JD Vance' s firm invested in food company now facing lawsuits App-Harvests - Appalachia HEAD TOPICS

JD Vance' s firm invested in food company now facing lawsuits

10/21/2022 6:45:00 PM

JD Vance' s firm invested in food company now facing lawsuits

App-Harvests Appalachia

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JD Vance's firm invested in food company now facing lawsuits A high-tech indoor farming company in Appalachia promoted by JD Vance and financed in part by his venture capital firm is facing five lawsuits alleging it misled regulators and duped investors. The shareholder suits against Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest were filed between November 2021 and August 2022 by individual investors and a county retirement association. They allege the agricultural startup, where Vance also briefly sat on the board, repeatedly overstated its hiring and retention figures, including in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings that investors use to evaluate companies. The suits also argue that investors were misled by press releases, analyst presentations and other public statements, including an interview the company's chief executive gave to The Associated Press touting a hiring spree. Read more:
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Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday after he was found guilty in July of two counts of contempt of Congress. Follow here for the latest live news updates. Read more >> Poll: Republican J.D. Vance Shows 4-Point Lead over Democrat Tim RyanRepublican J.D. Vance has a four-point lead over Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan in the race to fill Ohio’s open United States Senate seat, according to the latest polling by Cygnal released on Wednesday. Go, J.D., Go! Beat Ryan!! Ryan is a Killary and picked turd Weird how Ohio is pro domestic terrorism. Abortion, immigration and democracy: How do U.S. Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan compare on the issues?Clevelanddotcom / The Plain Dealer interviewed both candidates, asking about their shifting views & other issues in order to compare the two men’s stances. This is the final part of our series, which also culls from the candidates' public statements. Ohios Republican Party wants vance defeated More racist smut from the Cleveland plain dealer: clearly the racist “newspaper quote in the US.. Ryan is clearly the better, more experienced, more reasonable candidate. In Ohio, JD Vance and Tim Ryan fight to turn out voters in final weeks of Senate campaignFormer President Donald Trump won Ohio by 8 points less than two years ago, but polls have shown the Ohio Senate race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman is competitive. Only due to cheating by the democrats. Trump ruined any chance JD Vance had after Trump remarked Vance kissed his buttocks to be at his rally and Vance just smiled and took it Yea, right. “He’s Running”: Star Strategists Mark McKinnon, Jennifer Palmieri, and John Heilemann Talk Trump and ’24—But First, the MidtermsWith J.D. Vance, Kari Lake, and other “big lie” Republican candidates, America is going to go down a “rabbit hole” of chaos, according to the hosts of The Circus. Plus, Anand Giridharadas toughens up progressive messaging. TheRickWilson Showtime VFHIVE Is it not already. May be not…Brits are competing to get in first. TheRickWilson Showtime VFHIVE FOXhole sounds more appropriate TheRickWilson Showtime VFHIVE As if we haven’t already been traveling down this fecking hole for years already…awesome. donotwant JD Vance' s firm invested in food company now facing lawsuitsA high-tech indoor farming company in Appalachia promoted by JD Vance and financed in part by his venture capital firm is facing five lawsuits alleging it misled regulators and duped investors. COLUMBUS  —  The shareholder suits against Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest were filed between November 2021 and August 2022 by individual investors and a county retirement association.19 Oct 2022 Washington, DC Republican J.shifting from penning an op-ed in 2017 warmly praising ex-President Barack Obama as an admirable man with whom he disagreed, to more recently describing the “childless cat ladies” he said run the Democratic Party and accusing Biden of intentionally allowing Trump voters to die of drug overdoses.06:32 Greenville, Ohio — Steaks are sizzling on a grill outdoors as Republican Senate candidate JD Vance takes the stage at the Darke County fairground, on a wagon decorated with hay bales and pumpkins, and outfitted with a lectern draped in an Ohio state flag. They allege the agricultural startup, where Vance also briefly sat on the board, repeatedly overstated its hiring and retention figures, including in U.S. Vance has a four-point lead over Democrat Rep. Securities and Exchange Commission filings that investors use to evaluate companies. “If there’s been a change in my thinking, I think that it’s where I used to see a lot of American leadership as well-intentioned, but wrong about some pretty core issues and right about some core issues, I now think that American leadership oscillates between willfully blind and actively corrupt,” Vance said. The suits also argue that investors were misled by press releases, analyst presentations and other public statements, including an interview the company's chief executive gave to The Associated Press touting a hiring spree. The Cygnal polling found that Vance leads Ryan by four percent, 47. Lawsuits of this kind were not unexpected as the newly public AppHarvest’s stock price plummeted. Mike DeWine, members of Ohio's congressional delegation and other GOP officials are also in attendance. Since last year, equity incentive and stock purchase plans that Vance and other AppHarvest directors set up for the company’s mostly Appalachian workforce have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in value.2 percent, with 9. Asked about participation by transgender athletes in school sports, which Republicans have proposed limiting through a series of bills in Ohio and elsewhere, Ryan explained his general viewpoint. Ohio teachers also lost more than $100,000 in retirement savings in AppHarvest’s decline before the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio sold its 16,000 shares in June. The suits could raise additional questions, though, about one of the central narratives of Vance’s U. Ultimately, Noah Rudnick, the data scientist who fielded the poll, believes that Vance is boosted by Biden’s low favorables in the state, even though Tim Ryan has a slight lead with independents.S. Like, these are still kids, and they’re vulnerable. Senate campaign: that he left behind a lucrative business career in San Francisco's tech world to focus on revitalizing Appalachia. In the Buckeye State, the president’s favorability is severely underwater, with 59. The Real Clear Politics average has Vance up by just 2. Some of those efforts have already come under scrutiny. In a region that has been devastated by opioid addiction, for instance, he has faced criticism for launching an anti-drug charity that enlisted a doctor with ties to a major pharmaceutical company.9 percent had a favorable view of him. Supreme Court decision voerturning Roe v. Vance's campaign said he was unaware of those ties. AppHarvest said the lawsuits are baseless. In comparison, an overwhelming majority of 69. Vance, the Republican nominee for a critical U. Pressed on abortion during Monday’s debate, Vance declined to spell out other abortion exemptions he might support, calling himself pro-life in principle. Ohio has been trending Republican over the last two presidential elections, with Trump easily winning in 2016 and 2020. S. Furthermore, on the generic ballot, a Republican candidate led by over ten points with 52. Senate seat in Ohio, is not named in any of the suits. He left AppHarvest in April 2021 ahead of announcing his Senate campaign.1 percent said they would vote for the Democrats.. Vance’s campaign said his Cincinnati-based firm, Narya Capital, is itself an investor in AppHarvest and would suffer if the lawsuits' allegations were true. Spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk also emphasized that the actions were all filed after Vance left the board.5 percent said they were unsure. Recent polls show President Joe Biden's approval is underwater in the state. Colin Greenspon, a co-founder and managing partner of Narya, which lists Vance as on"a partial leave of absence,” said the firm continues to stand behind AppHarvest. “So I actually don’t think that you can say on a debate stage, every single thing that you’re going to vote for when it comes to an abortion piece of legislation. “We believe that AppHarvest is transforming America’s food supply in ways that will be impactful for generations to come,” he said in a statement.58 percent margin of error. Vance is running against Democratic U.S.S. 10 candidate debate, Vance said he opposes a bill meant to codify same-sex marriage rights while also saying: “Gay marriage is the law of the land in this country. Rep.  Ryan is on the campaign trail trying to counter that storyline and build a coalition of what he calls the"exhausted majority" of Democrats, Republicans and independents to send him to the Senate. Tim Ryan in one of the country’s most competitive Senate races. With Ohio currently being represented by a Republican, it is crucial for the party to keep the seat. He has been touting AppHarvest since at least 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Vance is more of an isolationist, critical of American involvement in Ukraine, while Ryan has been a vocal proponent for funding the Ukrainian military. The company grows tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables by sustainable agriculture methods on some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms, its website says. Senate Republicans must hold seats in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania and net at least one seat to put the GOP back in the majority and hinder President Joe Biden’s agenda. It has described its mission in SEC filings as empowering Appalachians, driving positive environmental change in the agriculture industry and improving the lives of its employees and the community. “The last few months have taught us that our food system is a little more precarious than we realized,” Vance said in an August 2020 article in Greenhouse Grower. Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. But Vance fears continued escalation could have “catastrophic” consequences for the world."I'm asking you to sign up to be an American. “AppHarvest will change that, and it will do so by building a sustainable, durable business in Appalachia, and investing in the people who call it home.” The lawsuits, which allege misstatements going back to January 2021, contend the training AppHarvest provided to workers was “a joke,” that its workforce “suffered massive attrition, churn and COVID-19-related absences that negatively affected productivity” and that its first harvest last year was “ravaged by operational issues” and 50% was wasted. The litigation variously seeks undetermined monetary damages, governance reform and greater transparency at AppHarvest and, in two cases, jury trials. Ryan has framed his campaign generally around the need for the U. AppHarvest attorneys have pushed back. “This case is a textbook example of a plaintiff trying to spin a company’s reduction of its annual revenue guidance into a violation of the federal securities laws,” they told the U.5 million who identify themselves as independents, according to the secretary of state's office. S. “It’s not black and white, but if our companies and our business and our military don’t have our presence felt in some way, shape or form around the world, China will fill that void,” Ryan said. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a filing last month. “Those laws and relevant pleading standards, however, prohibit pleading fraud-by-hindsight. And for good reason: markets are complex, and financial predictions made months or even a year into the future — particularly for a young, public company like AppHarvest — are always uncertain. relies on are manufactured.” Vance's level of involvement in the company while he was a director is unclear. Biden to help campaign in the Buckeye state. He was among a roster of celebrities, including media mogul Martha Stewart, who got behind AppHarvest early on, and he spoke positively about the company on Fox Business News on Feb. 1, 2021, plugging its stock the day it went public in a business combination with Novus Capital, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.S. “What we saw as an opportunity here is if you could use technology, bring the point of production a little bit closer to the end consumer, you could actually pay people a decent wage, you could build a company that investors and consumers would be proud of, but you just have better produce,” he said. Narya was an investor in that merger, reporting ownership of 2.9 million shares of AppHarvest stock at the time — a stake valued beforehand at $24. He’s also described undocumented immigrants as a source for cheap labor that keep overall wages down, while also expressing support for promoting immigration for skilled workers – his wife is Indian-American whose parents immigrated to the U. 95 a share, or $73 million, and nine days later, when it had to be listed publicly, at $36 a share, or almost $106 million. AppHarvest stock closed at $1.57 a share on Thursday, with Narya saying it still holds all its shares. During his Senate campaign, Vance has described the “invasion” at the southern border, and in his political ads from the Republican primary campaign, accused Democratic leaders of supporting leniency on the border to help secure their political power by attracting new voters. Matt Sheridan, a senior finance lecturer at the Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, said mergers involving SPACs — also known as shell or blank-check companies — are “a bad deal for investors” whose stock prices as a group have declined around 70%. They are an alternative to a traditional initial public offering, or IPO, for taking a company public, with fewer guardrails and less transparency. A month after AppHarvest went public, the SEC issued a warning for investors not to invest in a SPAC “just because someone famous sponsors or invests in it or says it is a good investment.” During a fiery exchange in Monday’s debate, Vance said the criticism offends him, especially given that his three young children are biracial.” The investment vehicles are now the subject of new regulatory scrutiny. “Any time you have a collapse like that, that’s going to cause alarms,” Sheridan said. “And if there were misleading statements, fraudulent statements, then that can lead to legitimate lawsuits. To believe in a border, Tim Ryan thinks I’ve endorsed the Great Replacement Theory,” Vance said on Monday.” AppHarvest spokesperson Darla Turner said the lawsuits have no merit and the company is thriving. It is poised to quadruple its farm network by year’s end, she said, as it adds locations specializing in salad greens and berries. Turner said AppHarvest is living-wage certified and provides a robust benefits program to employees. The bill is backed by voting-rights groups, although Republican critics have called it an overreach into how states run elections. Vance resigned from the AppHarvest board two months after it went public, on April 9, 2021, to make his Senate run. He had served since August 2020. The company told regulators his departure was “not the result of any disagreement between the Company and Mr. Vance, meanwhile, has called for an end to early voting and opposes ending the filibuster. Vance on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies, or practices.” Although Vance’s name is nowhere in the suits, a watchdog group focused on private equity and venture capital firms called his actions surrounding the company into question. “As a venture capitalist, J.D. Vance promised to invest in Appalachia and touted AppHarvest’s stock, but then bailed before the company’s troubles came to light,” said Jim Baker, executive director of Private Equity Stakeholder Action. “Venture capital firms generally try to grow the value of companies they invest in, but AppHarvest plummeted in value shortly after going public.” .