Ellicottville Greens, a vertical farm company, has asked the County of Cattaraugus Industrial Development Agency for tax-exempt financing to build a corporate headquarters and growing facility in Ellicottville for the company's vertical gardens.
The company is seeking to create a network of sustainable indoor vertical farms where it can grow microgreens, baby greens, leafy greens, and herbs under the Ellicottville Greens and Vertical Fresh Farms brands.
The indoor farm management company, which operates and buys sustainable farms, plans to build a 9,120-square-foot facility on 2 acres of farmland on Simmons Road in Ellicottville, which it would lease from landowner John Metz. Plans include leveling the ground, laying down a crushed limestone pad, installing utility upgrades, building a pole barn, and placing mobile, modular shipping containers where the food would be grown.
The project would create six full-time and two part-time jobs. If approved, work would begin in September and finish in a year, although occupancy would start by December.
"We are bringing the first full-scale indoor farm to the southern tier of WNY," Bialkowski wrote in his application. "Financial assistance allows this project to come to life and be a staple for innovation in Cattaraugus County. Without financial assistance, we wouldn't be able to expand into Cattaraugus County."
Source: The Buffalo News