A major investment in New York’s cannabis growing industry was on display in the Hudson Valley village of Montgomery on Wednesday, providing an opportunity for a firsthand glimpse into the facility's state-of-the-art growing process. But it didn't stop some from expressing ongoing concerns about the state's budding cannabis market.
There was no ribbon cutting for the $130 million expansion of PharmaCann’s growing facility. Instead, the celebration was marked with their first harvest of marijuana, as the cannabis producer upgraded its growing capabilities to prepare for the burgeoning marijuana industry in New York.
Senior official Jeremy Unruh said PharmaCann has been committed to getting the most out of its new facility since the start of construction.
What You Need To Know
- PharmaCann unveiled the $130 million expansion of its cannabis growing facility
- Company officials say its state-of-the-art design will make the growing process better and more efficient
- New York recently opened the adult-use licensing application window for cannabis, which will remain open until December 4
“Whether it's electricity or light energy from the sun, or water or sewage that we're using as efficiently as possible, as efficiently as the state-of-the-art allows," Unruh said.
For the Orange County location, it’s a big win. County Executive Steve Neuhaus said these types of projects give the workforce a huge boost.
“People complain about jobs that don't have a living wage," the Republican said. "With inflation, it's added a lot of pressure on families. So when you have a company like this that pays good wages and has benefits that actually could put food on the table and pay the bill to pay the mortgage for local families, it's very, very transformational.”
But the bells and whistles didn't drown out the concerns many in the cannabis industry have. Unruh shared that New York's legal marijuana rollout has troubled him. It's a process still mired in lawsuits and moving slower than anticipated.
Unruh said he didn’t expect to have roughly the same market of only medical marijuana consumers when they started construction here two years ago.
“It's a dark picture when after 2 1/2 years, the existing medical operators aren't allowed into the adult-use market," he said. "But we remain cautiously optimistic that the state will continue to do what it says it's supposed to do, what it says it's going to do.”
Neuhaus said state government needs to act so that dispensaries can start to open, and PharmaCann can start to see some return on its investment.
“We want more of this and we want less of the illegal stuff that's going on," he said.