ROCHELLE – MightyVine Tomatoes held an event at its facility in Rochelle to celebrate the first harvest of its newly completed Phase 3 greenhouse expansion.

With the completion of its Phase 3 expansion in fall of 2019, local tomato-grower MightyVine is harvesting 22.5 acres of premium-quality tomatoes. With this expansion, financed by Rabo AgriFinance, the hydroponic farm will now produce 10 million pounds of fresh tomatoes a year in their 1 million square foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse. MightyVine currently employs 100 residents with competitive pay and benefits.

The company has been selling tomatoes for just about four years, but can’t keep up with the growing demand for its high-flavor varietals. Many upscale restaurants in Chicago advertise that they use MightyVine tomatoes in their entrees.

“We’ve built a brand that consumers are asking for in restaurants and grocery stores all over the midwest. said Gary Lazarski, CEO of MightyVine. “Expansion is the only way to meet that demand. Right now, we’ve got retailers who are upset that we can’t fill their orders. It’s a good problem to have, but one that needs to be addressed quickly.”

MightyVine has installed the foundation for Phase 4 of its greenhouse complex and is ready to expand even further. The additional expansion will help fill continued demand from current retail and foodservice partners like Costco, Whole Foods, Jewel, Walmart and Local Foods. Expansion also leaves room for growth with new buying partners.

MightyVine has been operating in the community since 2015, and is very excited to see what the future holds for both its business and the City of Rochelle.

“We are very appreciative of the welcome we have received here in Rochelle,” said Lazarski. “We are excited to continue to grow here with the city, work with local contractors and provide more jobs and opportunities in this area.”

The location of Rochelle and its welcoming approach to building businesses has been a strong factor in MightyVine’s growth. The company gratefully acknowledges the strong support of the City of Rochelle: Mayor John Bearrows, City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh, and Rochelle Municipal Utilities.

"MightyVine is a great example of success through a public-private partnership,” said Bearrows. “Having a local and responsive utility that can provide the necessary infrastructure to support the growth of our industries is a great advantage for businesses who choose to locate in Rochelle. The completion of Phase 3 is yet another success story of the innovation of MightyVine and the resourcefulness of Rochelle Municipal Utilities.”

As well as providing both the community with the only year-round, locally grown tomatoes in Illinois, Rochelle is also thankful for the jobs MightyVine helps create.

"The City of Rochelle is pleased to have a corporate partner like MightyVine in our community,” said Fiegenschuh. “They provide quality jobs and the company is active and engaged in many local organizations. Our staff at the City of Rochelle looks forward to working with MightyVine to continue its growth for the future."

The foundation for Phase 4 of the expansion has already been set, and MightyVine is going to get working on that as soon as they are good to go. Once completed the expansion will help the business produce more tomatoes, while providing even more jobs to the community. MightyVine continues its main focus of the business on quality over quantity.

“We are focused on growing a premium quality tomato,” said Lazarski. “There are a lot of greenhouse growers out there looking to be high volume producers. But we are looking to strike the right balance between having a viable business, while still producing a top-quality product.”