Will Raap Biography

Will Raap is founder and chairman of the Gardener's Supply (GS) family of companies. Founded in 1983 in Burlington, Vermont, GS employs more than 250 people and is one of the largest online and catalog gardening companies in the country. Under Raap’s leadership, the employee-owned company has won several national & regional awards for its’ innovative gardening products & services, as well as for it’s socially responsible business practices.

Currently, Will’s passion and energy is focused on two new environmental restoration initiatives; The Earth Partners/Earth Carbon Offsets ™ (http://www.theearthpartners.com/) and Carbon Harvest Energy.

The Earth Partners (TEP) was formed to advance the best forest, wetland, grassland and rangeland Ecosystem Restoration projects in the world. TEP works with degraded and vulnerable ecosystems to develop and implement science-based, investment-optimizing restoration projects funded by multiple revenue sources including carbon and other payments for ecosystem services. Earth Carbon Offsets^TM (ECOs) helps fund these projects by supporting the certification and packaging of the highest quality carbon offsets generated by TEP’s efforts. Then, ECOs are made available for sale to the voluntary carbon market.

Carbon Harvest Energy builds landfill gas-to-energy projects on sites that are below economic viability and makes them profitable by capturing the full value of the gas and land to create renewable distributed energy, run greenhouses and aquaculture from the waste heat, and filter and capture all remaining gas and waste to produce algae for feed and biodiesel.



Will is the founder and past Chairman of the Board for the Intervale Center ( www.intervale.org ). The mission of the Intervale Center is to develop farm-and land-based enterprises that generate economic and social opportunity while protecting natural resources. The Intervale family of businesses includes Intervale Compost Products, Intervale Conservation Nursery, Intervale Agricultural Development Consulting Services, and Intervale Food Enterprise Center, plus 13 private farms in the developed in the Center’s farm incubator program.

Will’s commitment to build linked enterprises guided by social missions has extended to Costa Rica where is founder of Greening Paraiso (www.greeningparaiso.org), a watershed restoration initiative, founding partner in El Centro Verde (www.elcentroverde.org), a sustainable agriculture and agroforestry education and demonstration center, founding partner of Finca Lagunita, the first organic CSA membership farm in Central America, and partner in two conservation developments, Tierra Pacifica (http://www.tierrapacifica.com/) and Pueblo Verde (www.puebloverde.org). Will also is working his son Dylan to develop the Reforest Teak (http://www.reforestteak.com/) reforestation project and furniture brand in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Will serves on or has served on a range of non-profit and corporate boards including Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont Business Roundtable, Vermont Land Trust, Champlain Valley Greenbelt Alliance, Intervale Center, Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, University of Vermont School of Environment and Natural Resources, Champlain College, and Seventh Generation.

Will received a B.A. in Economics from UC Davis, a Masters degree in Business and Urban Planning from UC Berkley.