A ground breaking ceremony took take place yesterday in Rochelle for the 2nd hydroponic farm in the Hub City.
Brightfarms Chicagoland Greenhouse will construct a 160,000 square foot building in the 16,000 block of Steward Road near the ethanol plant as they plan to grow both lettuce and tomatoes. The capital investment will be 10 million dollars.
The local produce will be grown year round for Mariano Foods. This was known as "Project Green" involving city officials.
Brightfarms CEO Paul Lightfoot said they chose Rochelle due to the city's location near the 2 major highways. They can get their product to their stores the same day the produce is harvested.
He said the greenhouse will grow both lettuce and tomatoes at 1st, but they hope to have other produce in the future. They also plan to use the waste heat from the ethanol plant for the facility.
Gredco Director Jason Anderson said he was not surprised Rochelle has 2 greenhouses due to the distribution aspects of the city. He is also talking with a 3rd company about the facility for the Hub City.
Brightfarms plans to have 23 employees with yearly salaries between 30,000 to 120,000 dollars.
The other greenhouse is located west of Rochelle along Route 38 as Mightyvine plans to grow tomatoes.
The 2 varieties of tomatoes were planted this month with harvesting to begin the 1st part of October.
Lightfoot said they hope to grow other produce in the future at the Rochelle greenhouse.
This is the 1st greenhouse for Brightfarms in Illinois. They also have a facility in Virginia and Pennsylvania.