A prospective buyer walked away from acquiring 80 Acres Farms on Aug. 2, and the vertical farming company shut its Florence facility the next day, laying off 145 workers.
Documents filed with the Ohio Office of Workforce Development, first reported by WLWT, reveal the company was in active acquisition negotiations expected to provide the funding needed to keep the 200,000-square-foot indoor farm at 7455 Empire Drive running. When the unnamed buyer pulled out, the rescue collapsed.
In a statement issued Aug. 3, CEO and co-founder Mike Zelkind said the buyer withdrew Aug. 2, prompting the closure announcement that same day.
"Unfortunately, under current circumstances, we could not secure the capital required to continue that work," Zelkind said.
The filing shows 145 positions will be eliminated by Aug. 17 including packers, managers and directors. As of 2024, the company employed roughly 300 people total, most in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area.
What it means for Boone County
As we reported Aug. 4, the Boone County Fiscal Court in September 2024 voted 4-0 to authorize up to $140 million in taxable industrial building revenue bonds for the company's planned expansion through Trellis Loop Florence I, LLC. At that meeting, bond counsel Jim Parsons told the court the bonds "are not the debt of the county, simply a real estate tax benefit."
No county official has publicly addressed what happens to those bonds now that 80 Acres has ceased operations.
No bankruptcy filing has been confirmed.
A fast rise and a faster fall
80 Acres invested $95 million to convert the former Hennigan Company printing facility on Empire Drive into a state-of-the-art indoor farm, which opened in September 2023. The company's produce reached more than 18,000 retail locations, including Kroger stores in Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville and Indianapolis.
In August 2025, 80 Acres merged with Soli Organic. In October 2025, it raised another $28.4 million from investors. The combined company shut down less than a year after the merger.
The identity of the prospective buyer who withdrew on Aug. 2 has not been disclosed. The future of the Empire Drive facility and the $140 million in bonds remains unresolved.
