Leamington, ON – Under clear & sunny skies Friday, April 10th, Nature Fresh™ Farms along with key state & local officials broke ground on Phase I of the company’s new 180-acre Delta, OH greenhouse facility.
“We are extremely delighted to be here today to put the first shovels in the ground for Phase I of our Delta Greenhouse Project,” said Peter Quiring, President & CEO. Surrounded by more than 150 people from the local community along with local, state, and congressional representatives, Quiring went on to explain how the project would evolve starting with Phase I of 15 acres to a total of twelve, 15-acre phases over the next 7 years.
“This project is about cooperation and partnership”, said Ohio Lt. Governor Mary Taylor who took part in the event. Taylor also noted that the project was going to create more than 300 jobs for Ohio, which received a round of applause from the crowd.
With the project structured to be built in 12 phases over 7 years, the Delta greenhouse will be a state of the art facility with a high degree of automation. The facility will also be using special High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights to grow throughout the winter months. Long term plans for the project call for a partnership with neighbour North Star BlueScope Steel to use their waste heat and CO2 to help heat the greenhouse & reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
“Nature Fresh™ will provide good paying jobs and will attract more people to our community”, said Dan Miller, Mayor of Delta. Earlier in the week, more than a dozen local businesses in Delta had their storefront windows painted & decorated by the Delta High School Art Club welcoming Nature Fresh™ to the community.
“Seeing this type of community support with personal messages on storefront windows welcoming us to their town is extremely humbling,” said Quiring.
Positioned as a backdrop to the ground-breaking area were massive earthmovers, bulldozers and excavators from Carpenter Construction who are expected to start levelling the project area this week. “We are looking forward to kicking off this project, this is going to be a great project,” commented Adam Carpenter, President.
Nature Fresh™ expects to pick their first crop of tomatoes in late December 2015 and will provide fresh locally grown Ohio tomatoes to Midwest grocery stores year-round.
To learn more about the project, visit www.naturefresh.ca/OhioFresh
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