The Day Brother's Flagship Business Model For Sustainable Development in Urban Centers
Who We Are
The Day Brothers is a family-owned business spearheading urban development defined by social and environmental benefits to improve communities. It is a generational business started in the 1930's that is lead by four brothers and is creating a national portfolio of essential assets.
“Transforming East Main” is a transformational project that will improve quality of life, create jobs, combat food insecurity and provide new housing for New Britain’s East Side residents. The City of New Britain is partnering with Day Brothers LLC (“TDB”) to execute a transit-oriented development project situated directly adjacent to the East Main Street CTFastrak Station. The mission of the Transforming East Main project is ultimately to improve quality of life, build new housing stock, and provide fresh produce to a long-disinvested neighborhood comprised substantially of underserved and marginalized residents. This project promotes environmental justice through the removal of environmental hazards in a low-income, disadvantaged census tract. By replacing blight and environmental hazards with urban agriculture and housing components, this project will be engaged in a multi-faceted effort to promote equality, enhance livability, and ensure the environmental health of this dynamic neighborhood.
This project will address a need confirmed by the New England Food System Planners Partnership recently released analysis of local food spending in New England – Regional Food Count 2022. The report reveals that $2.28 billion or only 3.1% of New England’s total $120.6 billion in food, beverage and alcohol expenditures were directed towards local and regional products, highlighting a critical area for potential growth and investment to spur local production.
Agriculture accounts for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly two-thirds of fresh water use, and is the biggest water polluter in many countries. Produce often travels 1,500 miles before it reaches the end consumer and roughly half of all global crops perish before they arrive at grocery stores.
Inefficiencies of this magnitude set the stage for vertical farming, one of the few tangible sustainability initiatives in agriculture and a method that could benefit the planet, consumers and investors.
"Vertical farming has been around since King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 600 B.C., 21st-century vertical farmers use controlled-environment agriculture technology to manipulate light, temperature, atmosphere, water and nutrient flow, and humidity to optimize plant growth on rotating crop carousels standing as high as 20 feet tall"
- Charlotte Janelle, Vertical Farming on the Up and Up, Edible Maine
"A healthy food economy requires progressive approaches, and I applaud Westbrook for embracing this project. Vertical farming has the potential to become an outstanding complement to traditional Maine agriculture”
- Amanda Beal, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commissioner.
For questions please email us at info@tdb-llc.org