BrightFarms Indoor Farm to bring jobs, fresh produce to Middle Georgia

A new indoor farm is coming to the Macon Airport East Industrial Park, and it’s promising new jobs for the county, as well as fresh produce for grocery stores across the southeast.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A new indoor farm is coming to the Macon Airport East Industrial Park, and it’s promising new jobs for the county, as well as fresh produce for grocery stores across the southeast.

Macon-Bibb County community leaders broke ground Thursday on the site of the new BrightFarms greenhouse. The facility will employ 250 people and grow 350 million pounds of leafy greens, like lettuce, each year.

According to BrightFarms CEO John Schaefer, the lettuce takes only 21 days to grow before it hits store shelves.

“We like to have all of our produce being shipped locally, so we really don’t have to go beyond a four to six hour drive because that’s the benefit of our product,” Schaefer explained. “It gets harvested and is in a grocery within the next day.”

The greenhouse will also serve as the first educational and training center for employees and customers of BrightFarms.

Construction is expected to be complete by winter of next year.