AeroFarms, the company that announced in December it would bring 92 jobs and $42 million in investment to the Dan River Region over three years, plans to increase its investment in the area by $13 million.
The planned investment has increased to $55 million, Pittsylvania County Economic Development Director Matt Rowe said Monday during a board meeting of the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority.
The board, meeting at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, approved site and floor plans for the 138,000-square-foot AeroFarms building at Cane Creek Centre Industrial Park.
RealtyLink Investments LLC, a South Carolina limited liability company, submitted the plans for the building. The company plans to lease the building to AeroFarms under a lease-to-purchase agreement.
Groundbreaking on the AeroFarms project will happen in either April or May, Rowe said. “We’re looking to have the facility completed by the end of the year,” Rowe told RIFA board members. Rowe said the extra $13 million in investment will be in more advanced technology such as robotics and other high-tech equipment. He was not sure how the changes could affect the projected job numbers.