US (AL): Future Farm, Volunteers of America to build vertical farm

Future Farm Technologies is collaborating with the Volunteers of America and CBO Financial to develop a new vertical farming facility in Mobile, Alabama. The Alabama project will be designed, financed and constructed in tandem with the previously announced Baltimore facilities. By bundling the projects together, the parties expect to save on financing fees related to New Market Tax Credits, facility design and engineering, and equipment expenses, including HVAC and LED lighting.

Future Farm has already secured site control of a facility in Mobile, Alabama and is in the process of completing that facility’s design and budget. The property consists of 21,123-sf under roof and 2.71 acres of land. The facility design is underway and is expected to be completed within 2-3 weeks.

The company has also identified a site and negotiations are under way with respect to the previously announced second location in Baltimore. This particular site is more accommodating to the company’s controlled environment agriculture technology and requires less construction build-out.

CBO Financial will act as the company’s financial advisor with respect to New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) and will be arranging for $4,000,000 in NMTC-based financing for the Alabama farm. The NMTC program is a $65 billion federal program designed to incentivize private investment in low-income communities. NMTCs are provided to financial institutions in exchange for equity investments that eligible businesses can use to subsidize project development costs. CBO Financial helps driven organizations, such as Future Farm, to finance facilities that will provide goods and services that benefit populations in need and revitalize communities.

“We see this second project with Volunteers of America and CBO Financial as a new and important milestone for Future Farm as it now positions us with almost 75,000 sq ft. of indoor urban farming, making us a major multi-state player in the rapidly growing vertical farming market,” says Mr. William Gildea, Future Farm’s CEO and Chairman. “Our goal was always to create impactful social and corporate programs that are mutually beneficial for all involved, from the community, to the company and our shareholders. Partnering with Volunteers of America and CBO Financial puts us in the position to achieve that goal.”

The primary objectives of all three locations (two in MD and one in AL) remain the same — establish economical and environmentally friendly vertical farms; provide job training opportunities (specifically to the VOA’s reentry program for ex-offenders in Baltimore, MD and to the mentally disadvantaged/formerly homeless community in Mobile, AL) as well as to the local communities of both; provide therapeutic programs, which will be expanded to the disabled population; support entrepreneurship development; and establish a model for replication at other reentry and social services facilities.

For more information:
Future Farm Technologies
342 Compass Circle
North Kingstown RI 02852
T: (617) 834-9467
info@futurefarmtech.com
futurefarmtech.com

Publication date: Tue 12 Sep 2017