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Progress continues for tomato greenhouse facility in Rochelle

Progress continues to be made on a commercial greenhouse on the west side of Rochellle which eventually will have tomatoes growing 12 months out of the year.

Mightyvine is building a 7.5 acre facility located just north of Route 38. The greenhouse, also known as "Project Red", will have between 20 to 25 employees once they begin operations.

Construction of the building has been delayed over the past few weeks due to the rain and flooding in the area. The first crop of 2 varieties of tomatoes is scheduled to be planted on August 1st with harvesting to begin the 1st part of October at the hydroponic farm.

The ripe tomatoes from 20 foot vines will be picked and sent to Chicago restaurants and retailers the same day. The growing process will continue over a 12 month period in Rochelle.

During a presentation to city officials last March, Gary Lazarski, CEO of the project for Mightyvine, said that the number of workers could increase to 80 at the greenhouse if they expand to 30 acres in the future.

The city brought fiber out to the area so that the greenhouse facility could be monitored by workers in the Netherlands. The head grower is Dutch and will be living in a house to be built near the facility.

Local farmer Rick Kennay sold the land to Mightyvine for the project. The facility will capture rain and melting snow off it's roof and use it to water the tomatoes. They will even have bee hives inside the greenhouse to naturally cross pollinate the plants.

The project was backed by 11 million dollars from more than a dozen individual investors.

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