Little Leaf Farms’ planned expansion in Yancey County is scheduled to break ground in November 2022. The $91 million investment formally announced by the company last summer with state and local incentives extended to locate the company’s 20-acre, state-of-the-art automated greenhouse facility in the Micaville community of Yancey County is slated to begin construction in the fourth quarter of this year upon conclusion of a months-long planning and permitting process. The Yancey site in Micaville is part of the company’s planned 100-acre expansion spreading its company’s agricultural production footprint across Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
“Through months of work with our partners at Little Leaf Farms and our engineers and consultants since formally signing our incentive contract with the company last summer, we are pleased to be nearing a ground-breaking on this project” said Yancey County Economic Development Commission Executive Director Jamie McMahan.
“In the intervening months since this deal was announced while Little Leaf Farms has been working to complete construction bringing its new McAdoo, Pennsylvania facility online this summer, my office along with County Manager Lynn Austin, County Finance Officer Brandi Burleson, and the Board of County Commissioners have been working simultaneously, with the regulatory agencies, our project partners and grant funders, and our engineers and consultants to complete permitting on this project. We have also coordinated with the Burnsville Town Manager and Town Council to complete designing and permitting of the waterline extension and with French Broad Electric Membership Corporation to plan for construction of a new substation to serve the project. We appreciate all our project partners who have been working behind the scenes over the past several months to move this project along” said Yancey EDC Director McMahan.
The Yancey facility will be constructed in Micaville community on a 97-acre parcel acquired by Yancey County which adjoins the property on which the 150,000 square-foot automated packaging and distribution facility newly commissioned in Micaville by The Quartz Corporation earlier this year is located (a renovated industrial campus formerly the Hickory Springs Manufacturing facility).
“The construction associated with the $91 million investment Little Leaf Farms is making in its Yancey County site is no small undertaking. This is easily the largest industrial construction project by size of facility to be undertaken in Yancey County. In addition to a campus that will include twenty acres of greenhouses under roof, along with packaging, distribution, and administration facilities, this project also includes a two-mile public waterline extension to the project funded by The Golden LEAF Foundation, the United States Economic Development Administration, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the construction of a new substation to serve the Micaville industrial site. Given the size of this project, to conclude the due diligence work to put grant funds in place, and to secure the permits necessary to begin preparation and construction at the site, to construct the waterline extension, and to plan for and begin construction of a new substation has taken many months to complete with many state and federal agencies being involved, specifically the overarching permitting process required by the Army Corps of Engineers to allow construction to begin” added McMahan.
“We are pleased to be able to provide this update on the project to Yancey County citizens and look forward to a further announcement of a formal groundbreaking in coordination with the company and our project partners when appropriate as the final permits are expected to be concluded in October, allowing work to begin on-site in November based on our current timeline.”
Supporting its expansions in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, Little Leaf Farms, the county’s #1 brand of packed lettuce sustainably grown through controlled environment agriculture (CEA), has raised $300 million in new capital, with equity financing led by The Rise Fund, private equity firm TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and debt funding from Bank of America. The capital will support aggressive growth and expansion of farms and distribution, making Little Leaf Farms’ local lettuces accessible to more than half of the country’s population by 2026. Immediate expansion and doubling of the company’s acreage in production came with the opening of the company’s new facility in McAdoo, Pennsylvania this summer, with construction of the North Carolina facility slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, pending completion of permitting.
The Rise Fund, founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono of U2 and Jeff Skoll, brings an unrivaled ability to help businesses grow and achieve long-term success. With its focus on investing in mission-driven companies with measurable social and environmental impact, The Rise Fund’s investment in Little Leaf Farms underscores the increased consumer interest and demand for sustainably grown produce and supports Little Leaf Farms’ mission of fresh, leafy greens for all.
“This funding from our partners at The Rise Funds and Bank of America marks a pivotal moment in Little Leaf Farms’ growth story,” said Paul Sellew, Founder and CEO of Little Leaf Farms. “We’ve seen, especially in recent years, how important locally grown food is to communities, and we’re proud to bring customers the freshest leafy greens that are harvested with 90% less water than conventional lettuces and shipped in less than 24 hours. With this funding, we’re transforming the way millions of Americans eat and enjoy leafy greens, no longer relying on choices that have traveled thousands of miles across the country to reach them.”
