Company eyes Olds for site of new greenhouse

An Alberta-based greenhouse company has identified Olds as a possible location for a new greenhouse.

Greg Kurjata, a director and chief financial officer with BestGrow Greenhouses Ltd., said Olds is on a shortlist with two other Alberta communities to become home to a new greenhouse that would produce lettuce.

"We like what we see in Olds," he said. "It’s a very progressive town. It’s very favourable."

Kurjata was in town on March 13 to present information about the greenhouse concept to 10 of the company’s current and prospective investors.

If a property in Olds is selected as a location for the greenhouse, the operation would be three hectares in size and would employ dozens of people, Kurjata said.

"It will be the equivalent of 30 full-time jobs. It’s going to be a mix between full- and part-time."

Although he wouldn’t name the other communities the company is considering, Kurjata said BestGrow is looking at properties in Olds and the Calgary area and still has much work to do in making sure the company finds the right fit in terms of location and investment.

"We have to complete our due diligence before we make our final decision."

He added the company hopes to make a decision on where the greenhouse will go within the next three to four weeks.

When the greenhouse would actually be built depends on the company’s fundraising efforts.

"Our goal is to be able to start building this summer and that would have us the first crop by the spring of next year," Kurjata said.

Right now, he said, investors and representatives of Olds’ business community are "lobbying quite vigorously for us to be picking Olds on the shortlist."

After the first greenhouse is built, the company plans to build three more across the country, Kurjata said.

He said the company’s greenhouse concept would fit in with Mountain View County’s aims to "evolve rural agriculture."

"We believe that our greenhouse will fit nicely within the development plan for the municipal district."

Kurjata said the company, which would use a hydroponic growing system developed by HydroNov Inc., saw Alberta as a good market for lettuce-producing greenhouses since 98 per cent of the lettuce consumed in the province comes from Arizona and California.

He also said the company hasn’t identified a specific property in Olds yet as a potential site for the greenhouse and BestGrow would still need to purchase land here and obtain licences and permits from the town before any building begins.

Mayor Judy Dahl said she is excited the company is moving forward with making a possible decision on the greenhouse.

"It’s been in the works for quite a few years," she said. "We’ve had a lot of focus group meetings with several key stakeholders in the community."

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