100 AeroFarms jobs spared in Pittsylvania County

More than 100 employees who work at AeroFarms, an indoor vertical farming company in Pittsylvania County, appear likely to keep their jobs.

Late last year, the company sent a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice to the state that it expected to close its Ringgold plant, laying off 173 people total. However, AeroFarms extended the date of possible closure and kept the facility in operation. Now, it appears that AeroFarms is out of the woods and is rescinding its earlier WARN notice, keeping more than 100 workers based in Virginia employed.

AeroFarms Vice President of Human Resources Carlos Nuñez said in an April 29 email to Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones, that company leaders are excited “to continue our work making AeroFarms a stronger, more stable business.”

AeroFarms is located at Cane Creek Centre, which is jointly owned by Danville and Pittsylvania County.

In an email Tuesday, Nuñez declined to answer questions, stating that the company plans to share details at a later date.

“What we can say with confidence is that our farm, our products and our commitment to our customers, consumers and community remain as strong as ever,” he wrote. 

Danville City Manager Ken Larking was relieved to hear the AeroFarms’ news. “I’m glad they were able to find a partner and to finance their operation and get a lot of folks out of limbo, who were wondering whether they’d be unemployed,” he said.

In a March 27 notice to the state, Nuñez said the company was continuing “to advance the diligence and sales process.” The involved companies, he wrote, planned to close the transaction in April.

If the transaction did not close or the company failed “to obtain additional funding to pursue other strategic options,” Nuñez warned, the facility, which is located in Ringgold, could close April 17 or April 30.

At that time, a group of 11 employees, including three who live in Virginia, were to remain on furlough, which began Dec. 19, 2025. If the facility closed, the letter stated, 133 workers would lose their jobs. Of those, 106 are Virginians.

In the initial letter to the state, AeroFarms stated the Ringgold facility would need to close by Dec. 19, 2025 because its largest investor had withdrawn support. At that time, AeroFarms listed 173 employees, including 127 Virginians.

Later that month, however, AeroFarms announced an existing stakeholder had agreed to provide short-term funding to continue operations at Cane Creek Centre.

In 2023, AeroFarms transferred its New Jersey commercial production to its commercial farm at the Cane Creek Centre. A few months later, AeroFarms filed for voluntary protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code; however, the company pledged to keep up its efforts in Southern Virginia.

On Aug. 7, 2025, AeroFarms announced it had refinanced its debt to support ongoing operations at its Cane Creek Centre and had raised equity financing to support existing operations and fund preconstruction activities for its expansion to a second farm.

Equity was provided by existing investors, including Grosvenor Food & AgTech, a London-based investor in food and agriculture companies; Ingka Investments, a Netherlands-based investor; and Cibus Capital, a London-based investment adviser in sustainable food and agriculture, according to the August news release.

Siguler Guff, a New York-based private markets investment firm, provided AeroFarms with an asset-based loan to pay off a previous debt facility from Horizon Technology Finance, a Connecticut-based venture lending platform, that news release stated.

In 2019, then-Gov. Ralph Northam announced that AeroFarms would invest $42 million to build a vertical farm at the Cane Creek Centre. The company opened its 138,670-square-foot facility in 2022.

AeroFarms produces micro bok choy, micro kale, micro broccoli, micro arugula, micro spicy mix and micro super mix for retailers including Whole Foods, Harris Teeter and The Fresh Market.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.