Connecticut Invests $3 Million in Indoor Agriculture Venture

By Luther Turmelle, New Haven Register

POSTED: 02/03/17, 9:16 PM EST | UPDATED: 6 HRS AGO

The state is investing a lot of green — $3 million in financing — to get an indoor agriculture venture off the ground in Suffield.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Friday that Four Seasons Farm LLC, the project for which the state is providing financing, is expected to create 40 new jobs over the next two years. The money from the state Department of Economic and Community Development will be used to purchase equipment and machinery for the 10-acre indoor farm, which initially will grow millions of pounds tomatoes.

Although the farm will be located in northern Connecticut, one of the partners in the project is a well-known New Haven County farmer.

Joe Geremia, who runs seven acres of greenhouses in Wallingford, is one of three partners in the project. The other two partners are Henry Froese, a pioneer and expert in the building of greenhouse operations, and Herbert Soroca, chief executive officer of Stamford-based North Cove Capital Advisors, which works with emerging growth companies.

Geremia, a third-generation farmer, called the Four Season Farm “a 21st century agriculture project.”

“Four Season Farm will lay the foundation for a new generation of indoor agriculture to compete with foreign produce, create living wage jobs and tax revenues for Suffield and the state, and provide locally grown, healthy food for Connecticut consumers,” Geremia said. “It is a win-win for everyone.”

Hydroponic farming is a method of growing fruits or vegetables without soil. The plants typically are placed in trays or inserted into tubing over a container of water with a submergible pump.

The pump circulates the water making traditional gardening methods unnecessary.

Four Season Farm will use technology such as computer controlled light, humidity and nutrients. The partners in the project have a five-year plan that includes a ten-acre facility that will produce 5.75 million pounds in the first year and 7.5 million pounds by the third year.

The partners ultimately hope to create a 43-acre greenhouse complex and add crops such as cucumbers, peppers and micro greens.

While hydropinc farming is comparatively new to Connecticut, Four Seasons Farm already has plenty of company in the sector, even in New Haven County. Maple Lane Farms II is located in a Cheshire industrial park while another area hydroponic grower is H2O Farm in Guilford.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-680-9388.