Officials at BrightFarms Chicagoland Greenhouse held a ceremony yesterday as they celebrated their first harvest in Rochelle.
Construction began last summer for the second hydroponic farm in the Hub City. The 160,000 square foot building is located off Caron Road near the ethanol plant on the south side of Rochelle.
The company plans to grow over a million pounds of salad greens, herbs, and tomatoes as their capital investment will be 10 million dollars.
The local produce will be grown year round for Mariano's Fresh Market. The parent company of Roundy's was recently purchased by Kroger.
The greens, herbs, and tomatoes will also go to Roundy's Pick 'n Save and Metro Markets stores in Wisconsin.
BrightFarms will have 30 employees with yearly salaries between 30,000 to 120,000 dollars.
Chief BrightFarmer CEO Paul Lightfoot said that they have purchased land to double their current capacity which would include the growing of strawberries.
BrightFarms also has greenhouse facilities near Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.
