Workers allege ‘nightmare’ conditions at Kentucky startup JD Vance helped fund | CNN Politics

JD Vance was an early investor, board member and public pitchman for AppHarvest .

The startup promised a high-tech future for farming and for the workers of Eastern Kentucky .

Last year , facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, the company declared bankruptcy.

The rise and fall of the company, and Vance 's role in it, cuts against his image as a champion for the working class.

AppHarvest pledged thousands of jobs for “high unemployment areas,” according to a 2020 investor presentation.

Anthony Morgan left his job at a local automobile parts plant in October 2020 to join the startup.

The company cut costs, and managers were tasked with meeting far higher production quotas.

That meant longer hours for workers and fewer breaks in the brutal heat.

AppHarvest went public in February 2021 , its shares jumped so high that trading in the stock was briefly halted due to volatility.

With a total valuation of more than $1 billion , the company’s growth had been meteoric, propelled by millions of venture capital cash.