By McKenna Horsley
The Kentucky Lantern
The sustainable food company, AppHarvest based in Morehead, announced a change in leadership last week.
AppHarvest founder Jonathan Webb will no longer serve as CEO and board chairman but will stay on as chief strategy officer.
Controlled environment agriculture veteran Tony Martin became chief executive officer. Kevin Willis, a member of the board, became chairman.
AppHarvest announced plans in 2020 to open huge greenhouses to grow tomatoes and other vegetables in Kentucky.
While taking media questions at a downtown Shelbyville campaign stop Friday, Governor Andy Beshear said “regardless of who’s leading, or who owns the facilities” AppHarvest currently owns, they will have a bright future in Kentucky.
“It’s unfortunate that AppHarvest has had the challenges that it’s had, but certainly ag tech is a big part of Kentucky’s future, and we need to be in the forefront of it. When you look at what it’s going to take to feed the growing population here in Kentucky in the United States and across the world, those indoor growth facilities are going to be absolutely necessary
Before the change in CEOs was announced, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported AppHarvest’s Richmond facility is at-risk of foreclosure and the property owner of the Berea facility wants to terminate the company’s lease. The company’s stock price was about $0.35 Friday afternoon.
News reports in December noted AppHarvest’s management “believes there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue” in a quarterly report.
At the time, Beshear told the Kentucky Lantern he hoped “AppHarvest is able to come through this and come out the other side,” and added that he believed “the facilities themselves will continue and there will be a point where they are as important for our world’s food supply as they are for Kentucky.”