Growing Power founder Will Allen to retire as nonprofit’s debts mount

Growing Power, a locally grown food operation, has several greenhouses in urban areas growing seasonal vegetables, fish, poultry and meat. It also raises yellow perch and tilapia in aquaponic tanks. Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Growing Power has eight pending judgments totalling $485,525, according to Circuit Court records.

By Sarah Hauer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nov. 20, 2017

Excerpt:

Additionally, Will Allen faces a $196,375 pending judgment filed by First Farmers Bank and Trust.

Filings with the Internal Revenue Service from 2012 through 2015 show the nonprofit running deficits each year, some years in excess of $2 million.

At its peak, Growing Power had nearly 150 employees, Allen said.

“It’s less than that now, between Milwaukee and Chicago. It’s a lot less than that now.”

As of 2015, Growing Power had 94 employees and about 1,500 volunteers, according to a filing with the IRS.

Operations at Growing Power halted last week because of the reorganization. It is not delivering produce to customers, its Milwaukee cafe on Martin Luther N. King Drive was closed Monday and its main telephone lines are disconnected.

Some employees remain at Growing Power’s headquarters on W. Silver Spring Drive.

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