AppHarvest (APPH) appoints CEA industry veteran Tony Martin to board of directors

AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW), a leading AgTech company, public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp building some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms to grow affordable, nutritious fruits and vegetables at scale while providing good jobs in Appalachia, announced today the appointment of seasoned controlled environment agriculture (CEA) executive Tony Martin as an independent director of the company and a member of the audit committee, effective immediately.

Martin served as chief financial officer for nearly 12 years at Windset Farms, one of the largest CEA producers and marketers of indoor-grown crops in North America with more than 250 acres in the U.S. and Canada. At Windset, he supported both significant infrastructure and revenue growth. Martin currently serves as a consultant in the CEA sector and is a board member of the Fruit & Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation, a non-profit that sets standards for the trade of fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada. “As AppHarvest focuses on improving core operations and diversifying its produce offerings with three new at-scale farms this year, I expect Tony’s depth of experience to help us optimize revenue generation,” said AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb.

“I believe it’s clear that AppHarvest is ripe for growth and poised to deliver on its potential. I am proud to support the innovative and expansive operations that Jonathan Webb and his team are building,” said Martin.

Martin, a chartered professional accountant, earned a bachelor of commerce in accounting and finance and a graduate diploma in accounting, audit and taxation at Concordia University in Canada. Martin fills a board seat vacated by Ciara Burnham.AppHarvest currently sells to the top 25 national grocery store outlets as well as to select restaurants and food service providers through its distributor. AppHarvest’s flagship Morehead, Ky. farm has been harvesting since January 2021, and is expected to start harvesting its third season of tomatoes in the fourth quarter. The company soon expects to announce commercial shipments from its new 15-acre Berea, Ky. salad greens farm featuring a “touchless growing system” with autonomous harvesting and from its 30-acre Somerset, Ky. berry farm, where the team already has planted nearly one million strawberry plants for its upcoming season. AppHarvest also continues construction on its 60-acre Richmond, Ky. farm, which will double the company’s capacity to grow tomatoes. Combined with the Morehead farm, the Richmond facility is expected to enable the company to grow about 1.5 million tomato plants per season. The AppHarvest Richmond farm also is expected to start operating before the end of 2022.

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