Shownotes
Get ready for an enlightening conversation on vertical farming and food justice as we chat with Nona Yehia, CEO and co-founder of Vertical Harvest. Discover the growing importance of indoor ag tech and understand the significance of intersectional discussions within this evolving industry. Learn how fresh food access and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) are playing a crucial role in fostering positive change, and how technology is championing this transformation.
Join us as we discuss Vertical Harvest's expansion and their people-first approach. Nona shares how their commitment to diversity and inclusion has helped the company stay agile and adapt to the ever-changing industry. Hear about the development of the Grow Well Employment model and how understanding community employment needs has shaped their success. We also delve into the critical role of transparency in this maturing industry.
Lastly, we reflect on the challenges and triumphs of the CEA industry. Uncover how technology and innovation can empower people, augment teams, and create smarter and better ways of working. Nona reveals Vertical Harvest's approach to prioritizing yields and production alongside people while optimizing costs. Don't miss this insightful conversation about the importance of having a strong vision, mission, and transparency in creating a sustainable business within the vertical farming industry.
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Key Takeaways
- 0:01:48 - Food Justice and Access 0
- :06:13 - Vertical Farms as Urban Infrastructure
- 0:11:44 - Building Templates for Farm Success
- 0:17:23 - Employment Model for Community Growth
- 0:26:18 - Vertical Harvest's Community Impact in Detroit
- 0:34:24 - Democratizing Access to Fresh Food
- 0:45:15 - AI and Innovation in Food Production
- 0:53:50 - Social Media for Team Connection
Tweetable Quotes
"The promise of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) lies in the tech, of course, but the tech is there for a reason. Why do we use the tech, and why is it important? And why is it not only important to investors, but why is it important to you, your family, your neighborhood, your city?"
"We have shown that access to this very exciting space can be democratized right. And our farmers, who, prior to Vertical Harvest, were washing dishes, cleaning hotel rooms, that's all great. We got to start somewhere. But now they have fed our community good food, healthy food, food that inspires fresh food, and now they're leading the charge in Maine."
"This isn't only about Vertical Harvest or everybody else. This is about something whose time has come because people need it. I think we're close to unlocking that, because this is a movement.”
Resources Mentioned
Nona's Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nona-yehia-3b2266a/
Nona's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/verticalnona/
Nona's Email - [email protected]
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Sponsor Links
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Mentioned in this episode:
2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews
2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews
Transcripts
$680 million poured into precision ag last year.
Speaker:Autonomous weeding robots dominated, and John Deere made 2 acquisitions in 3
Speaker:months. A food company, not an equipment maker, bought a
Speaker:robotics startup to protect its own supply chain. The deals are
Speaker:accelerating, the money is moving, and the winners are already separating from the
Speaker:pack. If you're investing, building, or buying in this space,
Speaker:you need the full picture before your competitors get it. The 2025
Speaker:Precision Agriculture Intelligence Report From iGrow News is now
Speaker:available. Get your copy today at
Speaker:igrownews.com/precision. If you are starting a vertical
Speaker:farm and don't know where to begin or which technology would suit your needs,
Speaker:then reach out to the experts at Cultivated. As indoor farm brokers, they
Speaker:help connect you to the right technology and ensure your project is successful.
Speaker:Best of all, their service is free because they work on behalf of their partners.
Speaker:Visit cultivated.com to learn more. And that's spelled
Speaker:C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-D.com,
Speaker:or click the link in the show notes. How do you build a template
Speaker:for if you are reconnecting the farm to the
Speaker:urban center, or you are, you know, creating a
Speaker:farm that is able to operate year-round? How
Speaker:do you train people to be able to access that new
Speaker:technology and access This— so
Speaker:from pretty much every aspect of running the business,
Speaker:that's what we're laser-focused on, creating templates for
Speaker:success.
Speaker:Welcome to the Vertical Farming Podcast, weekly conversations with
Speaker:fascinating CEOs, founders, and agtech visionaries.
Speaker:Join us every week as we dive deep into the world of vertical farming.
Speaker:With your host, Harry Duran. Vertical Farming
Speaker:Podcast, Season 8. We are at Episode
Speaker:103. Great return guest today, and
Speaker:I'll share that with you in a second. But if you are a regular listener,
Speaker:I want to give you a high five. Thank you for coming back and joining
Speaker:this show week in and week out. Without you as the
Speaker:listener, I wouldn't have a show, quite honestly. So I really appreciate you
Speaker:taking time out of your busy schedule, your busy day, To listen in on these
Speaker:stories, and I hope you have as much fun listening as I do recording
Speaker:and having these conversations and educating myself and you
Speaker:with everything that's happening in this space. It's happening at such a fast pace, it's
Speaker:crazy to think how much is happening that I want to share with
Speaker:you— conversations, new folks, new CEOs, new founders, new
Speaker:technologies, all that and more. If this is your first time
Speaker:listening, you're in the right place if you're looking for a show where I interview
Speaker:fascinating CEOs and founders of the leading vertical farming companies from around the
Speaker:world. My name is Harry Duran, and I've been podcasting since
Speaker:2014. Crazy, we're closing in on 10 years.
Speaker:This show has been going gangbusters since 2020,
Speaker:March of 2020. It's crazy to think about it, and I've been enjoying the ride
Speaker:ever since. We had a 2-parter this week. Last episode, we
Speaker:spoke to Kiana Mickey, the Director of Urban Agriculture
Speaker:for New York City. We had a fantastic conversation about all
Speaker:things food justice, food security related,
Speaker:her experiences growing up in New York City, and all the great work
Speaker:they're doing with the mayor's office there. So please check that out if you haven't
Speaker:done so already. And it's going to be great to have
Speaker:connected with her at the conference as well. Speaking of the conference, another speaker
Speaker:will be this week's guest, Nona Yehia, returning
Speaker:back for round 2 on this podcast. Nona never
Speaker:disappoints. She's just got an enthusiasm and energy about the industry
Speaker:that I really find infectious. We talk about food justice and access.
Speaker:We talk about vertical farms as urban infrastructure, which is very interesting. They've got a
Speaker:project coming up in Maine, which is very exciting to,
Speaker:to see, and I can't wait to have you listen to
Speaker:her talk all about it. We talk about the importance of building
Speaker:templates for farm success, the employment models she's using for community
Speaker:growth, and what their impact is going to be on these communities
Speaker:like Maine, like Detroit, How we democratize
Speaker:access to fresh food. So many other things that really
Speaker:light me up, light my heart up, and I can't think of a better
Speaker:spokesperson for all the positive that's happening in this space. If you find you're
Speaker:getting value from this episode or any of our past episodes, please leave
Speaker:us that rating and review, ratethispodcast.com/vfp. I'd love to read
Speaker:yours out next. And remember, I want you to focus on these
Speaker:conversations. Just go to verticalfarmingpodcast.com to read the full
Speaker:show notes for each episode. It's going to include all the guest links as well.
Speaker:Okay, before we jump into this conversation with Nona, round 2,
Speaker:here are a few words from these amazing folks that continue to support this show
Speaker:and to whom I'm eternally grateful. This year, Indoor AgTech is coming to
Speaker:New York City's Times Square, and it's bringing together the world's leading growers,
Speaker:retailers, tech providers, seed companies, and investors. Join
Speaker:us from June 29th to June 30th to meet, expand networks, and
Speaker:produce fruitful partnerships. The team has been gracious enough to provide
Speaker:listeners of this show with an additional 10% off of the registration.
Speaker:Simply use promo code VFP when you register and lock that in.
Speaker:And by the way, if you're on the fence, remember that early bird discount ends
Speaker:on May 11th. After a pivotal year for CEA, the summit will
Speaker:explore what's needed to ensure the industry can continue innovating and growing
Speaker:into a crucial part of the global agri-food supply chain. Mark your
Speaker:calendars for the CEA Summit East in Danville, Virginia, from
Speaker:September 19th to the 20th, 2023. This
Speaker:2-day event, co-hosted by Indoor AgCon and the Virginia Tech
Speaker:IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center,
Speaker:brings businesses and academia together to help you grow your business.
Speaker:Immerse yourself in a full lineup of research showcases, panel discussions, and keynotes
Speaker:featuring top experts, grower operators, and other thought leaders.
Speaker:Explore the latest CEA innovations from tabletop exhibitors.
Speaker:Enjoy quality networking opportunities. Don't miss this unique opportunity to
Speaker:attend a conference at a research facility where you can get a firsthand look at
Speaker:cutting-edge research projects happening right now and explore ideas for
Speaker:collaboration with Virginia Tech and IALR researchers as
Speaker:well. Vertical Farming Podcast listeners can save 10% off the standard
Speaker:passes with code VFP. Visit
Speaker:ceasummit.com for more details and to register. So
Speaker:officially, Nona, you're here, back for round 2 on Vertical Farming
Speaker:Podcast. Thank you so much for getting us caught up. There's so much good stuff
Speaker:happening, and I'm excited to chat and also to see you in New
Speaker:York in less than 10 days, probably in, yeah, 9 days.
Speaker:I'm so happy to be back here with you, Harry. You're one of my
Speaker:favorite shows, my weekend, you know,
Speaker:routine. And I'm very much looking forward to
Speaker:the yearly trip to New York. Yeah. How often do you
Speaker:get back? Is that it? Just that one trip? Oh no, I get back a
Speaker:lot, but I think Indoor AgTech is always a fun reason to gather and it
Speaker:takes on its own quality for sure. It feels like
Speaker:it's picking up steam or visibility. Do you get that sense as well?
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, I think that just being in this space as long as
Speaker:I have, I have seen it pick up steam and
Speaker:visibility, especially, I think what's really exciting
Speaker:for all of the big ones, indoor ag con, indoor ag tech, the
Speaker:intersectionality that's starting to occur, right? It's not
Speaker:just for producers. It's not just about the tech
Speaker:and, you know, the right seed, but it's about the impact. And I
Speaker:think That has been particularly exciting to me and to
Speaker:watch it on different socials, who's paying
Speaker:attention, who's going to these conferences and why.
Speaker:That has been really interesting to see evolve. You know, it's also
Speaker:in terms of talking about the intersection of our
Speaker:relationship and conversations we've had and seeing you at InteractCon.
Speaker:I had pretty much the whole panel now on the show I've had from InteractCon.
Speaker:So Katherine Scallon, and Alaric Overbay. And
Speaker:it was one of the best, just high vibe sessions for me,
Speaker:you know, because of the topic, because it's something, you know, a lot of people
Speaker:don't talk about. Like, you know, we're all— in the beginning, I think the vibe
Speaker:was focused on the tech and the investment coming in and the big projects,
Speaker:but really, like, boots on the ground impact to
Speaker:individual neighborhoods, individual people, changing perceptions of,
Speaker:like, what it means to have access to fresh food And it's always nice to
Speaker:see that you're like always connected to these conversations. Like, you're also
Speaker:doing a panel at Indoor AgTech NYC with Kiana, who I spoke—
Speaker:Kiana from New York City is going to be on. She's the director
Speaker:of urban agriculture, and we chatted yesterday, so I had a great conversation
Speaker:with her. And so I'm curious, like, how you think
Speaker:about this, and we're going to talk about the new projects coming up, but like,
Speaker:why specifically this feels like important to you to make sure that this
Speaker:is top of mind for people, this idea, this food security, food justice, you know,
Speaker:however you want to frame it? Well, I think, Harry, it comes
Speaker:from the way that I've built my career and my profession.
Speaker:I'm an architect by trade, and I think that architects by
Speaker:their very nature are problem solvers. And I think we've talked about that
Speaker:before, right? And for
Speaker:us at Vertical Harvest, we see
Speaker:the way that we've addressed these problems as a kind of
Speaker:ecosystem of opportunity, right? And
Speaker:it's something that— and I really enjoyed the conversations that you've been
Speaker:having lately and coming off that panel. I was very proud of that,
Speaker:to be able to be part of bringing those voices
Speaker:together. And I think that, you know, the promise of CEA
Speaker:lies in the tech, of course, but The tech is there
Speaker:for a reason. Why do we use the tech, right? Why is
Speaker:it important? And why is it not only important to
Speaker:investors, but why is it important to you, your family,
Speaker:your neighborhood, your city? And I've always been rooted in that
Speaker:question, right? And how do we really leverage
Speaker:those opportunities to build something that is
Speaker:meaningful and lasting? And I think that's why being a
Speaker:part of those conversations are so important because that
Speaker:perspective is how this
Speaker:industry will actually win hearts and minds and become a
Speaker:movement, which it absolutely needs to. Whether investors
Speaker:are important, I mean, are, you know, kind of hands-off the
Speaker:industry right now, the problem of food's not going away. Yeah. Right? It will
Speaker:be the defining issue of the 21st century. So we need to be
Speaker:able to support different voices that are really making a
Speaker:difference in this industry, as well as the big voices.
Speaker:I think that that's really important as well. I'm
Speaker:curious, given— I was checking the last time we spoke. It was
Speaker:actually in 2021, episode 32. So it
Speaker:was a while ago, considering I just published episode 100.
Speaker:So a lot has changed since then. And I definitely encourage
Speaker:listeners to go back and get caught up on the origin story there because it's
Speaker:very inspiring, and obviously folks need to learn a bit
Speaker:about how you got to this point. But let's start to talk about some
Speaker:of the things that are in motion. Like, your team sent me some of the
Speaker:videos from Maine, and that's super exciting to see. Get to see
Speaker:you on site in a hard hat, excited about what's to come
Speaker:there. So wherever you want to start in terms of like—
Speaker:I'm curious, obviously love origin stories, so I'm curious how the
Speaker:project sort of manifested. Why that location next and how
Speaker:you think about everything that's involved in putting that together and where we're
Speaker:at with that. Yeah, thanks, Harry. The Maine
Speaker:farm is really exciting for us and for the
Speaker:community of Maine, city of Westbrook, which is outside of
Speaker:Portland, and the state. I think that, you know, again,
Speaker:going back to— and I know you value origin stories—
Speaker:going back to the origin story of being an architect, I've
Speaker:always been really interested in how we
Speaker:build the fabric of our cities, right? Architecture is fundamentally a
Speaker:part of this fabric that is designed to
Speaker:address 21st century problems, right? And that
Speaker:inherently affects people, right? People are at the heart of our
Speaker:cities. And so, you know, early on
Speaker:I became fascinated with this idea of could
Speaker:a farm, if we were able to feed enough
Speaker:people, become a part of the civic
Speaker:infrastructure of the city? And what would that mean?
Speaker:Would it be as meaningful to people as a public library, as a
Speaker:community center? Would it be able to create value for
Speaker:people? And what does that value really look like? Could it
Speaker:address more than just environmental issues,
Speaker:right? Issues of social justice, you know, public
Speaker:health, economic resiliency. These are all conversations
Speaker:that architecture fundamentally participates in.
Speaker:So positioning the vertical farm as a piece of
Speaker:architecture at its root, as an ecosystem
Speaker:that has an opportunity for a community to connect,
Speaker:that means that we are creating and
Speaker:engaging in a conversation that
Speaker:municipalities and developers have been engaged
Speaker:in as long as they have been city building, right?
Speaker:Imagining the futures of their own cities and future and the
Speaker:futures of cities around the nation and the globe. And I
Speaker:think that's been a really exciting perspective for us because being a
Speaker:part of that conversation, we've seen that cities really
Speaker:value food sovereignty, right? Yeah. Food
Speaker:resilience and solving their own problems at a local
Speaker:level. And so that's really how we started having
Speaker:conversations with multiple different states, Maine
Speaker:being one of them. Obviously we have a complex
Speaker:matrix of market demand. You know, is it
Speaker:amenable in terms of electricity? I mean, you know, what are the
Speaker:rates? All the different, you know, aspects of what makes
Speaker:a business successful. But I think if I wanted to
Speaker:cut through it all, the most important thing is the
Speaker:political will, right, of a community,
Speaker:because then you can create a partnership that is
Speaker:enduring, right? There is a real buy-in
Speaker:to the success of the business, to the success of the farm,
Speaker:and the community rallies around it. And I think that,
Speaker:you know, that we've seen that in Maine. It has
Speaker:been really incredibly exciting. We've seen the
Speaker:different partnerships that we've been able to cultivate across the country because
Speaker:of the impact Maine has already had before
Speaker:even being operational. Because people can really
Speaker:see it. They say, yeah, this farm is something we want for our community,
Speaker:for our people. It solves some problems. And
Speaker:that's, it's been a really rewarding place to be in this
Speaker:time and this industry that's experiencing such exciting
Speaker:growth. It's a different perspective, and I
Speaker:think it really connects to people. And that's what food is, right? It's the ultimate
Speaker:connector. I think what's interesting is just in that little video I
Speaker:saw, I think the general contractor foreman was
Speaker:talking about how unique the project was and how he had to think about, like,
Speaker:relating it to other things that they've done before, built before. And it's a
Speaker:hybrid, completely mix of things, and it's
Speaker:unique. He hasn't built anything like this or created anything like this
Speaker:before. And so that's just obviously everything that's happening in the build
Speaker:of this. And you talked about the political will and the climate, because
Speaker:even from that perspective, this is something they haven't thought of before. Because when you
Speaker:think of the idea of farms, people are thinking about outdoor farming,
Speaker:right? And the impacts and all the land that's needed for that. So
Speaker:Where else do you see people sort of having to
Speaker:change the way they think about projects like this? Because you're
Speaker:coming to the city with something that's
Speaker:unique. You come at it from a perspective of someone who's
Speaker:got the background in architecture. And, you know, a lot of
Speaker:times these projects, you have to have someone retrofit their ideas
Speaker:into what you think it might look like. But now you have the experience of
Speaker:being an architect. of being a vertical farmer,
Speaker:having this passion for connecting with the community. It's such a unique skill set,
Speaker:and I think it's what imbues your projects with such
Speaker:character and personality that I think you don't get to see in other ones. And
Speaker:so, how much of this is education as you lay the groundwork
Speaker:for where you think— where you go and where you think about going?
Speaker:You're probably starting to build a roadmap of how to prep a city
Speaker:to understand or have a conversation about this? Well, I
Speaker:think, Harry, that's exactly it. We have, for the last 7 years,
Speaker:as we've been operating our farm here in Jackson
Speaker:as an R&D facility, been building roadmaps, right?
Speaker:How do you not only grow the product,
Speaker:which is something that, you know, all farms do, obviously we need
Speaker:roadmaps for that, but how do you sell it? You know, what's your
Speaker:go-to-market strategy? For us, it's not just
Speaker:about retail relationships. It's about relationships with our
Speaker:anchor institutions, the hospitals, school system,
Speaker:higher ed, and really responding to the
Speaker:demand for local food year-round at
Speaker:volume that is affordable, you know, across all
Speaker:customer channels. How do you build a template
Speaker:For if you are reconnecting the farm to the
Speaker:urban center, or you are, you know, creating a
Speaker:farm that is able to operate year-round,
Speaker:how do you train people to be able to access that
Speaker:new technology and access this? So
Speaker:from pretty much every aspect of running the business,
Speaker:that's what we're laser-focused on, creating templates for
Speaker:success. So that's not only about unit economics,
Speaker:which is something, you know, we could spend a whole session talking about, but it's
Speaker:about how do you educate about the product? People don't know
Speaker:how to use microgreens. People in— Alaric talked about
Speaker:this, I thought, in a really fascinating way. How do you make
Speaker:sure that the product is of the community? How do you
Speaker:make sure that you're responding to the needs of the community?
Speaker:So, obviously, in order to be successful, you have to have a certain amount of
Speaker:standardization, right? We like to say 85%. Right. But
Speaker:15% is going to be very tailored to the
Speaker:community, to what is truly local, right? You have to be of the
Speaker:community in order for it to succeed. So, it's been
Speaker:super interesting. And like you said, it's been an evolution, one that
Speaker:we've iterated constantly on. But, you know, now
Speaker:after 7 years of operating a farm, 2 years of
Speaker:funding and building a new one, you know, I think we're starting to
Speaker:have pattern recognition and understand
Speaker:what are the templates to drive us towards, again, an
Speaker:enduring and sustainable business. What
Speaker:lessons have you learned in the 7 years of running the first
Speaker:farm and what to do, what not to do? I'm sure there was a lot
Speaker:of that as you had that as a testbed all these years.
Speaker:And how did that color any of the decisions you're making with these new
Speaker:farms? I'd turn it around, Harry. What didn't we
Speaker:learn? Right? I mean, there was no
Speaker:playbook, right? If you think about, we opened our doors in
Speaker:2016, you know, we started conceiving of
Speaker:the project in earnest 2009, 2010.
Speaker:We learned everything. We, as some of your listeners may know,
Speaker:Vertical Harvest is unique in many ways and differentiated and many ways,
Speaker:but one of the ways is we put people at the heart of this effort,
Speaker:right? Right. So, our mission is not only to grow food but
Speaker:futures. A lot of people recommended that in
Speaker:the beginning, I learn how to,
Speaker:or we learn how to operate the farm and then bring in
Speaker:our unique employment model, which is here in Jackson Hole,
Speaker:Wyoming, we employ half of our workforce
Speaker:identifies with some sort of physical or intellectual disability, half does
Speaker:not. And so many people said, you know, do the
Speaker:farming first, figure it out, and then bring in the people. Yeah. And
Speaker:there was no way that I would do that. We created the playbook
Speaker:together based on our different
Speaker:perspectives, based on an ethos of diversity and
Speaker:inclusion. And so we made mistakes together.
Speaker:We learn the hard way together and we evolve
Speaker:together. So I think that there's not one space
Speaker:in the 3-story vertical greenhouse that we operate
Speaker:that hasn't been transformed in some way, you know, in
Speaker:conjunction with what an employee's experience
Speaker:has been or a plant's experience has been, or,
Speaker:you know, a manufacturer, you know, from the Netherlands, which we've
Speaker:always been systems integrators. Which has enabled
Speaker:us to ride the wave of technology as this
Speaker:industry has matured. And so that we're not hung up
Speaker:on one thing, but really our ethos is about constant
Speaker:evolution, constant iteration, and it's made us quite nimble.
Speaker:And I think that is the biggest lesson learned in a
Speaker:nascent industry. You have to be nimble. If you can't
Speaker:pivot to respond to the changing lessons learned of
Speaker:the industry as a, in general, Then, as
Speaker:we've kind of started to see, you know, you get
Speaker:stuck and you can't, you have fewer options.
Speaker:And I think that that's been my biggest lesson learned. Don't bank on
Speaker:anything and there will be, there are no silver bullets.
Speaker:Is it important for you in these new locations to the extent
Speaker:possible, apply the same employment model? In terms of
Speaker:the split that you just mentioned? Oh, yes, that is the intent. I mean,
Speaker:I think what has been really another
Speaker:amazing realization is the need that we saw
Speaker:specifically here in Jackson Hole about, you know, our
Speaker:employees having a very, very high
Speaker:unemployment rate. And if they did have jobs, they were,
Speaker:you know, entry-level jobs and not careers like you and I.
Speaker:Really, and all of us, you know, that's why we go to work is to
Speaker:build our career. They didn't have access to that kind of
Speaker:personal and professional growth, but that's a national trend.
Speaker:And so we're seeing it in all the communities that
Speaker:we're a part of. But I think that, you know, again, back to
Speaker:this, how do we respond to the needs of the communities
Speaker:that we invest in and invest in us? It's really
Speaker:about, from the very beginning, understanding what the employment
Speaker:needs are. You know, in Maine, there's a large refugee population
Speaker:there. It's very interesting, the particular
Speaker:employment needs. And we've created, as we talked about in the
Speaker:last session, the Grow Well employment model that really is
Speaker:based on customized employment and really tailoring the needs of the
Speaker:individual and to the job. job and the job to the individual.
Speaker:That's been very robust for us. And so, that is at the
Speaker:forefront. We like to say we put people first. And I
Speaker:think that, you know, we're trying to create systems that do
Speaker:just that. And it's good for business because, you know,
Speaker:our employees are evangelists and it's pretty cool to see.
Speaker:And so, that definitely is something that seems to be a model that you'll
Speaker:be using in the other farms going forward. Are there any pushbacks
Speaker:when you go into these locations, when you find a partner city? Is there
Speaker:something that is just so new to them that they still have to wrap their
Speaker:heads around it, whether it's, you know, location, employment,
Speaker:whether it's the business model, whether it's, you know, outreach to the community,
Speaker:whether it's partnership with other businesses, whether it's maybe other businesses
Speaker:you might be disrupting somehow? I'm just curious if the
Speaker:municipalities that, as you start to have these early conversations, have to
Speaker:come around to see a new way of doing things that they might have
Speaker:not thought of previously? You know, what's been super
Speaker:interesting about that is we haven't seen that. I mean, we saw that here in
Speaker:Wyoming, but I think we now have built our R&D
Speaker:facility to a place where we have proof of concept, right? You come
Speaker:to our farm, you see it working, you see the impact it
Speaker:has had on lives, you see the impact it's had on the community.
Speaker:It's an easy sell. And we don't even need to bring a
Speaker:lot of people here. They see, you know, I mean, these are problems, food and
Speaker:jobs, nobody can argue with that, right? Yeah. And I
Speaker:think that what, you know, what has been exciting
Speaker:is that, that we are very transparent,
Speaker:right? We're saying, this is what we are, this is what we're not. And we
Speaker:engage people into the process. And I think that
Speaker:You know, that is really in a, again, in an industry that's not
Speaker:mature, that transparency is essential,
Speaker:right? And to be community-minded, right? To go in and
Speaker:listen first, right? And not tell. I think it's Adam
Speaker:Grant who said the amazing phrase, speak like you're right,
Speaker:but listen like you're wrong, right? And, and
Speaker:that's how we approach our each community.
Speaker:And so we try to, you know, show how
Speaker:we're collaborative and really problem-solving together. And
Speaker:that has been a really successful strategy.
Speaker:In fact, some communities have said that they were going to put
Speaker:out a request for proposals from a myriad of farms,
Speaker:and then they go out and do their due diligence and they say, you know
Speaker:what, we're not doing that, we're just going with you. Because we address
Speaker:more than one issue. And I think, you know, it has a
Speaker:compounding effect and attractiveness, but I'm glad we did the hard
Speaker:work when we did it. And it has been very
Speaker:encouraging to see how people have welcomed us with
Speaker:open arms. What's the roadmap? I know there's
Speaker:Maine, I think Chicago was mentioned as well. So obviously there's a lot
Speaker:that needs to happen between now and then, but what What does the tentative plan
Speaker:look like now? Well, I think by the time we— this comes—
Speaker:goes live, we will have been able to announce that we have a
Speaker:partnership, a really exciting partnership in Detroit,
Speaker:and we're signing that agreement now. We are working
Speaker:with Las Vegas. We're working with several other
Speaker:states. Those are the ones that I can talk about freely because
Speaker:we've had press around them. But, you know, I think that
Speaker:what our hope is, at minimum, 10 farms in the next
Speaker:5 years. And, you know, that's ambitious.
Speaker:Some in our team would push that to 20. I think
Speaker:that what is really fundamental to
Speaker:understand is this is about a local food movement, right? It's not
Speaker:just about— it's not just about controlled environment
Speaker:agriculture. Again, Why is controlled environment agriculture
Speaker:important? Why are we vertical farmers? Why are we
Speaker:horizontal farmers? Yeah. Well, for us, it's
Speaker:about city, right? That the city, 80%
Speaker:of population by the year 2050, right? We all use these numbers. They're
Speaker:going to move to the cities. How are we going to feed everybody? But more
Speaker:important to that, we've lost our connection to the food, to the food that we
Speaker:eat, right? So, we focused on quantity
Speaker:instead of quality. And here's an opportunity
Speaker:to do both, to have a high volume
Speaker:of affordable, accessible, available, good
Speaker:food, right? And it's just the start, obviously.
Speaker:But most communities that we go to have a vision for
Speaker:their own food sovereignty, right? So in Maine, for example,
Speaker:by the year 2030, They're participating in the New England
Speaker:Food Vision, which is a mandate to
Speaker:increase the amount of local food by to 30% by the year
Speaker:2030, right? Okay. And so we're a participant in that.
Speaker:And then controlled environment agriculture becomes
Speaker:important because local food at scale
Speaker:is important. And I think it's about really connecting the dots,
Speaker:right? And, and understanding, okay, well, we have a solution. You
Speaker:want to check it out? And people more often than not say yes.
Speaker:And then we go through all due diligence that needs
Speaker:to happen to partner in those kind of situations. I'm
Speaker:excited to see what you do in Detroit. It's one of those cities that historically,
Speaker:at one point, it was probably like one of those— the most important city in
Speaker:the world. I mean, you think about all the activity that happened there with the
Speaker:Industrial Revolution and the birth of the auto industry
Speaker:and just the fall. I mean, you see some of those pictures. I think there
Speaker:was a World's Fair there and some of the— and you can just Everyone, it
Speaker:was just one, it was probably like on par with Paris at some point in
Speaker:terms of its, you know, the allure of it. And it's, and then when you
Speaker:see it now, I've been there because of my love of electronic music.
Speaker:I've been to an electronic music festival there called Movement. So I've been there
Speaker:9 years. Awesome. And so I got to see firsthand, you know,
Speaker:just these hollowed out shells of buildings and just like the
Speaker:devastation that happens when a whole industry is just, not
Speaker:thriving anymore. It's interesting to see what, you know, how
Speaker:something like vertical harbors can play a small part in
Speaker:revitalizing. And there was a lot of efforts underway already there. But, and then that's
Speaker:going to happen, I'm sure, in several of your other locations as well. But it's
Speaker:exciting to see, and it's exciting to see how the
Speaker:community takes to it because I think it'll be a very positive
Speaker:outcome there. Well, I couldn't agree more, and a lot
Speaker:because I'm from Detroit. I grew up there. I'm very excited
Speaker:to be able to give back to Detroit in this way. I think
Speaker:Detroit has always been, as you indicated, this
Speaker:fascinating intersection of muscle and brain,
Speaker:right? And the manufacturing history of it is so
Speaker:robust. And we have an excellent partner there,
Speaker:Bedrock Development, and they have invested a
Speaker:great deal into the You know, to
Speaker:thinking about how to be smarter about development in
Speaker:Detroit, how to create a Detroit that is more
Speaker:resilient, that is more of the people, by the people.
Speaker:And Vertical Harvest is engaged in that conversation. And so
Speaker:those kinds of partnerships are really important to us and really exciting to
Speaker:be able to anchor a new community in that
Speaker:way. for Detroiters, of Detroiters, right? It's not
Speaker:just about vertical harvest and, you know, sending off our workers,
Speaker:but how do we do this, you know, in a way
Speaker:that will impact Detroit? And I think that's
Speaker:where, you know, we talk a lot
Speaker:about the potential of vertical farming,
Speaker:which is just space efficient, right? That's why we use it, because we want to
Speaker:be able to be You know, that's why it's so exciting to us
Speaker:because we want to be able to optimize where we are to be in the
Speaker:urban center. And then how do we
Speaker:really make it something that is meaningful to people
Speaker:because of the food they eat, the job they have, the
Speaker:connections they're able to make. So it'll be an exciting
Speaker:adventure. And it's one that I feel very
Speaker:passionate about. So anyone who's been paying close attention
Speaker:is probably asking the question how you get so much done
Speaker:with everything that's on your plate. And I'm just curious because
Speaker:there's a lot. I mean, you talk about 10 farms, possibly maybe even 20
Speaker:if you listen to your team. Mm-hmm. I'm curious,
Speaker:you personally, how you manage everything that's going
Speaker:on as a business owner, as the leader of your team, team
Speaker:as the grower of talent,
Speaker:because you have to have the confidence that you have the right people in all
Speaker:these locations that have your vision. And somehow,
Speaker:you can't be in all these places. And so, you want to make sure that
Speaker:what you envisioned when you started this is going to be there from a
Speaker:consistency standpoint,
Speaker:talent-wise, that every farm is going to be operating
Speaker:in a way that, you know, matches your vision. So I'm
Speaker:curious how you think about those challenges and, you know, how
Speaker:you tackle problems like, you know, challenges like that. I'm curious.
Speaker:You know, Harry, it's a great question. I often ask myself that, but I think
Speaker:it's really fundamental, right? It's about the quality of the people
Speaker:that you go into battle with, right? We have
Speaker:grown a great deal in the last 2 years since we
Speaker:last And I think it's not only about the quality of the people that
Speaker:you bring on to your management team, which then, you know, starts to
Speaker:unfold into the rest of the team, but it's about
Speaker:having really strong vision,
Speaker:fundamentally, mission, and then the values to break it, to
Speaker:back it up. And I'd say that was really hard for us,
Speaker:you know, to stick to those things. But as a leader, with
Speaker:my leadership team, we all understood that
Speaker:we needed to stay true to the things that were important to us and
Speaker:that we knew, to react to that pattern recognition
Speaker:that would lead to a business that can make it
Speaker:through all of the, you know,
Speaker:dips of a new industry, right? Seeing what's happened in
Speaker:tech, seeing what's happened in you know, renewables.
Speaker:How do we take those lessons and build something
Speaker:in this, you know, very important industry? And
Speaker:that was, if we had not stuck to our
Speaker:guns, our mission of growing food and futures,
Speaker:and just as simple as that, we are a food and jobs movement.
Speaker:Yeah. And tech is great. We love tech. Of course, you can't do
Speaker:this without tech. But tech comes second to the
Speaker:food and jobs movement. And so it's a laser
Speaker:focus. And it's hard because you get distracted and you see
Speaker:people, you know, raising close to $1 billion,
Speaker:right, on tech. And you're like, I hope you succeed because
Speaker:if you don't, right, it's going to make it
Speaker:harder to everybody who is operating their business for different
Speaker:reasons. But I think it's really in order for
Speaker:everybody to do as much on our team as do as much as everybody is
Speaker:doing, not just me. It's about having a framework for
Speaker:decision-making that is authentic to Vertical Harvest and
Speaker:Vertical Harvest alone. Now, does it take in the data from
Speaker:the industry and from the communities? Of course, but it's
Speaker:within our view of the world. And that has been really
Speaker:in maturing as an individual. My voice has
Speaker:become stronger because of those choices. What's a typical
Speaker:day for you look like?
Speaker:Juggling. Juggling.
Speaker:You know, I'm a people person, Harry. I love
Speaker:relationships and relationships. I found
Speaker:leveraging relationships, showing up
Speaker:with your authentic self, right?
Speaker:Can cut through a lot of you know
Speaker:messiness, and I think that is my day.
Speaker:I try to start kind of grounding myself
Speaker:so that I can do that, and if I find myself
Speaker:kind of you know wobbling, I remind myself I'm here
Speaker:to try to get us all to the point where we
Speaker:want to be. In an optimized and streamlined
Speaker:way and an authentic way. And that every day is
Speaker:different. Some days I'm on the road, some days I
Speaker:am here with the team, and some
Speaker:days I'm just at home trying to catch up. But each one
Speaker:of those has that filter of being like, okay, how do I do this
Speaker:best? And that again adheres to our values
Speaker:and the way we do things. What helps you come back to center?
Speaker:My family and my friends, the people I work with,
Speaker:you know, the laughter. I think that, you know, it's been
Speaker:such an incredible journey. And now
Speaker:that, you know, in our last session we talked about that one of my
Speaker:prime motivators is I have a brother with disabilities. And
Speaker:now for the last 7 years, we've shared shown that
Speaker:access to this very exciting space can be
Speaker:democratized, right? And our farmers who prior to
Speaker:vertical harvest were washing dishes, you know,
Speaker:cleaning hotel rooms, that's all great. We got to start somewhere. But now
Speaker:they have fed our community good food, healthy food,
Speaker:food that inspires, fresh food. And now
Speaker:they're leading the charge in Maine. And they are our teachers out
Speaker:there. They've been on panels out there, talked to the contractors. This is
Speaker:a sea change of perception of what people can do when you
Speaker:focus on ability. And that, when I've
Speaker:seen the impact that it has had on people's lives,
Speaker:I'm a very competitive person. I don't want to fail, but
Speaker:I don't want to fail because I am responsible for what we've
Speaker:unlocked. There, right? We've shown that there is a better
Speaker:way and that it can be a profitable way. It's a good business.
Speaker:It's a strong business. And we can turn capitalism
Speaker:on its ear, right? We can say we can do
Speaker:well by doing good. And those things can be connected. And in fact, we do
Speaker:do well because we're doing good because people want to be a part of our
Speaker:story, right? With a little farm that could here in
Speaker:Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I mean, we've had national and global press,
Speaker:right? We've had communities that say, yeah, we understand Maine
Speaker:is 15 times the size of the one in Jackson, but we
Speaker:want that impact. Yeah. So that— and I also have
Speaker:this power where it could be the darkest day and I'll look at
Speaker:my husband, I'm going to sleep. And then the next day I'm like, okay, here
Speaker:we are again. Refreshed. Because of that story. Yeah,
Speaker:I'm able to refresh. and go at it again because
Speaker:we've built a community that is magic. It is
Speaker:fun. It is challenging. It is
Speaker:not for the faint of heart. And we've shown that
Speaker:we are not of the faint of heart. This is not about
Speaker:charity. This is hard. And this is good business.
Speaker:So it's cool. It's good to see
Speaker:that you always have a smile on your face every time we connect. So
Speaker:I guess it's something to say for, you know, whatever
Speaker:habits or whatever, you know, ways of living or
Speaker:whatever things you've put in place personally to help you deal
Speaker:with all the pressures of, you know, showing up day in
Speaker:and day out, because I'm sure it's not easy. No,
Speaker:this industry, anybody that's in it or has been in it It's
Speaker:not for the faint of heart. It is, it takes, but you know,
Speaker:there's a reason so many people are as passionate as I am. And,
Speaker:you know, I think my one hope of the community and the,
Speaker:I mean, of the industry is that it become more of a community,
Speaker:right? Where we can share these experiences, we can have
Speaker:these relationships because that's what's gonna
Speaker:take, right? Is learning from each other. And, you know, I've heard
Speaker:several people talk about that on your podcast. And
Speaker:I think we're close. I think we're close to unlocking that because
Speaker:this is a movement. This isn't about Vertical Harvest or any, you
Speaker:know, anybody else. This is about something that
Speaker:time has come because people need it. Right.
Speaker:How have you evolved as a leader over the past few years?
Speaker:So many ways. I think I've learned how to be
Speaker:comfortable being uncomfortable, right?
Speaker:Say more about that. Yeah, I think
Speaker:that I've started to trust that
Speaker:I have built a team around me
Speaker:that we can problem solve our way out of most
Speaker:things. We hit a lot
Speaker:of headwinds, as a lot of our colleagues and competitors
Speaker:have as well. And we've navigated them. And
Speaker:every time I thought, oh, well, it can't get worse than this, you know,
Speaker:then it gets worse. I mean, the debt ceiling crisis, I'm like, no way
Speaker:it could touch us. It affected food supply chain, right? Yeah.
Speaker:Eviscerated the program at the USDA, right? So this was
Speaker:something we were counting on. It's project funding. So, I
Speaker:think that we've stopped creating
Speaker:those obstacles into fire drills and understanding that
Speaker:we have a robust toolset that we
Speaker:can tap into to, like I said before,
Speaker:navigate and find another solution. Well, okay, that's gone.
Speaker:Yeah. Didn't see that coming, right? But
Speaker:how do we do that? And I think people see me Showing
Speaker:up day to day, you know, not with a smile on
Speaker:face. I think you kind of hit it there, and then they're like, okay, well,
Speaker:she's fighting. I'm gonna fight too, right? And we're gonna keep going.
Speaker:And that's that culture that I'm talking about. We've built. I think you can have
Speaker:the best laid strategies, the best laid plans, and if you don't have the
Speaker:culture to support it, you know, you're dead in the water. And
Speaker:so we've spent the last. almost a decade
Speaker:now building that culture, and I think it is really
Speaker:strong. Yeah. What are your thoughts on the recent
Speaker:high-profile news? AeroFarms, other folks, just
Speaker:within the past couple of months, there's so much
Speaker:high-profile news that if you're looking from the outside, you're wondering, like, what's
Speaker:going on in vertical farming? Doesn't look like it's all it's cracked up to be.
Speaker:And I'm wondering what, if any, impact it has on your
Speaker:decision-making or just your thoughts to how people
Speaker:should be looking at that in the context of what we're trying to do
Speaker:here collectively as an industry? Well, I think each one is a
Speaker:little bit of a stab to the heart, right?
Speaker:Because their successes are our successes. And
Speaker:unfortunately, the other way around rings true as well.
Speaker:I think that venture capital is not available to any of us right now because
Speaker:of what happened, you know, with in the last couple years. Yeah.
Speaker:So, okay, you know, how do you reposition? And I think
Speaker:that's a question. I think what is unfortunate is
Speaker:that these farms are not apples to apples. Yeah. And because
Speaker:of the lack of transparency in the industry,
Speaker:there hasn't been much insight into that. So, you can't
Speaker:say— so, everybody gets lumped in, you know,
Speaker:to one category. For example, we are vertical farmers.
Speaker:Yes, it's true. But most of our colleagues
Speaker:have really leveraged technology, right? Saying
Speaker:they're going to reinvent the wheel. I would even say they're inventing a new wheel.
Speaker:I'm not, you know, is that necessary or not? This is a conversation we could
Speaker:have. Sure. For us, at the very beginning, I knew what I knew and I
Speaker:knew what I didn't know. didn't know how to farm hydroponically.
Speaker:So I said, who's the best partner? And, you know, you look over across
Speaker:the pond in the Netherlands, a country the size of Maryland,
Speaker:under glass, they've become the 2nd largest exporter of food in the
Speaker:United States, right? I mean, 2nd to the United States
Speaker:globally. Yeah. And so they're our partners.
Speaker:They've been our partners. So we're systems integrators, right? So we bring
Speaker:tried and true hydroponic technology, And put it together as
Speaker:an architect would into a robust ecosystem
Speaker:that prioritizes yields and production
Speaker:alongside people, really maximizing costs. I mean,
Speaker:optimizing costs. So pushing the cost down, what's that balance
Speaker:between people and automation? But we're not doing what
Speaker:AeroFarms was doing or what Calera was doing, right?
Speaker:And so, but we get lumped in, well, they're vertical ag on interested, right? And
Speaker:I think, and so, but then again, on the other side of things,
Speaker:you always want to find the right investors who are going to take the time
Speaker:to say, all right, what does this company really look like?
Speaker:It seems that there's a there there, right? But at
Speaker:the end of the day, I think AeroFarms really hit me hard because
Speaker:I felt that they were in the community, engaging the
Speaker:community. Yeah. No. And what does Chapter 11 even
Speaker:mean? People read that and they're like, bad. You know, it's about restructuring. Restructuring. Yeah.
Speaker:They've been around for a long time. So I think the important thing
Speaker:is, you know, why I love the work that you do so much,
Speaker:Harry, and I'm such a dedicated listener and I'm not just
Speaker:kissing up. It's because we have to have these
Speaker:conversations and we have to have them openly and transparently.
Speaker:Yeah. What has you excited when you think about the, your
Speaker:relationship to tech and innovation-wise, or what are
Speaker:you seeing, or do you rely on your technology partner to just keep
Speaker:tabs of what's the latest and greatest? And so that they're doing the
Speaker:implementation, they're doing the testing, they're seeing what's
Speaker:going to make sense to put into production. So do you, from a tech standpoint,
Speaker:innovation standpoint, is that where that partnership comes in handy for you?
Speaker:Yeah. It's a robust collaboration where it's dual innovation, right? What do
Speaker:we need on our side and how can we solve that? I mean, these— I
Speaker:work with engineers. I'm an architect. We like to, you
Speaker:know, be able to really understand what the system
Speaker:will output. And that is so fun. And whenever we are
Speaker:able to push it even further, it is such an
Speaker:amazing, you know, it is something we all feel really good
Speaker:about. I think that some of the things that I'm
Speaker:most excited about is how do you look at
Speaker:food as the new factory, right? A human factory,
Speaker:right? It has— it's humanized.
Speaker:And of course, you know, we're involved in AI and ML
Speaker:and all of that with growing plants, which is amazing.
Speaker:And I'm blown away by it all the time. But what if you
Speaker:look at it during— with the dual filter of not only
Speaker:plants, but people? What is the potential for AI
Speaker:to really empower people, to augment teams,
Speaker:to create ways of working smarter and better?
Speaker:And that is something that I have been investing a lot of my own
Speaker:personal time in understanding. What is our point of view with
Speaker:AI? It's here, it's happening. We could be scared of it, but
Speaker:you know, we have to have the belief that we can do something with it
Speaker:and that we must do something with it. And I think that's what's
Speaker:really exciting. But, Harry, just, you know,
Speaker:obviously I'm excited about a lot of things, but I think that the farm
Speaker:itself, the way it operates to
Speaker:prioritize yields, to respond
Speaker:to the demand for local food, how we've used conveyance, how
Speaker:we've used automation, how we've used lighting. And how
Speaker:we've put that all together. It's the ecosystem,
Speaker:again, back to that ecosystem of opportunity, that
Speaker:is the real innovation. Yeah, it's exciting to
Speaker:see, and it's almost like hard to predict where it's going to go because I
Speaker:think, I mean, 2 years ago we weren't even talking about AI.
Speaker:So who knows what's going to happen on our next conversation?
Speaker:What's a tough question you've had to ask yourself recently?
Speaker:So many. I think that
Speaker:I should have been prepared for this because I know that you ask this.
Speaker:That's okay. I'd rather you take the time to think about
Speaker:what's most alive for you. Yeah, I just want to make sure
Speaker:that it is. I think there's a
Speaker:lot of exciting things happening
Speaker:There are a lot of really exciting
Speaker:things happening with vertical harvest.
Speaker:And it's making sure that we have
Speaker:the right people in the right shoes and that
Speaker:we're taking on— that we're
Speaker:being real with ourselves, right? Mm-hmm. And the industry is being
Speaker:real with itself, right? How do we stay away
Speaker:from the big, like, okay, you know, by the year
Speaker:2050, here's where we're going. What are we really doing
Speaker:and staying close to that? Why,
Speaker:right? Why at a very micro level,
Speaker:the local level, are we really
Speaker:of community? Are we making the right choices
Speaker:for to create a sustainable business? I mean, And being
Speaker:truthful about to ourselves, most importantly.
Speaker:Transparency is one of our core values, but are we asking
Speaker:ourselves the right questions? And I think
Speaker:that lesson learned philosophy that you always ask, I think it
Speaker:gets exhausting sometimes in businesses. People just want to go.
Speaker:Yeah. And we're always saying it's a part of our culture to
Speaker:ask ourselves the hard questions. And to really
Speaker:listen to ourselves if we think we are on a path that is
Speaker:not going in the right direction. That's a good point.
Speaker:This may be probably a similar answer, but as you might know,
Speaker:the next— as we wrap up, I always like to leave a couple of minutes
Speaker:now for any thoughts that you have for your colleagues in the
Speaker:industry, for— because, you know, a lot of the folks like you listen to the
Speaker:show, and I always you know, want to encourage these conversations,
Speaker:this dialogue to happen. So is anything top of mind for
Speaker:you in terms of like what message you have, June
Speaker:2023, for your colleagues in this space?
Speaker:Keep going. You know, the problems
Speaker:aren't going away. And I'd say,
Speaker:what about— and the way to keep going, I guess, back to kind of our
Speaker:prior conversation, What inspires us all
Speaker:to keep going? What is inspirational about it, right?
Speaker:And that's back to what's the why, right? It's an age-old—
Speaker:but yes, we must talk about unit economics.
Speaker:Yes, we must talk about the tech. Yes, we must
Speaker:talk about how to get the product out into the market.
Speaker:But what is truly inspirational?
Speaker:about CEA? What is the promise of CEA? How
Speaker:do you see that? And how are you, you know,
Speaker:responding to that? And I think really spending time—
Speaker:that is the hard question, right? And maybe that's why I paused, because
Speaker:that is the hard question. Yeah. How are you going to,
Speaker:as a cog in a machine, individually respond to the
Speaker:promise of CEA? And then how are we going to have the real
Speaker:conversations as a collective, as a community
Speaker:to respond to CEA? Because I think what's most disheartening
Speaker:to me is, you know, I had— there's this
Speaker:leader of an organization called Future Crunch where they've rethought the
Speaker:news, where they focus on good news instead of bad news.
Speaker:And Angus Harvey, what he says is it takes a long time to
Speaker:build good things. It takes a second to break them down.
Speaker:And that is what I feel that we are vulnerable to.
Speaker:Yeah. At this moment. And make sure
Speaker:that we're having the conversations so that we can all keep
Speaker:working on the good things and that we don't allow a
Speaker:blip to take down the vertical farming industry because
Speaker:it is a tool for our futures. It is a tool for our cities.
Speaker:And we need to double down on why and how it
Speaker:works. And I am so encouraged by
Speaker:AeroFarms coming back out 2 days later with the
Speaker:announcement about microgreens, you know, okay. Yeah. Took a
Speaker:blow, but we're here, right? And not hiding away from it. And I hope
Speaker:we can continue to do that because it's, we're going to suffer
Speaker:multiple blows. It's new. It is. Well,
Speaker:that's an inspiring way to wrap up this conversation.
Speaker:I'm always excited to have this chat with you. I'm always looking forward to
Speaker:getting to meet with you in person. It's one of the highlights of attending these
Speaker:conferences. And so we get to see each other in— is it 7
Speaker:days, 8 days? So yeah, that's gonna be— Right back at you, Harry. Looking
Speaker:forward to it. Looking forward to it. And so encourage attendees, there's still
Speaker:tickets available, so we'll have details in the show
Speaker:about that. And obviously, I think the beauty of that conference
Speaker:is that it's single, as far as I know, still going to be single track.
Speaker:So everyone gets to attend all the sessions, which is really powerful because you really
Speaker:focus attention. I think I saw that you're going to be,
Speaker:you're going to be providing some samples or something at this show. Is that
Speaker:confirmed yet? Yeah, we're going to have a community table where we'll have
Speaker:samples. You'll be able to meet some of our farmers
Speaker:and come and just talk about the industry. What are your questions? What are you
Speaker:concerned about? What are you excited about? So we're really excited about
Speaker:that. Very cool. Okay, so verticalharvestfarms.com.
Speaker:Anywhere else you want to send folks to connect with you and the team? Well,
Speaker:all our socials, you know, LinkedIn, Instagram,
Speaker:TikTok. We're on TikTok. We're big on
Speaker:TikTok. For all the kids who are— yeah, and it's interesting to
Speaker:have that platform for this new generation as well, to get them excited, which is
Speaker:really cool as well. Exactly. Okay. Thanks again for
Speaker:your time. Always a pleasure. Thanks again to Nona for round 2,
Speaker:coming back on the show. Always appreciate her taking time out to bring
Speaker:these inspiring stories to light. I feel that it's a good
Speaker:thing, a great thing for this industry, and I am always excited when we
Speaker:connect. Special thanks to our season 8 title sponsor, Cultivated. If you're looking into a
Speaker:vertical farm and don't know where to start or which technology would suit your needs,
Speaker:reach out to them today. Best of all, their service is free because they work
Speaker:on behalf Learn more at cultivated.com. That's spelled
Speaker:C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-E-D.com. Just leave out that last
Speaker:E. Podcast production and marketing provided by Fullcast. Learn more at fullcast.co.
Speaker:As a reminder, if you're enjoying this episode or past episodes, leave us a rating
Speaker:and a review at ratethispodcast.com/vfp. We'll be sure to read those
Speaker:out on future episodes. Okay, we're getting close to the end of season
Speaker:8. Next episode, we have a great conversation with someone
Speaker:who is very familiar in this space. It's Seper Ashard of
Speaker:iGrow News. As you might imagine, 2 guys talking about their
Speaker:favorite topic, sharing all the news, the highs and lows of
Speaker:this industry. That'll be a great conversation. I can't wait to share it with you.
Speaker:Until we meet again, here's to your health. Thanks for listening. To
Speaker:read the full show notes for this episode, which includes any links
Speaker:mentioned in the episode, as well as a full show transcription, Visit
Speaker:verticalfarmingpodcast.com. There, you can sign
Speaker:up for our email list to be notified when new episodes are published.
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