United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made a stop in New Hampshire Thursday to announce $320 million in grants and loans for new projects in the US meant to boost small and medium-scale producers, including one in Berlin.
North Country Growers, a Massachusetts-based company, will receive a $19.9 million federal loan to create a 20-acre greenhouse facility in Berlin that will grow leafy greens and lettuce.
Of the 26 projects Vilsack announced Thursday, he said the initiative in Berlin is the only one in New Hampshire. The greenhouse will employ 35 people once construction is finished on the first 10 acres of the greenhouse, according to founder and chief operating officer Marguerite Piret. She expects to complete the first 10 acres of the greenhouses by the end of 2023 and start selling produce in the first quarter of 2024.
Once the full 20 acres of construction is finished, she expects the operation to employ 80 people. She said construction is already underway on the facility that will use the gas line formerly used by paper mills in the North Country. The plan is to use around 45 percent of the energy for electricity to keep the lights on and the other 55 percent for heat to regulate the temperature of the greenhouses.
Read more at bostonglobe.com