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CAN (ON): Espanola greenhouse builder becomes grower to prove tech

Jeff Scharf didn’t set out to be a farmer.

The roofer-turned-greenhouse-designer simply wanted to build efficient, four-season greenhouses and sell them to customers looking to grow their own food. But two years after he and his partners launched Greenhouses Canada, Scharf realized that to sell greenhouses, he first had to sell the technology.

“At no point two years ago was I ever expecting to grow my own food,” he said. “I wanted to build greenhouses for other people. But in order to be able to actually prove that and be able to do that, you have to become a farmer.”

He’s now demonstrating his technology really does work from his 4,000-square-foot prototype greenhouse in Espanola, which isn’t even fully completed yet, but is producing thousands of dollars’ worth of food monthly that is shipped to customers locally.

The company employs 15 people — who manage, grow, crop, package and ship the product — and Scharf anticipates hiring 10 to 15 more within the next six months.

Read more at Northern Ontario Business
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