Laid off from 80 Acres Farms.

What 80 Acres Farms layoffs have meant for employees

The Chapter 7 schedules name 12 debtors, from 80 Acres Urban Agriculture, Inc. to Soli Organic, Inc., ShenGrow, Inc. and companies carrying the Lactuca and Trellis Loop names, so if you worked under the 80 Acres Farms sign, your paperwork may carry one of those names. Older Soli documents may say Shenandoah Growers, the name it carried until 2021, Virginia Business reported. Ohio's notice letter and Georgia's Forest Park record both came from 80 Acres Urban Agriculture, which doesn't settle who employed you at another site. If you're sorting out a claim or a benefits form, a pay stub or W-2 is a good place to check which entity paid you.

Harrisonburg was a former Soli site, and the company tied its planned closing to integrating the two businesses, in that same Virginia Business report. Rocktown Now reported that company officials said the decision wasn't related to employee performance. If a future employer asks why you left Harrisonburg, that line is worth having on hand.

Two earlier closings involved plans to move. When Soli was closing Duvall in 2022, its president said some 90% of the staff planned to relocate to Marysville, The Herald reported, and Marysville's 55 jobs were on the August 2026 notices. At Harrisonburg, CEO Mike Zelkind's letter to staff pointed production toward Atlanta and Indianapolis. Those were plans as reported at the time. If you made the Duvall move, you may hold paperwork from two closings, and both sets belong with your records.

The company gave its own explanation for the timing. That same Ohio letter says it gave as much notice as practicable under the WARN Act's unforeseeable business circumstances exception, because a possible acquisition was under negotiation until immediately before the notice. Georgia's record gives August 3 as Forest Park's first date of separation, and Hamilton's letter expected cuts through August 17. If you were at either site, your own last day may not match those dates. Raisner Roupinian contends layoffs on August 3 and within 30 days of that date came without the notice federal law requires, and says the class action it filed August 6 now proceeds in the Delaware bankruptcy court. Those are two sides' accounts, and neither is a ruling.

If you're owed wages, PTO or expenses, the priority list in the schedules isn't one to lean on. 80 Acres Urban Agriculture's Schedule E/F shows 28 priority entries, each with taxes as its stated basis, and the notes say the debtors don't keep records of priority claims in the ordinary course of business. That's also one debtor's list, since each affiliate files its own schedules. The Delaware court's claims page says no CM/ECF login is needed to file electronically and that its Proof of Claim form allows supporting documents.

In San Antonio, the Brooks Development Authority said in August it was working with partners to connect the 166 affected employees with jobs and resources, San Antonio Report reported. That report and Georgia's record both describe whole sites, with all Brooks workers and all 110 at Forest Park affected, which may help if you're explaining your exit to a recruiter. For records, the people you'd usually call were affected too. Hamilton's job list includes the Head of People, the Senior Manager, Payroll & Benefits and two Chief Executive Officer positions, and the letter names Mike Zelkind as its contact. If you still hold a final pay stub, a PTO balance or a benefits statement outside a company account, that's the kind of document the claim form lets you attach.

A sourced history of 80 Acres Farms layoffs

• August 2026, 80 Acres winds down after buyer withdraws

  80 Acres told states it was permanently winding down after a prospective acquirer withdrew on August 2, Ohio's notice letter says, expecting Hamilton's cuts between August 3 and August 17. It told Texas all Brooks workers would go by that date, San Antonio Report reported.

• May 2026, Harrisonburg packing site closing announced

  80 Acres planned to close the former Soli Organic packing site by July 21, eliminating 80 jobs, and move some operations elsewhere in its network, Virginia Business reported. CEO Mike Zelkind's letter to staff named Atlanta and Indianapolis, Rocktown Now reported.

• August 2025, Soli Organic cuts 128 Georgia jobs

  Soli cut 128 jobs in Georgia a few days before announcing its merger with 80 Acres, Virginia Business reported. Our WARN tracker places those jobs in Jefferson.

• January 2023, 80 Acres cuts roughly two dozen jobs

  80 Acres laid off roughly two dozen employees as it streamlined operations, less than 10% of its workforce by the company's count, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.

• July 2022, Soli closing Duvall, planning Marysville move

  Soli was closing the Duvall distribution center it had run since the 1990s, which employed 102 people, The Herald reported. President Philip Karp said some 90% of them planned to relocate to the Marysville facility.

What to do if you're laid off from 80 Acres Farms

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. 80 Acres Farms's biggest hubs: Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what 80 Acres Farms's hub states run: Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.