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CAROL LAWRENCE FOR VENTURA COUNTY STAR 1 MONTH AGO

Ventura's California Mushroom Farm Inc. sold to a

mushroom grower

Ventura County Star by Carol Lawrence

Published 1 month ago

Mushrooms will continue to grow in Ventura at the California Mushroom Farm Inc.

The current owners of the country's third largest mushroom farm accepted a bid to buy the business from a

"large" mushroom grower based in Pennsylvania, said Tony Fitzgerald, the broker handling the sale of the

landmark for Manhattan Beach auctioneer Braun Co. late Friday.

"This is a done deal now," Fitzgerald said, and it is in escrow. "We were pleased."

From what he understands the buyer plans to "get the farm up and running as soon as possible," Fitzgerald

said. Operations ceased at the farm around Labor Day, and most of its 450-plus workers lost their jobs.

The buyer has 45 days or less to close on the all-cash deal, Fitzgerald said, and has paid a nonrefundable

deposit that is 10 percent of the sale price. Most buyers at this stage close successfully, he added.

Until then, neither side will name the buyer, the sale price or the number of bidders, Fitzgerald said.

Wilmington Trust Of Pennsylvania, in Villanova, Pa., with which the business held about $11 million in two

revolving lines of credit, valued the business, land and equipment at $20.4 million. Fitzgerald said the appraisal

was "very generous" and that the final bid was not close to that.

In 2012, the farm had sales of $35 million, according to Braun.

Braun's two-step bidding process began Dec. 5 when initial bids were due.

All equipment not fixed to the property sold Dec. 5, such as trucks and front loaders. Fixed equipment -- water

pumps and boilers, and the farm's extensive customer list -- was included in the deal.

The auction attracted both domestic and overseas mushroom growers and several non-mushroom

businesses, Fitzgerald said. A top bidder considered using the property for a mobile home park or farmworker

housing, two of the city-allowed uses. The property is also in a federally-designated flood plain with flood zone

restrictions.

Many in the community have been waiting to hear what its future will be.

"I would hope that if it is to remain a mushroom farm, that the new owner would want to employ all the people

working there who had been laid off," said Ventura Mayor Cheryl Heitmann.

The mushroom farm, with its 76-year history, is entrenched in the city. It is also a vast operation spanning

nearly 30 acres at 4440 Olivas Park Drive next to the Olivas Adobe and adjacent to the Santa Clara River.

Mostly white, but also brown mushrooms, sprouted in growing areas across 88 two-story growing rooms. The

facility could produce 28 million pounds a year, said General Manager Jack Reitnauer.

The Ciarrocchi brothers, Chuck and Jamie, from Pennsylvania and their investors have owned the farm since

late 2004. They attributed the closure to an undisclosed customer big enough to impact operations that did not

pay its bills. As a result, the owners were unable to get Wilmington Trust to reinstate financing.

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On the day the auction kicked off, a handful of employees were tying up loose ends and were unsure what the

sale would mean for their jobs. The farm has gone through multiple owners, a bankruptcy, a labor strike,

production problems, a boycott and fires over its years, but never closed.

"We did love it; we're just not ready to say goodbye," said Trudy Seymour, a 30-year employee who handled

accounts payable and receivables and ordered inventory.

The farm has been the only place Donna Foulks has worked since she started there just before her 16th

birthday 32 years ago. She handled payroll for what had been more than 450 employees.

"It's sad for everybody," Foulks said. "It was a good place to work."

Without missing a beat, Foulks and Seymour said they would return if new owners asked them.

The farm's closure dealt a particularly harsh blow to the harvesters and farm workers who lost year-round

jobs that are seasonal at other farms. Employees who belonged to the United Farm Workers union lost

medical benefits, pensions, seniority and paid vacation.

What awaits the former employees has been a top concern of Reitnauer, who initially smoothed bad

sentiments with the union and the workers that were left over from the previous owners. Reitnauer came to

Ventura from Pennsylvania five years ago to run the farm.

"If it is a mushroom grower, that's good, because he's going to need people," Reitnauer said. "A lot of the

same people should hopefully get their jobs back." ___

(c)2013 Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.)

Visit Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.) at www.vcstar.com

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