One of the most modern things going on in Granite Falls today is a new approach to on of the oldest human activities – farming.
When local officials announced in April that an Ohio-based company named 80 Acres Urban Agriculture LLC was going to buy the former Hollin Gate building on York View Court and manufacture “chassis” for “vertical farming equipment,” it sounded pretty technical.
But Celeste Brantolino, the company’s vice president of human resources and a self-described “fifth-generation farm girl,” can break it down in simpler terms. Brantolino gave a presentation to the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission Board of Directors and outlined the company’s operations. The Caldwell County EDC recently assisted 80 Acres in obtaining a $125,000 North Carolina Department of Commerce Building Reuse grant for renovations to the York View Court site.