Aaron Allison, Founder of SBI Software

SBI was founded on Aaron’s joint vision with business partner, Tim Morita, of developing fully-integrated software for seed-to-sale growers.  Aaron’s unique vision of SBI Software is to develop adaptable software that keeps your process simple and your company efficient.

Simple software equates to more profit. Hidden expenses come in all forms. Most hidden expenses are disguised as complex requirements but are often completely unnecessary. Taking the role of business analyst at SBI, Aaron immerses himself in the business and grower process. He quickly understands any business process flow of any type or scale. Aaron has worked in the grower business process since 1984 and in the tech industry since 1983.  

Aaron focuses on studying and understanding the grower business process from beginning to end. He understands the bottlenecks in your business process and works to streamline them. Most technical gurus lack an understanding of the grower process, and their sense of urgency is misplaced. They tend to overcomplicate the process, which only creates additional work for growers and more data for them to sift through. It’s not productive and only reduces business profits and creates bottlenecks in the company.  

Ken Van Wingerden from Color Point taught Aaron early on a term that we strive to live by each day at SBI: Is the juice worth the squeeze? When we implement new features or develop new tools for our clients we always ask ourselves that question. Every implementation we make at SBI has to serve a purpose. Is this change going to save our clients time, money, labor, costs? If not, then we start again. Aaron primary goal is to help clients sell and ship more product in less time, spending less money.

It was clear that Aaron exhibited an entrepreneurial mindset at a very young age. At age 13, he shadowed his uncle, who was a tech broker. The two sold HP and WANG business software and hardware to Russia and the Baltic States.

Aaron received his formal education from the New Jersey Institute of Technology majoring in Mechanical Engineering. While still attending college he began brokering nursery stock from Southern New Jersey to New York City. He soon started his own growing operation and continued to broker plants. At its peak, Aaron’s growing operation was growing 20,000 pieces a year. He sold his nursery in 1998 and relocated to Oregon.

It was in Oregon while working for Doane and Slice that Aaron decided to provide the growing industry with more adaptable software. He knew that in order to develop the most functional software and quality support to the industry, he had to work directly with customers. He had to look at the business from their perspective. Doing so, he witnessed a serious lack of understanding of the grower business process. Reports were being created that were never used. Growers were using accounting-based, “bean-counter” software that simply couldn’t keep up with the demands of the grower industry. SBI was founded on the principle that understanding the business process is the key to our clients’ success.

Aaron enjoys spending time with his family and they often spend time at the Sauvie Island houseboat, wakeboarding, paddle boarding, and swimming.

Aaron’s Timeline