South Bend, IN- Ivy Tech Community College and Green Sense Farms announce their partnership to construct a commercial indoor vertical farm and training facility at the college’s South Bend campus.
There will be a groundbreaking ceremony at 250 Sample Street on Wednesday, July 19 at 2 p.m. A brief presentation will be held inside Ivy Tech’s Sample street location to precede the groundbreaking.
Ivy Tech and Green Sense Farms have been developing the partnership since the summer of 2015. The 20,000-square foot operational vertical farm will be utilized for workforce training and to better understand the future opportunities for the next generation of farmers. Items such as micro greens, baby greens, lettuces and herbs will be produced to support local markets, restaurants and local colleges.
With support from the city of South Bend, Green Sense Farms will construct a state-of-the-art facility to work as a hands-on lab for students training in this emerging field. Land, which was approved by Ivy Tech’s state board of trustees on Feb. 2, will be transferred to the Portage-based company with the requirement of cooperatively creating a workforce training program.
Ivy Tech gains access to the vertical farming labs as a result of the partnership without the large-scale investment needed to acquire equipment. Students will receive training in transferable skills for areas such as food service, retail and industrial maintenance. Courses will begin as non-credit or through courses complementing other programs.
