Is Hershey’s About To Become A Medical Marijuana Factory?
The thing about factories in general is that they tend to boost the economy of a city where they sprout. They help the community by providing it with much needed jobs and in turn, promote a higher standard of living. One such establishment is the former Hershey factory in Smith Falls, Ontario. That place was closed down in 2007 as a result of a financial crisis and necessary cutbacks.
Economic Collapse
As you can imagine, the entire community suffered for it and that had a somewhat domino effect as well. The closure of Stanley Tools also didn’t do anybody any good. If that wasn’t enough, they also closed down the Rideau Regional Centre, which was a home for the mentally disabled. Between 2007 and today, 1700 jobs were lost. For a city that has a population of 9,000, that’s a major blow to the economy. Inevitably, the city started to deteriorate as well. But now, a new hope may be rising after all.
Tweed Inc. is thinking about expanding their medical marijuana production and they are looking at the former Hershey Factory in Smith Falls as an ideal location. Dennis Staples, the major of the town, is a bit hesitant with his comments on the matter since he doesn’t know how the townspeople will react to the news. However, he believes this business venture would bring back some hope into the community.
A New Hope
The factory should be operational in 2014. If that actually does happen, it will create more than one hundred new jobs and even thought that’s nowhere near 1,700 jobs, it surely is a step up. However, this is weed we’re talking about after all so there will surely be some resistance from the community, no matter how minor that percentage may be.
The factory spreads over 180,000 square feet and the suits from Tweed Inc. need to get approval from Health Canada to open up the facility. If that does happen, then the retrofit for the former factory will amount to $1.5 million. That alone will generate 20 new jobs. This surely has to be exciting news for a town that badly needs an upgrade. After the dust settles and the facility is ready to operate it will probably take about six months for the actual product to reach the consumers.
The CEO of Tweed Inc., Chuck Rifici recently gave a statement to the Ottawa CTV and he was full of praise for the former Hershey factory emphasizing how they couldn’t have found a better location. We will be monitoring Health Canada in the months to come and as soon as we have any new information regarding Tweed’s new production facility, we’ll post an update.
