Hello community, I am in the early stages of seeking investment for a worker owned AP company, I have some small investors lined up and am looking to build out a team. Dividend paying Equity stakes for people who want a long-term commitment would be on offer, We have a good list of advisors and consultants but we really need a team to get this project off the ground. The promise of this model is democratic control and responsibility across a global company, rapid growth, dynamic opportunities. We would like to draw as much of the supply chain under our umbrella and focus on producing food, shipped locally and competing with large agribusiness for shelf space in customers homes. If any of this peaks your interest reach out. I am from the northeast U.S. but have discussed opening in Ireland and Germany. Any part of the world where we could have a competitive advantage would work but local contacts will be ideal. Business people, engineers, students, scientists who really want to rapidly spread AP around the world and have a go at blowing up our conventional agriculture system are welcome. thank you Ben
Hi Ben… would be interested in at least learning more. I am in MA, and looking to set up my own system but willing to entertain other considerations. Since i will be building this year, i need to know what your intent is ASAP.
Thanks!
Rob Lak
rob we have talked before, I am building a house in Becket, currently working in North Adams. Be back in town in early Feb.
Hey Ben!
Super exciting news about your project! Would you say that you need an in person team with you in Ireland or Germany? Are you looking for remote workers? Are you searching for companies to supply materials to build and operate your farm?
Hey Cori, Currently it depends on where we find interested parties. Some of the advisors could be remote and we will probably be using a refurbished greenhouse from a Netherlands company depending on funding. We have been researching subsidies and grants and I have been in touch with the folks at Hatch but until we get off the ground I think it will be mostly in house and raised finance. Definitely not looking for outside operators as we are hoping to train our staff to be owner operators of the company. It will be modeled on the Mondragon worker coop model so traditional financing may be difficult but it is our core value to create a large scale multi-national worker owned cooperative. Each local facility will provide food to its local area with the umbrella of the larger cooperative providing support and logistics as well as economies of scale for purchase orders of inputs. The future would see incorporation of all feedstocks under the cooperative umbrella. This we believe could put us in the position to compete with globally shipped mulit-national agriculture. Some larger cities might have several facilities and smaller townships may have one facility. Hope this answers some of the questions. The founding team is very important as it will propel the early stages of this venture. It is critical that we get buy in for the model or I fear it will become another one off venture subject to the whims of the competitive food market. Thanks
Yeah, i reallized that when i noticed you were marked as a friend on Facebook. I have an issue with short term memory. Glad you’re still active with this.
I am out of state until Feb. as well, so we can chat sometime after.
Rob
I want any potential partners or advisors to know that this can be a paying opportunity and/or a ownership share in the growth of a very dynamic company. We can scale this technology to feed millions if we work together. I am very excited about the future of AP and I want to share that excitement, the food and the profits as widely as possible. Check out Manna CEA from Korea to get an idea of where we are heading for some of the future spaces. Love you all, Ben
Hi Manna, we would love to discuss a potential partnership to help support this initiative. Please reach out if you would like us to participate.
Loren West
Hi Ben - We own and operate FLP Acres Aquaponics Farm (www.FLPacres.com) in Hampton, NJ, roughly 50 miles from New York City and Philadelphia. Our property is currently for sale, with a plan to relocate to Greenville TN and with a smaller CEA facility. We are a NJ licensed Aquatic Farmer and Hemp Grower. Organic certification is in progress.
Personally, I am a civil/environmental professional engineer who’s career began in planning and implementing water and environmental facilities and programs. In late 2018, we opened a small organic restaurant, and were searching for year-round, local organically raised produce, we visited the farm we now own. The next year it was shut-down and listed for sale.
We began our plan to finance, acquire, restore the aquaponics equipment, completely renovate homestead, train volunteers, start-up, operate, and maintain the facilities. We planned our work, and worked our plan much as I had done throughout my career.
Please be in touch, to discuss your vision and contribute to your plan.
-Don Sherman
[email protected]
480.299.9180