New High-Tech Farming Facility Opens In Virginia With American Lending Center’s Help
American Lending Center representatives were on hand Wednesday, Sept. 19, for the ribbon-cutting opening of Better Future Farms, Inc.’s newest controlled environment greenhouse in rural Virginia.
ALC provided $20.8 million in financing for the project, which began construction in August 2023. The overall cost of the project is $81,856,048, with Generate Capital, PBC providing the other portion of the construction loan. A total of 472 jobs were created from construction and ongoing operations.
This is the third major controlled environment agricultural (CEA) project ALC has helped finance. Earlier this year, Local Bounti was opened in Texas with ALC participation. Last year, Americus Fresh was opened in Georgia.
This development is a 10-acre controlled environment hydroponic greenhouse, using the latest technology to achieve higher yields and lower costs. There is about 368,300 square feet of production area in the semi-closed greenhouse, and production is expected to be about 470,810 pounds of leafy greens a month when fully operational.
“It’s very exciting to see this cutting-edge approach to feeding our population get off the ground,” said John Shen, ALC’s founder and CEO. “This facility is in a rural area in need of jobs, yet is just 90 miles from our nation’s capital. Fresh vegetables are in great demand in the area.”
This greenhouse is near Louisa, VA, a rural area in Louisa County. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin attended the opening, indicating the importance of the project to the state.
“We’re changing the way people understand lettuce and sustainability,” Youngkin said. “We’ll have a product beyond compare grown in this sustainable way. This is truly transformative.”
When compared to traditional farming methods, this type of controlled environment farming uses 90% less water, produces 67-92% less CO2 and increases lettuce yields by 20 times.
Better Future Farms has an agreement with Taylor Farms to buy all the produce from this facility for the first two years of operation. Taylor Farms is a large regional supplier for grocery stores and restaurants.
ALC operates a regional center in Virginia; one of 14 in the country covering the entire continental United States. These regional centers are part of ALC’s EB-5 lender program, providing much-needed capital to rural America.
For more information, go to usa-rc.com.
About American Lending Center: A Financial Times (FT) Americas’ Fastest Growing Company
American Lending Center (ALC) supports U.S. economic growth and job creation by financing development across the country.
Since its inception in 2009, ALC has proudly provided over $1.65 billion in loans and investments to thousands of companies of all sizes, empowering them to grow and thrive. Over this time, we have helped create and/or retain more than 100,000 jobs in the American economy.
In 2022, ALC launched its new rural construction and development fund, with capital available for the construction of fixed assets of all types in rural areas, including manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, hospitality, specialty use, multi-use, and other project types. Follow American Lending Center on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
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