Culpeper County agribusiness is getting another shot in the arm. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday that the state is providing a $75,000 grant to help BrightFarms establish a three-acre greenhouse facility on the old Willow Run Nursery property at Elkwood.
“This facility will be the largest producer of leaf lettuce on the East Coast,” McAuliffe told local and state dignitaries who gathered for the ribbon cutting.
Josh Norbury, vice president of operations for BrightFarms, said the company began work in April on the hydroponic greenhouse. The 150,000-square-foot facility is expected to produce about 750,000 cases of leaf lettuce (about 1 million pounds) over the next three years, in addition to kale, spinach, basil and tomatoes.