80 Acres Farms

80 Acres Farms announced it is permanently winding down operations after a prospective acquisition fell through, and submitted WARN Act notices detailing planned job eliminations. The company plans to lay off 127 workers at its Florence, Kentucky facility, with cuts expected by Aug. 17. Separately, it filed a WARN notice in Ohio to eliminate 145 positions at its Hamilton, Ohio facility. Founder and CEO Mike Zelkind said the acquirer unexpectedly withdrew from the transaction on Aug. 2, leaving no funding to continue operations. The company, founded in 2015 and based in Ohio, employs more than 300 workers and cited unforeseen business circumstances as the reason for the closures and planned layoffs.

Ohio-based vertical farming startup 80 Acres Farms will close its Anderson County facility and lay off 73 employees, according to a WARN notice and company statements. The facility at 2665 US-29 N. is scheduled to close by Aug. 17 after a prospective acquirer withdrew from a pending transaction and the company could not secure additional funding. CEO and co-founder Mike Zelkind said the startup exhausted efforts to find a way forward and is winding down operations despite a decade of scaling indoor farms. The notice formalizes the planned workforce reduction, and the company expressed gratitude to employees, partners and communities while noting its belief in the industry's future.

80 Acres Farms permanently shut down its vertical farming operation in San Antonio, Texas after a prospective buyer withdrew from a planned acquisition. According to a Texas Workforce Commission filing and a WARN notice, the closure began August 3 and is expected to be completed by August 17, resulting in 166 jobs lost at the Brooks facility. The affected roles include packers, machine operators and assembly technicians among others. The company said it lacked funding after the failed sale and is winding down operations, marking part of a broader shutdown of 80 Acres Farms’ operations nationwide.

80 Acres Farms abruptly closed its operations earlier in August 2026, resulting in approximately 500 employees being fired across facilities in Hamilton, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Aurora, Colorado; and parts of South Carolina. Four former employees filed a federal class-action lawsuit alleging the company violated the WARN Act by terminating workers within 30 days of plant closures instead of providing 60 days' notice; the suit seeks 60 days of back pay, interest, and benefits for each impacted employee. The complaint also alleges that a promised severance offer was later rescinded via email when the business shut down. Separately, creditors and vendors have sued for unpaid invoices (including $687,240 claimed by The Job Center LLC), the company has filed for bankruptcy, and creditor claims exceed $900,000, complicating potential recovery for employees.

Vertical farming company 80 Acres Farms is permanently winding down operations at its Northern Kentucky (Boone County) facility after a failed acquisition, and has filed a WARN notice announcing layoffs affecting more than 100 employees. The WARN notice, filed Aug. 3, states layoffs will occur between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17 and notes a prospective purchaser pulled out of negotiations on Aug. 2. CEO Mike Zelkind said exhaustive efforts to continue the business failed; the company launched in 2015 and had previously expanded via a 2025 merger with Soli Organics. The closure ends operations at the Boone County site and follows broader challenges in the indoor farming sector.

Ohio-based indoor farming company 80 Acres Farms announced it will cease operations at its 3315 Global Way facility in the Brooks area of San Antonio and lay off all 166 workers there after a prospective acquisition fell through on Aug. 2, 2026. The company sent a notice to the Texas Workforce Commission on Aug. 3 saying layoffs were planned between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17, with the closure driven by the withdrawal of funding from the would-be acquirer. More than one-third of the affected workers were produce packers and about 20% were machine operators or sanitation workers. Brooks Development Authority and the facility owner, the Decennial Group, said they are coordinating workforce and property transition support as 80 Acres Farms winds down operations.

80 Acres Farms filed a WARN notice saying it is winding down operations after a prospective acquisition unexpectedly collapsed, leaving no funding to continue. The company notified authorities that it will cut 145 Hamilton, Ohio jobs in a separation window between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17, according to co‑founders Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston. The shutdown follows an exhaustive but unsuccessful effort to find alternate funding and comes despite recent expansion activity and mergers that had grown the company's workforce. The WARN filing cites "unforeseen business circumstances" tied to the failed transaction and signals planned, imminent job eliminations subject to WARN timelines.