Growing concerns for health-conscious Americans ”“ where the food they eat comes from and how it is produced ”“ has spawned an out-of-the-ordinary farm in the mid-Hudson region.
Michael Finnegan and Thomas Endres, seasoned businessmen turned entrepreneurs, are riding the wave created by the rising tide of unhappy consumers choosing organic fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy over mass-produced foods from questionable sources. They have no doubt Continental Organics, sprouting its organic greens in their watery world and the farm-raised organic fish helping to nurture them is going to add some zing to the region”™s harvest.
Finnegan and Endres went back to school to study aquaponic farming with Cornell University”™s Michael Ben Timmons, a proponent of aquacultural products and environmentally friendly engineering technologies. Using their own business acumen and the knowledge gained at Cornell and “a world-class business plan, we began to talk to the banks,” Finnegan said.
What could be more serendipitous than a stop at a Schlesinger”™s Steak House in New Windsor, where Provident Bank”™s Tom Fitzgerald and Tom McGorry were having a business luncheon with New Windsor Town Supervisor George Green? Before the afternoon was over, Finnegan and Endres had outlined their business plan to Provident”™s longtime commercial lenders.
“We talked to several banks, but Provident was the one for us,” Finnegan said. “They have truly been our partners in every sense of the word and it is a pleasure to work with them.”
The first $5.8 million of Continental Organics”™ five-year plan, a $45 million project, went into renovating a 19,000-square-foot former catering hall on Mount Airy Road. It now houses the business”™s administrative offices, along with tanks filled with organically fed tilapia and a composting facility that collects the solid waste from the fish tanks to be used for fertilizer. Nothing is wasted ”“ the nutrient rich fertilizer ”“ with carbon dioxide removed through a special process Finnegan is patenting ”“ is used to feed the vegetables growing in 7,000 square feet of climate-controlled greenhouses.
Once planted in the constantly recycling water, bok choy, lettuce, basil and micro greens reach maturity and are ready for market in 34 days.
“That means a quick turnaround and the ability to grow produce that is in high demand or to switch off to another vegetable on a dime,” Endres said. Â The location has easy access to two interstate highways and Hunt”™s Point Market is just 57 miles away. Stewart International Airport is right down the road and is where the two owners foresee the fruits of their farm taking wing.
The beauty of greenhouse-grown vegetables, they said, is the ability to control the temperature and air quality. The greenhouses are built to withstand 75 mph winds and four feet of snow. Tilapia is the fish of choice for raising since they grow quickly. Endres and Fitzgerald plan to add coho salmon by the summer.
Continental Organics has taken the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) pledge and is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to become certified organic.
Endres and Finnegan expect their workforce to grow to 120 people when the project is completed, and have at least 23 people working by the end of 2012 ”“ with a pledge that at least half of those jobs will go to veterans.  “We are a 100 percent disabled veteran-owned business,” said Endres, a retired Army pilot with 28 years in active service. Finnegan, an Army Reservist, knows all too well the challenges returning veterans face.
“The Wounded Warriors Project has touched thousands of lives,” said Endres, “and is truly working on behalf of our veterans to help them succeed when they return to civilian life. They have been a tremendous asset to this project. We are also working with a bank dedicated to helping our veterans. We couldn”™t be more pleased.”
Continental Organics was the Orange County Business Accelerator”™s first client. “Once you are done working on doing your homework and creating a business plan, a place to exchange ideas, get support and connect with people who are interested in your project is definitely needed to advance. The accelerator, the Orange County IDA, the county executive”™s office and New Windsor supervisor George Green have been so supportive of this project, we feel very blessed.”
In addition to the greenhouse operation Continental Organics also plans to grow vegetables on raised beds on the former farm it is leasing on Mount Airy Road, but its focus will be on the aquaponic farming.
“We”™re living in a world where water is a precious commodity; 90 percent of the water we use here is recycled,” Endres said. “This is truly sustainable farming for the future.”
The partners said Continental Organics would be the largest aquaponic farm in the Northeast by the end of the first phase of the build out. “And once we”™ve finished, the completed project, it will be the largest in the U.S,” Endres said.
The hours are long, “but when you”™ve worked for other people all your life, there is nothing more satisfying than knowing you are able to make the decisions about where the company is going or being able to introduce new ideas without going through the chain of command for approval; if you can get that far,” Finnegan said. “We found people who believed in us and what we”™re doing and pledged to give us the funding we needed to get this project off the ground and have faith in us. That”™s a rare commodity in today”™s market.”
