US (IL): Gurnee couple gains momentum with indoor vertical farm

For Eric Aguilar, the first seed of the farming dream started with a rather far-fetched idea about a high-tech spherical hydroponic farm. He was attracted to the way that hydroponics used science to achieve the goals of farming in more dynamic ways. Fortunately, the impractical part of that dream (the part with the multi-million dollar price tag) was sifted away, and the love for a science-driven farm remained.

It grew a little over time, but mostly stayed in the back of Eric's mind as he worked another job - a fencing company that he built himself. While entrepreneurship is rewarding, Eric found that fencing wasn't his passion.

For Diane Moeller, the desire to farm started as a love for agriculture in her early years.

She was fascinated by the interaction of agriculture and the environment, and eventually got a degree in environmental engineering.

But her passion for having an impact on environmental health wasn't fully met in the jobs she got after college.

She received training in designing water treatment systems and started working (and still does) in restoration and design.

“My degree is in environmental engineering, and I went into that field thinking I would make a difference from an environmental standpoint. And I learned that I’m basically just cleaning up other people’s messes. And I wanted to do something more proactive and less retroactive.”

Over time, that feeling grew.

Read more at the Bright Agrotech blog