The Knox County Commissioners passed a resolution on Wednesday regarding the industrial park. The Knox County Redevelopment Commission and AgroRenew have been discussing options for tax increment financing, or TIF. AgroRenew aims to convert watermelon and other produce waste into reusable bioplastics at a bioplastics facility at the park. The resolution approved by the commissioners allows for the allocation of certain parcels of land at the park for TIF. AgroRenew’s founder, Brian Southern, mentioned that they have completed a detailed design for a 192,000-square-foot building and have been waiting for the completion of the TIF creation process to schedule a groundbreaking. He also mentioned that hiring for the plant will commence this summer, with more hires than initially anticipated. The groundbreaking for the AgroRenew plant is scheduled for mid-June. Southern stated that they have planted their first experimental watermelon crop in a 22-acre field near Elkhorn Road. This work is expected to benefit the entire county’s produce growers by allowing them to utilize AgroRenew’s farmland to try new techniques without affecting their current production capacity.
