Mexican company build greenhouses, hire 200 in Va.

DUBLIN, Va. (AP) — A Mexican producer of hydroponic vegetables is investing $30 million in Pulaski (pyoo-LAS'-kee) County to produce hydroponic tomatoes, creating 205 jobs over five years.

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the "game-changing" economic development Friday in southwest Virginia.

The company behind the greenhouse project is Red Sun Farms, which was founded in Mexico in 2001 as part of a family-owned agro-industrial group. The company will build climate-controlled greenhouses on 45 acres in the New River Valley Commerce Park.

McDonnell said $450,000 in state grant money was used to help Pulaski County attract Red Sun.

The state's secretary of Agriculture and forestry, Todd P. Haymore, said while Virginia is among the nation's top producers of tomatoes, few are grown under greenhouse conditions.