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| Contributed photo Northern Girl employee Seth Castonguay packs some of the 3,000 pounds of carrots the Van Buren plant processed recently as part of Great Maine Carrot Stick Week. |
By Joshua Archer
Special to the Aroostook Republican
VAN BUREN — A new partnership between the Maine Community Foundation and the Fair Food Fund has resulted in a $230,000 loan to a Van Buren company to help equip its new processing facility.
The loan was made possible through the MaineCF’s new impact investing program. This program has two portfolios: Farm, Fisheries, and Food and Downtown and Business Development, which aim to generate social benefits and financial returns in enterprises and projects that are increasing economic and community vitality.
Northern Girl General Manager Christopher Hallweaver said, “the loan has allowed us to expand our beet processing capability as well as our frozen line.
“Currently we run six days a week with 17 people on the payroll, most part-time positions. Our goal this year with the new facility is to operate it 12 months a year, formally a seasonal company running from July to March, our goal is to keep these people employed year-round,” Hallweaver said.
Recently Northern Girl moved from their start-up operation at the Loring Air Force Base, which began almost three years ago, to a permanent facility located in Van Buren.
“By helping scale production, the loan to Northern Girl has a ripple effect that will spur job creation in rural Maine, provide additional revenue for farmers, and increase consumer access to local, sustainably produced food,” said Meredith Jones, MaineCF president and CEO.
Fair Food Network launched the Fair Food Fund in 2012 to provide financing and business assistance to enterprises that connect small and mid-size farms with consumers hungry for local, sustainably grown food. The fund is initially focused on the Northeastern United States where opportunity is great.
Northern Girl specializes in fresh and frozen cut vegetables, focusing on root crops which includes carrots, turnips, parsnips, beets and potatoes. The company’s County-grown ready-to-eat salad bar beet is their biggest product, selling between 2,000 to 3,000 pounds per week, and is served in salad bars throughout the Northeast.
“We’re bringing locally grown veggies to Maine consumers, that’s what we focus on, and we’re part of the local food movement. We engage in both large and small farms, providing farmers a diversification option,” Hallweaver said.
Northern Girl sells primarily to hospitals and schools, providing produce sold to chefs and food service directors to be used as ingredients in their menus.
