Lettuce-Farming Robots Might Grow Your Next Salad

California’s grow houses are making use of applied intelligence and robotics to cultivate the time- and labor-intensive greens. Your next salad might include leafy greens grown by robots in California greenhouses. About 75 percent of the lettuce farmed in the U.S. comes from that state’s Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley. Cultivating it requires warm temperatures, not too much rain, and lots of time and labor. Startups such as Iron Ox, a maker of agricultural robots, and big players such as John Deere are investing in artificial intelligence to raise produce more efficiently. At Iron Ox’s fully robotic grow house in San Carlos, Calif., an autonomous robot plants, cares for, and harvests crops.

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Comfort Systems USA Announces Acquisition

Business Wire | February 01, 2024

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. today announced that it has closed its previously announced transaction to acquire Summit Industrial Construction, LLC (“Summit”) headquartered in Houston, Texas. As previously disclosed, Summit is a specialty industrial mechanical contractor offering engineering, design-assist and turnkey, direct hire construction services of modular systems serving the advanced technology, power, and industrial sectors. Summit’s capabilities encompass a wide range of modular and site-based construction, including process piping, equipment setting, large pipe rack trestles, and related steel erection and specialty concrete work. Summit is a trusted supplier to some of the world’s largest advanced technology, power and industrial companies and is currently deployed on several major chip fabrication projects. Initially, Summit is expected to contribute annualized revenues of approximately $375 million to $400 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $35 million to $40 million. In light of the amortization expense, Summit is expected to make a neutral to slightly accretive contribution to earnings per share in 2024 and 2025. Brian Lane, Comfort Systems USA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are delighted to announce the closing of our agreement to acquire Summit, an extremely capable provider of modular and other complex mechanical services. Summit brings a stellar reputation as a modular technology leader in growing end markets, including multiple ongoing and large semiconductor projects. We are happy to welcome Summit’s wonderful leadership team and excellent production and craft workers across many states, and we are confident Summit will continue to innovate and grow as a part of our network of world-class contracting companies. We are grateful that Summit has chosen to become part of Comfort Systems USA.”

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