What does it take to build 24 acres of tomatoes and a greenhouse as large as 20 football fields?
First, a sustainable, successful business with a well-recognized brand in a number of large US retailers.
Second, a community with great infrastructure capacity, from human capital to transportation to electric to water.
Finally, materials to build a state of the art facility.
And as we've seen, the Mucci Farms US Headquarters is well underway. The region has certainly made note of the $70M investment in progress on Rye Beach Rd in Huron. It's hard to miss:
- 240 containers of facility materials delivered.
- 50,000 tons of stone and sand to prepare the site.
- 28,000 panes of glass assembled for a greenhouse roof.
- 7 acres of concrete floor space poured.
- 200 miles of electric cable and 120 miles of pipe.
The City of Huron & Erie County are thrilled to welcome Mucci Farms' large-scale, multi-year investment of a three phase construction project which will cover a total of 60 acres. The facility will feature the newest and latest state of the art greenhouses equipped with grow lights which extend the growing season and a 272,000 sq. ft. distribution warehouse to support the Company's growing US customer base.
Mucci's expansion was strategically identified to meet the demands of their US customers for locally grown, year round, fresh and flavorful produce. Making this investment in Ohio allows Mucci Farms to reduce the food miles for its US retailers and gives US consumers the confidence that they can bring fresh and flavorful Mucci Farms' produce into their homes all year round.
Mucci Farms was exploring a number of US expansion opportunities and felt Huron would be a perfect fit with its easy access to customers and proximity to Mucci's corporate headquarters in Kingsville, Ontario. The company's also established a number of working partnerships during its development stages with entities across the City of Huron and Erie County.
Company officials stated "As Mucci Farms continues to grow so will its work in the communities the Company is a part of. Mucci Farms understands the value of supporting all local communities in which it operates and it places equal emphasis on social interests as business interests. The Company is confident that there are a number of inspiring things to come with this investment in Ohio and Mucci Farms looks forward to growing with the City of Huron, Huron Township and Erie County."
Hiring is underway with Phase I of Mucci's development with a first plant expected in Spring of 2018. Mucci is looking to immediately fill 100 positions with up to 250 full-time positions expected at completion of the project stages. Residents interested in general labor, growers, supervisors and more are encouraged to visit muccifarms.com/careers.
The attraction of Mucci Farms US Headquarters has already had a transformational impact in our community. We look forward to 2018 and what the next stage of development will bring.
