I know that you're not the only one focused on controlled environment agriculture. When people and robots work together, its actually more productive than robots alone or people alone. On a traditional farm, there are a seemingly infinite number of tasks to do at any given moment, so adding some computers to make it more efficient doesnt mean that human farmers will be anywhere near obsolete any time soon. At one point, we were thinking of putting up a billboard in front of several large tech company offices saying, Come build tech that matters, Webb said. It means being a little bit more upfront with your investors. Then by the end of the year in 2022, we'll have five facilities operating. Webb is an expert in reconstructive and arthroscopic surgery. We're going to be based in Central Appalachia. Well, I mean speaking of a publicly traded company, you just released your first-quarter results, and I think this was your first full quarter as a publicly traded company. I'm Jason Moser, thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. "The public market needs to have a robust category of companies that are building stuff that matters," he stressed. To access all the content for free, please sign up by entering your email. Use our online form to book an appointment with Dr. Webb. Consumers are pushing back. No, weve made some mistakes. in August is launching what it describes as the worlds largest greenhouse later this year, consisting of a 2.76 million square foot facility in Morehead, Kentucky. By the end of next year, we'll have five operating facilities. You have to judge yourself internally. Webb was raised in a white-bread, wealthy family. Founder of AppHarvest, Inc., AppHarvest Morehead Farm LLC and Most people every day are just concerned about can they put food on the table? Most of those employees were hired in the midst of 2020, something that Webb considers a testament to the trust his community has placed in AppHarvest. That's not the conversation at all. Moser: I guess you're saying, and a lot of us would agree, you can't have your cake and eat it too. The Great Resignation has not affected AppHarvest, because people who were leaving companies were leaving worthless companies that added no value to society, or were destroying society, Webb said. Prior to founding AppHarvest, Jonathan supported the Executive Director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives to help meet the White House goal of supplying 20% of the Department of Defenses electricity usage from renewable sources by leveraging private sector capital for the projects. He noted that in traditional agriculture, most everything happens incrementally, But now is not a time for incrementalism the thing that needs to be added to that recipe is folks [like Webb] that want to be aggressive in getting us ready for a world where its hard to grow crops.. When he says sustainable, he doesnt just mean that in an environmental sense. But in order to prove to our investors and prove to our shareholders and broader stakeholders, for us, it's about meeting our targets, and I've tried to say AppHarvest, we're in the business of delivering on our promises. But for us, it's not a back-and-forth, it's not OK, well, I'm going to invest in an ESG company and I'm going to sacrifice profitability. The president and CEO, Paul Mastronardi said, "We want every AppHarvest tomato they can grow. We're focused on bringing that production back from Mexico that has been shifted outside of the U.S. and bring that back into the U.S. in a controlled environment. Were building important stuff with long-standing value, so the Great Resignation has actually helped us acquire talent.. Webb grew up in Kentucky, and founded AppHarvest in 2017 after years in the solar development industry, based in New York. Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. A SPAC is formed with the sole purpose of raising capital through an IPO in order to acquire an existing privately-held company and take it public. Prior to founding AppHarvest, Jonathan supported the Executive Director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives to help meet the White House goal of supplying 20% of the Department of Defenses electricity usage from renewable We've had record amounts of rainfall. That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Appharvest has We always talk about investing for the future because that's really what investing is all about. We're a public benefit corporation, and we're B Corp certified. Moser: That's exciting. We're building infrastructure in an area of the country where we're having record amounts of rainfall, and if you look at the climate maps, we continue to get wetter. We look at them over the course of time, years, and hopefully, decades we can be a part of that journey with you all. With a 19% stake, CEO Jonathan Webb is the largest shareholder. I mean I'm glad you keyed on the fact this is a global situation, it's a global issue. Non-planned trade are trades that But if you look at the current food system today, it's high fructose corn syrup, it's sugary food that has low nutrient density. Webb is one of very few knee surgeons to have played for both the England-France national teams. Those are always famous last words as we move into some disruptive phase. Then I got to mention the area we're in, Eastern Kentucky has been known for coal mining for decades, it was known as the whole country, so to speak, and empowering the U.S. through the industrial revolution with low-cost coal. He studied history and economics at the University of Cape Town, and obtained a Bachelor of Laws and post-graduate diploma in maritime law from the University of Natal. His fund's based in DC, we had them as early investors. In its Nov. 7 filing, AppHarvest reported net losses of $83 million for the first nine months of the year and net sales of $10 million, with an accumulated deficit of $270 million. Get 5 free searches. But with that said, what we have at AppHarvest is fairly unique. I mean, all of the stuff that you just talked about really does matter. With that difficult work that in mind, Webb has designed his company to grow as much produce as possible as sustainably as possible. WebThe following charts show the stock performance of securities subsequent to each open-market, non-planned trade made by Jonathan Webb. What makes AppHarvest so unique? Amid the verdant rolling hills of central Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachian coal country, youll Webb grew up in Kentucky, and founded AppHarvest in 2017 after years in the solar development industry, based in New York. We'll talk a little bit about your quarterly results here in a minute because I want to get into that, but one of the things that stood out to me in the earnings call. This year alone, more than 50 SPACs have been formed in the US, collectively raising around $36.2 billion as of last month. He completed a fellowship in Australia at North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre and has worked in many high-profile clinics in the area. On this week's episode of Industry Focus: Wildcard, host Jason Moser chats with AppHarvest (APPH) founder and CEO Jonathan Webb about the growing opportunity in the agtech space, what makes AppHarvest unique, his vision of the future of farming, and much more. Again, the private markets get a very bad rap socially. We don't want to be selling just to the high-end. "For us, at AppHarvest, this isn't just about a company. We take that long term approach, we don't view things by quarter. ", As a CEO, Webb admitted that this focus on the long-term outlook has not been easy to prove to Wall Street, especially when compared to those who are "selling a worthless product that's not good for people and not good for planet and arguably questionable for shareholders. Every year, he gives a lecture to students enrolled in a post-graduate shipping LLM program. We have a phenomenal growing team. We're in that classic scenario of demand exceeding supply. One of AppHarvest's Crop Care Specialists operates a tomato-picking robot. could be sentient says Microsofts chatbot feels like watching the Shark Tank investor Kevin OLeary says a new generation of employee has never worked in an officeand its totally I cant afford to sell because I dont want to lose that rate: 3% mortgage rates will loom large over the U.S. CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. If you look at the grocery and then you go, wait a second. Public asset : 44,698,475 USD. Photo credit: US controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup, has announced a merger with NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), The deal is slated to bring in $475 million in gross proceeds for Kentucky-based AppHarvest, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction worth $375 million from existing and new investors including, I cant say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19, AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told, . WebJonathan Mark Webb net worth is $800,000 Jonathan Mark Webb Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Jonathan Webb is an actor, known for Graffiti Bridge (1990), In We want to be selling to 90% of America. Putting a retention pond, we filter it with no chemicals and we're able to run our facility. We're feeding our country with people in Mexico who are making $5 a day. Are we perfect? We can get to 70% of the U.S. in a one-day drive. Now, his company AppHarvest (the name is a play on both Appalachia and the high-tech nature of what they do), operates a sixty acre greenhouse in Morehead, Kentucky that grows hydroponic tomatoes up to the ceiling. Theyre designed to be safe around people. Vance, and politicians of both parties, Jonathan left Washington and came home to Kentucky, where he now works tirelessly to make the eastern part of the state the AgTech capital of America. Even with the help of AI, farm work at AppHarvest is still hard, manual labor. Project Access offers ESL/ESL classes, after school programs, and computer literacy. People are becoming more and more aware of where they get stuff and for people that question how quickly a sector can transition, I have a lot of friends that worked in the coal industry. It's so cool to think about what you guys are doing there. Since joining HFW in 2004, Mr. Webb has specialized in P&I and FD&D for ship owners. That narrow focus on societal good is what has kept AppHarvest fully staffed throughout the pandemic. Jonathan Webb grew up in Kentucky and has been committed to developing sustainable projects from Central Appalachia. I think they certainly will be. But its confident in its approach. Look at the open fields in Mexico. Jonathan Webb is the largest individual Appharvest shareholder, owning 20.54M shares representing 19.04% of the company. He also received his medical license from Minnesota. Its flagship facility is a 60-acre indoor farm in Morehead, a town of 8,000 in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and it solely uses rainwater for its irrigation. My competition in Mexico, you have people getting paid $5 a day. We dont have two planets though, so Webb got creative. On today's show, AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb talks about AgTech (agriculture tech), the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. We've had 8,000 people apply to work at the company and we've hired 500 people in the middle of a global pandemic. "We have the capital we need and we're focused on building and operating, and just head down on execution," Webb said. But if you look at the world, China and India account for 40% of the world's population. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. Webb is from Kentucky, where 16% of residents are If you want to know how wealthy he is, read on! That's, for us, again, there's a piece where we need to be very close to the product and that's we're optimizing for the plant. Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman at the 2022 SXSW Conference, 3 big things in investing you might have missed this week, UPDATE 1-North Korea says US causing international arms control collapse, EU releases funds, prepares aid flight for eastern Congo, Rheinmetall in talks on building tank factory in Ukraine - report, Ukraine Latest: Metsola Urges More Sanctions Pressure on Russia. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. Jonathan Webb is an actor with a large following on Twitter. Talk a little bit about what ESG means to you and some of the things that you've done, because corporately you set your business up to be able to account for some of that transparency and whatnot. We're in our first decade and we're going to try to look at judging the company on decade one, decade two, and decade three. You are speaking our language here at The Fool. That's how quickly the energy industry shifted. He played against Australia on 23 May. Just wondering if you could share some of the highlights, some of the things you're proud of in regard to this earnings release, and your excitement here for the year to come. But one thing we'd like to talk about is competitive advantage, what makes a company special? Are you going to have drought? It doesn't need to be one or the other, it needs to be both, and we're happy to be a bit of a public benefit corporation and B Corp certified. Why locate in Appalachia? Theyre looking for purpose in their life; theyre looking for companies like us.. This is still a very new space though. Webb supported a large-scale solar project in Virginia while he was employed by the U.S. Department of Defense. For the fourth quarter In February 2018, encouraged by investors, advisors including Hillbilly Elegy author J.D.