivated and hard-working individuals and companies competing for the same dollars I am."

Introduced to the appeal nf dried blossoms by his mother during childhood walks in the mountains, Thompson says that, decades later, the entrepreneurial concept still smells as sweet to him as it ever did. He's energized by the wealth of potential for the company's product and by the independence it has provided him and his family.

Pressed Petals hit the...