US: Paul Hardej joins Indoor Harvest board
Currently since June 2015, Mr. Hardej holds the position of Vice President of Horticulture Lighting Turnkey Solutions at Illumitex, a provider of LED lighting technology for the indoor farming industry. From June 2010 until March 2015, Mr. Hardej was a co-founder, Vice President of Development and Operations and later served as Chief Technology Officer of FarmedHere, the first commercial scale vertical farm operating in the United States and an early pioneer in the industry. Mr. Hardej challenged the regulatory environment, building codes, municipal zoning ordinances and used his design expertise in the process of expanding local urban agriculture in Chicago. FarmedHere went on to become the winner of the 2013 Chicago Innovations Award.
Mr. Hardej has a vested interest promoting the local food movement. He participated on Chicago Mayor Daley's task force on Vertical Farming. In conjunction with Chicago City Public Colleges and the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest organization, Mr. Hardej co-created an innovative Urban Farming/Aquaponics Job Training rehabilitation program and an alternative for at-risk and underemployed inner-city youth.
Mr. Hardej is a frequent public speaker and an advocate for controlled environment agriculture and the good food movement. He has developed partnerships with Federal, State and local governments, NGO’s and non-profits to promote the development of high-tech controlled environments farms where most people live – in the city centers.
In 2014 Mr. Hardej was appointed by the Governor of Illinois, Hon. Pat Quinn to participate in the Governor’s Local Food, Farms and Jobs Council. Additionally, Mr. Hardej consulted with several municipal bodies including Las Vegas, City of London and New York City on regulatory policies and feasibility for the development of Urban Vertical Farms. He is a sitting judge for the 2016 International Vertical Farm Award by the Association of Vertical Farming.
Chad Sykes, CEO and Founder of Indoor Harvest stated, "We're excited to have Paul on board, his experience and leadership will help us grow the Company into a successful operation. He's a well known and respected pioneer in our industry, a great speaker and an amazing thought leader. Paul's addition is part of a Company refocus, new direction and expansion plans as we position for institutional capital and a senior listing. With the foundation laid and a strong sales pipeline in place, we're now team building for what we expect to be an amazing growth opportunity."
On May 9, 2016, Mr. William Jamieson resigned as a Director. Mr. Hardej will replace Mr. Jamieson as part of a company business focus restructuring.
"I want to personally thank Mr. Jamieson for his service. In our early development stage, Mr. Jamieson's guidance helped us steer clear of potential pitfalls within the cannabis industry. He was a valued team member during our early development stage and his knowledge of the cannabis industry is without equal. We hope to continue to work with Mr. Jamieson and his Company 420 Patients on future projects as a consultant," further stated Mr. Sykes.
For more information:
Indoor Harvest
5300 East Freeway, Suite A.
Houston, TX. 77020
1+(832)649·3998
grow@indoorharvest.com
www.indoorharvest.com