AeroFarms to Close Operations Following Investor Funding Withdrawal
December 16, 2025 
Photo courtesy of AeroFarms
AeroFarms Inc. will wind down all operations and permanently close its vertical farming facility in Ringgold, Va., resulting in the layoff of 173 employees, according to a WARN notice filed with the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
The facility employs workers across production, engineering, food safety, maintenance, logistics, corporate, and senior leadership functions. Of the total impacted workforce, 127 employees are Virginia residents, with the remainder working remotely.
In the filing, AeroFarms cited the withdrawal of additional financial support from its largest investor as the immediate cause of the shutdown. The company stated that the investor’s decision — described as part of an unannounced restructuring and shift in priorities — prompted efforts to secure alternative capital from existing investors, new investors, and financial institutions. Those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, leading the company to conclude it could not continue operations without new funding.
Having come back from bankruptcy in 2023 with a renewed focus on microgreens production, AeroFarms announced in August 2025 its plans to expand operations to a second farm. CEO Molly Montgomery outlined a vision for growth a month later in an interview with CEAg World.
“Our focus is on getting more and more efficient,” Montgomery said at the time. “In the future, I think we’re going to be able to bring many other products to market at a lower cost and make those margins work.”
She added: “Long-term, success means profitability at the enterprise level. And what I love about our model is that to achieve that, we only need two farms.”
In closing its Virginia facility, the company did not provide the customary 60 days’ advance notice typically required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, citing “unforeseen business circumstances,” including the sudden loss of expected funding and concerns that earlier disclosure could have undermined financing negotiations. Affected employees were notified electronically on Dec. 11, 2025, with mailed notices to follow.
The full AeroFarms WARN notice is available here.