“I’m very pleased with where we are today,” reported Fife Symington, the manager and founder of Copperstate Farms. Mayor Tom Poscharsky invited Symington to update the Snowflake Town Council at their Tuesday, Sept. 27, meeting on the status of Copperstate Farms.
Symington reported that just over two weeks ago they officially closed on the purchase of the 40-acre greenhouse facility stating, “We are now the owners and NatureSweet has moved on.”
Currently they have 32 full time employees with 26 of those employees being residents of Snowflake and Taylor and two are in the process of moving to Snowflake.
“When we started the hiring process we gave priority to people from Snowflake and Taylor and looked for people from NatureSweet who had lost their jobs,” he said.
“We are very pleased with the people we were able to find,” said Symington, noting Mark Goodman, a former resident of Snowflake has been hired and is on his way from Michigan where he worked for a pepper greenhouse operation. Symington said that none of his family liked Michigan and they all liked Snowflake. “His enthusiasm when I called him was gratifying,” said Symington, who noted that Goodman’s children would be going to school here.
Lee Heyl has been hired as general manager will begin work on Oct. 3. Heyl and his wife visited Snowflake three weeks ago for an interview, to see the town and meet the people, “and they loved Snowflake,” said Symington.
Symington said that now that they have their team together they have started a massive clean up project. The facility had been vacant for several years and is in disrepair. They have ordered all sorts of specialized materials from Holland. “They are on the water making their way here,” said Symington.
“As we continue to add supplies, we will be adding more employees,” he said, adding that he expects to have 130 people by December.
Symington said he has emphasized three things to people he has hired, which are that this has to be a secure facility, they must follow all aspects of the law not just leaving the facility but within the facility it has to be by the book and he said the third is, “We are members of the Snowflake community and it is important that we have respect for this town and use every opportunity to show appreciation for the trust the town has put in us,” he said.
Symington said that his employees love their jobs and are glad to be back to work. He thanked the council for the attention they have given to this matter, noting that he knows it hasn’t been easy but that they will be very pleased with the farm.
