BrightFarms Announces Further Expansion in Eastern U.S.
March 3, 2019 
BrightFarms, a leading supplier of greenhouse vegetables, is ramping up its expansions efforts with new greenhouses planned for New England (Central Massachusetts), New York (Hudson Valley), and North Carolina. The new greenhouses will each be 280,000 square feet and sit on 20 acres of land. According to BrightFarms, each greenhouse is expected to create around 55 full-time jobs.
The three new greenhouses will increase the brand’s presence and add to the company’s network of local farms across the Mid-Atlantic and into the South. The company currently operates greenhouses in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, supplying retailers in a dozen major metro markets.
In order to more rapidly meet retailer demands for locally grown produce, BrightFarms will also explore acquisitions and partnerships with existing greenhouse growers in each of the new markets.
“We are committed to transforming the produce category to provide the freshest, tastiest, and most responsibly grown produce,” says Paul Lightfoot, CEO of BrightFarms. “Consumers are placing high demand for locally grown, fresh salads. With local greenhouses across the Mid-Atlantic and growing, BrightFarms is well positioned to meet these demands for national retailers.”
The company plans to break ground on the new greenhouses by year’s end, with production starting in the spring of 2020. The greenhouses will each produce more than 2 million pounds of fresh, leafy salad greens and herbs per year.
BrightFarms’ national expansion announcement follows the appointment of Steve Campione as its Chief Financial Officer.
“Steve is a world class business leader,” Lightfoot says. “We look forward to benefiting from his expertise in creating the tools, systems, and culture to enable the company to smoothly scale nationally.”
Campione has more than 20 years of experience in finance, operations, and investment banking. Most recently, he was CFO & COO at Rural Media Group, Inc. where he led the company through multiple capital raises and acquisitions that quadrupled its employee base and operating profits. Prior to his tenure at Rural Media Group, Campione spent a decade on Wall Street raising capital for growth companies and advising clients on strategic mergers and acquisitions.
“I’m thrilled to join the BrightFarms team and to continue the company’s terrific momentum” Campione says. “I’m particularly excited to contribute my capital raising and mergers and acquisitions experience as we look to accelerate the expansion of BrightFarms’ footprint nationally and to further increase our rate of growth and market leadership.”
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