Open house for proposed medical marijuana operation in Stavely
By Lawrence Gleason, Local Press Writer
A public forum held by the Town of Stavely for an 89,000-square-foot marijuana greenhouse facility that could employ 42 town residents once built, with another 14 in management at its Calgary office, appeared to have the support of about 60 people who attended the forum on Oct. 12 at the Stavely Community Centre.
About 20 per cent of the questions to the company, Grünewahl Organics Inc., were about potential jobs at the greenhouse in the town of 540. Proposed jobs include lab manager, lab tech, inventory manager, director of cultivation, garden techs, propagation, harvesting, facility maintenance and security.
It is hoped the greenhouse build can begin in 2018.
The proposed operation, unrelated to a marijuana greenhouse proposed for Claresholm, is in its fourth year of planning and negotiating Health Canada’s strict requirements as the project goes through the stages for approval. The project is now in step five, a detailed review, of a seven-step process to get licensing from Health Canada. The remaining two steps are a pre-licence inspection and then licensing.
Canada-wide there are 64 licensed producers for medicinal marijuana under present Health Canada regulations, and this area has two proposed facilities, from two different companies, one project planned for Claresholm, another proposed for Stavely.
Asked why this area was chosen for their project, Joel Manorek, the originator of the plan, who sold his company to Grünewahl Organics Inc., said the growing conditions in Southern Alberta are ideal, with low humidity and long daylight hours. Manorek, from Calgary, knows Stavely well as it was his family’s recreation destination for years, as they used nearby lakes for boating.
Curtis Leifso, the chief executive officer of the company, also spoke at the Stavely forum, and said no steps will be taken to build the greenhouse until licensing is approved, noting that other projects in Canada have gone ahead with an expensive build before-hand, with confidence of being licensed, but Grünewahl Organics Inc. will move conservatively, one step at a time and build after licensing approval by Health Canada.
One company staffer recently helped build a marijuana greenhouse in the United States, which adds to company experience as they move to the licensing and building stage.