Founder of Kentucky’s AppHarvest out as CEO. Here’s who will replace him

Rick Childress
·3 min read
4

Kentucky-based AppHarvest will have a new CEO.

Jonathan Webb, the Kentucky native who founded the indoor produce-growing company in 2018, will be stepping down from the position, AppHarvest announced Thursday. The University of Kentucky graduate will become the chief strategy officer and will remain on the company’s board as a director.

“I founded AppHarvest based on a mission to improve domestic food security by farming more sustainably with climate-resilient practices while providing economic opportunity in Central Appalachia,” Webb said in a press release announcing the change.

Tony Martin, a veteran of the controlled environment agriculture industry, will be the new CEO. Martin first joined the company’s board in October and has been the chief operating officer since January. Additionally, Kevin Willis was named the new chair of the AppHarvest board.

The CEO change comes as the company faces a foreclosure complaint on its farm in Richmond and a dispute over the lease of its Berea farm. Last fall, AppHarvest — which grows large quantities of fruits and vegetables in massive, climate-controlled greenhouses and employs hundreds of people — said in public filings that it was running low on cash and disclosed “substantial doubt” about its future.

The company also has farms in Morehead and Somerset.

Once called ‘future of farming,’ AppHarvest discloses ‘substantial doubt’ about its future

Martin will continue to drive a strategic plan called “Project New Leaf” that aims to make the company more efficient while saving cost and raising product quality, AppHarvest said.

“I’m seeing a maturity building in the organization to better manage issues and to mitigate any material impact from challenges,” Martin said in a statement. “We’re working more collaboratively, which is delivering cost savings and driving product quality. The mission and purpose behind AppHarvest have brought a tremendous amount of talent to the team, and I expect to see more operational efficiencies leading to increased performance throughout the year.”

According to AppHarvest, Martin has been a consultant in the CEA industry and came to the company after working for 12 years at Windset Farms, another indoor vegetable grower that sells or markets produce from farms in Canada, Mexico and California.

AppHarvest’s stock price sat at $0.38 following the announcement of the CEO change Thursday morning. The price has sat below $1 since February. In April, the company received noticed from Nasdaq that it would be delisted from the stock exchange if the stock price’s did not close above $1 for 10 consecutive days before October 16, public filings show.

“Thanks to the AppHarvest team and the tenacity of the people of Kentucky, we undertook the largest simultaneous buildout of CEA infrastructure in U.S. history and worked to put the region on the map as a hub for AgTech drawing more CEA investment to the state,” Webb’s statement continued. “While I will continue to support the company, I am confident that Tony’s leadership, extensive background in CEA and track record for optimizing revenue growth will provide the guidance the company needs at this inflection point.”