BrightFarms to invest $7.35 million in two greenhouses in Culpeper County

Published October 13, 2015 by Robert Powell, III

WDC Greenhouse LLC, which does business as BrightFarms, will invest $7.35 million to construct and operate two new greenhouses in Culpeper Couinty, creating 24 new jobs. 

BrightFarms will produce 750,000 cases of green-leaf produce and 30,000 cases of tomatoes during the next three years.

The BrightFarms Capitol greenhouses are expected to use 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land and 95 percent less shipping fuel than conventional produce companies. 

The project will grow baby greens, basil and tomatoes exclusively for Ahold, one of the largest food retailers in the eastern United States. 

Slated for completion in December, the greenhouses will provide produce for Ahold's Giant Food and Martin’s supermarkets, as well as Peapod, an online grocery service, in Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and Delaware.

The commonwealth is partnering with Culpeper County on this project through the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund, which is administered by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 

Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $75,000 grant from the AFID Fund to assist with the project, which Culpeper County is matching with $75,000 in local grant funds.