BONITA — The tomato-growing operation at indoor greenhouses in Bonita will come to an end in July.
That was the message NatureSweet President and CEO Rodolpho Spielman gave to employees at a meeting last week.
Spielman said the Bonita operation is losing millions of dollars each year, so the plan is to end production with the current growing cycle in July. Two to six months of clean-up will follow and then the facility will be closed.
Spielman said some employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate to other NatureSweet operations, but the majority will be facing permanent termination. However, incentive packages and severance will be offered to employees who remain through the clean-up and closure.
Spielamn said NatureSweet has come up with a way to keep the Bonita operation open — and workers employed —by selling off one of the six groups of greenhouses to Bayacan for a medical-grade cannabis grow.
However, that sale is dependent on approval of a rezoning request that was not endorsed by the Graham County Planning and Zoning Commission and has received push back from the final authority, the Graham County Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors John Howard and Paul David both said at a public meeting at Bonita School that their reluctance to entertain Bayacan’s rezoning request is due to opposition to property owners near the proposed indoor cannabis grow. Supervisor Danny Smith, who was also at that meeting, did not make a public statement.
The proposed rezoning has been supported by the Graham County Chamber of Commerce and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 99.
