AeroFarms secures funding to delay Ringgold closure through February

Employees at Pittsylvania County‘s AeroFarms, an indoor vertical farming company, appear to have jobs for at least a few more weeks.

The company has received additional short-term funding from a lender to continue core operations at its facility at Ringgold‘s Cane Creek Centre, a joint industrial park for the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County, until Feb. 27, according to a letter sent to the state dated Jan. 14. Meanwhile AeroFarms will continue “to pursue strategic options,” the notice stated.

A spokesperson for AeroFarms did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Ken Larking, city manager of Danville, said Friday he was glad the facility wasn’t shuttering immediately. “While I’m happy they have short-term financing, it would be a lot better for everyone’s sake, if they were able to get long-term financing and provide stability for the company and its employees,” he said.

On Dec. 11, 2025, AeroFarms sent a letter to the Virginia’s Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, aka Virginia Works, reporting it would close in eight days because the company’s largest investor withdrew future financial support.  However, employees got a reprieve on Dec. 19, 2025, when the company sent out a news release announcing an existing stakeholder had agreed to provide funding.

What AeroFarms didn’t disclose in the press release was that the company could still close between Jan. 2 and Jan. 16, 2026. That detail was included in a Dec. 19, 2025, update to Virginia Works, though.

A group of 16 primarily remote employees, which include six Virginia residents, will continue to be furloughed, according to AeroFarms’ most recent state notice. If the Ringgold facility has to close Feb. 27, 127 employees, including those working remotely, would lose their jobs, the notice stated. Of those, 98 are Virginia residents.

Previously, AeroFarms told the state that 18 mostly remote employees, including seven Virginians, would be temporarily furloughed, beginning Dec. 19, 2025.

In its initial notice to the state Dec. 11, 2025, AeroFarms noted 173 employees would lose their jobs. However, the following week the company reported it had 135 remaining employees.

In April 2023, AeroFarms transferred its New Jersey commercial production to its commercial farm at 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 farm 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 previous debt facility from Horizon Technology Finance, a Connecticut-based venture lending platform, according to the news release.

In 2019, then-Gov. Ralph Northam announced that AeroFarms would invest $42 million to build a vertical farm in Cane Creek Centre. The company celebrated the opening of 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.