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WESTBROOK, Maine (WMTW) -- Through towering windows, a glimpse inside the Westbrook facility reveals busy workers in the final stretch of preparing for a soon-to-open vertical farm in the heart of one of Maine's largest cities.
"We like to call these the Willy Wonka of greens," said Nona Yehia, CEO and founder of Vertical Harvest.
Vertical Harvest is a 51,000-square-foot, vertical hydroponic indoor farm in downtown Westbrook.
"We grow a variety of leafy greens here—everything from your head lettuce to your microgreens and everything in between," said Chris Eckerson.
This isn’t just any farm—it’s a super farm.
"The ceiling is 32 feet, the rack itself is 29 feet," Eckerson said.
The farm’s vertical design allows it to produce the equivalent of 250 acres of traditional farmland.
"So, 3 million pounds of produce for the local food economy," Yehia said.
Building a farm of this scale required expertise from the best in the industry.
"We looked across the pond, and in a country the size of Maryland, the Dutch have been farming under glass at a commercial scale for 30 years," Yehia said. "And because of that work, they’ve become the second-largest exporter of food behind the United States."
Vertical Harvest operates 24/7, 365 days a year—even when Maine is buried under snow.
"So, in the middle of winter, we can be farm to fork within 24 hours," Yehia said.
Yehia told Maine's Total Coverage that Vertical Harvest isn’t here to compete with Maine’s existing farms but rather to bolster the local food economy.
"The fact is that Maine imports over 95% of its produce, and in the winter, it's not producing much of anything at all," she said. "So how do we strengthen and create resiliency in our food system? Vertical farming is a tool—not replacing traditional agriculture but supplementing it to create a local source of food, which is, I think, a really smart thing to do in our communities."
The farm expects to plant its first seeds in the spring, with fresh greens hitting local tables by summer.
The goal is to have produce out the door and on local tables in New England within 24 hours.
"Portland's an amazing foodie community, and we're very excited to be a part of it," Yehia said. "We also work with the local school systems, the K-12 programs. We have a partnership with Sodexo to service higher education, the local hospitals. And so really, when you look at this, all of these consumers are trying to source local food at a high volume, consistently, and at an affordable price."
Vertical Harvest is also hiring and focused on practicing customized employment, with a focus on fostering human potential and offering reasonable and appropriate accommodations for people with disabilities via its Grow Well employment model.
For more information, visit Vertical Harvest's website.
