BrightFarms Hydroponic Greenhouse Coming To Abilene, Texas

by Lindsey Ragas

Thursday, March 22, 2018

ABILENE, Texas — A new business is coming to Abilene and it's expected to bring in more than a dozen new jobs to the Big Country.

BrightFarms, a company looking to build a state-of-the-art hydroponic greenhouse, is behind what KTXS News referred to last week as Project Ladybug.

BrightFarms choose Abilene as the place for its first hydroponic greenhouse farm in Texas, which will not be a traditional greenhouse because it will grow food that people can buy at local grocery stores.

"[This greenhouse will be] a very large glass structure that produces consumable greens: foods, spinach, lettuce, herbs, things of that nature," said Justin Jaworski, Executive Director of the Abilene Industrial Foundation.

“The plants themselves are suspended above a water basin that is nutrient-rich and only the roots touch," said Kim Tarrant, Chief Administrative Officer of the Development Corporation of Abilene.

The greenhouse will be built at Access Business Park, which is located right across the street from Abilene Regional Airport.

The Abilene City Council gave the approval on Thursday and the DCOA approved $2.3 million for this project last week. The DCOA asked BrightFarms to invest $17 million, with the DCOA matching 10% of the company's investment, along with 21 acres of land worth $600,000.

The new hydroponic greenhouse is expected to bring jobs to Abilene and offer health benefits for its employees.

"We'll include a creation target of approximately 24 jobs in year one and we hope by year three we'll grow a little bit more in those terms, but those jobs are on average paid in the $18 range."

By 2023, they hope to create and maintain up to 34 jobs. Construction on the hydroponic greenhouse might begin this summer and it's expected to be fully operational by next year.