Moving to
Manchester, TN

The standout current development in Manchester, Coffee County, is the Little Leaf Farms Tennessee campus, announced June 30, 2025 by the company and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD). It is Little Leaf Farms' first Tennessee location and its third campus overall, joining existing operations in Massachusetts (where the company was founded) and Pennsylvania.

Scope and size: The project sits on a 215-acre campus at the Manchester Industrial Park. The initial build is 40 acres of greenhouses under glass, with a stated option to expand to 80 acres. Reported land transactions tied to the company's industrial-park footprint involve roughly 115 acres of sale-and-lease activity. The investment figure cited by the state and company is nearly $75 million.

Jobs: TNECD and the company put job creation at 318 new jobs over five years (some early local coverage rounded this to '300 jobs').

What it produces: The facility uses controlled environment agriculture (CEA) — hydroponic, greenhouse-grown packaged leafy greens (baby lettuce) produced year-round using captured rainwater and natural sunlight. The company states the Tennessee campus will more than double its production capacity and become the largest indoor leafy-greens facility in North America, with output capable of serving the Midwest, Southeast, and Texas markets.

Developer/builder: Little Leaf Farms (founder and CEO Paul Sellew) is the project owner. The greenhouse build is being delivered by VB, a Dutch turnkey greenhouse provider that has partnered with Little Leaf Farms since its founding.

Timeline and status: Financing was reported as already in place at announcement. Construction was set to begin in summer 2025, with an anticipated launch in fall 2026. As of mid-2026 the project is in active construction toward that fall 2026 target.

Public support: The State of Tennessee and local economic-development partners supported the project. Separately, in January 2025 the Industrial Board of Coffee County was awarded $1,610,450 in TNECD Site Development Grant funding to enhance infrastructure at the Manchester Industrial Park, the same park where Little Leaf Farms is locating.

Context — other Manchester Industrial Park activity (smaller than Little Leaf Farms): Aspen Technologies announced a polyurethane foam molding plant ($5.1 million investment, 161 jobs over five years); Dot Foods opened a redistribution facility at 600 Manchester Industrial Parkway with a ribbon-cutting on July 30, 2024. Coffee County has also pursued an I-24 industrial 'megasite,' which as of the available reporting is in site-preparation/zoning stages without a committed anchor tenant.

Note: This summary reports factually sourced project figures only. It does not forecast any effect on local real-estate values or appreciation.