Marijuana grower, dispenser plans to open $35M facility in Macon. It needs a state license
Fine Fettle, a medical marijuana producer and dispenser, plans to open a facility in east Macon in late September.
That is, if they receive their license from the state to grow marijuana.
The company recently gave the media and local officials a tour of the construction site.
The $35 million, 111,500 square-foot facility has different areas with specific humidity and temperature settings to support the marijuana plants through their growth cycle.
Many of the walls are made of foam insulation clad with sheet metal, similar to the walls of a walk-in freezer. This makes temperature regulation easier and more efficient than with drywall.
That insulated-wall material was sourced from a Middle Georgia company, PermaTherm, which cut back on shipping costs and added to the initial economic impact of the company on the surrounding areas, according to Kevin Bartlett, a superintendent with J.E. Dunn Construction.
While the construction of the facility is getting close to completion, the company has not yet received the all-clear to start growing the plants. The state’s Medical Cannabis Commission awarded them a “Class 2” license to grow up to 50,000 square-feet of marijuana, but Fine Fettle has not been given an official license to grow.
According to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, there have yet to be any licenses awarded to companies who want the “Class 2” license. In a press release from April, the commission stated that “[due] to litigation, the Commission has not been able to
issue the four Class 2 production licenses to the four apparent successful applicants.”
According to Capitol Beat, the lawsuits have been filed by the companies who did not receive a license, “alleging the selection process was flawed.”
“We’re hopeful that the commission will soon be able to move forward on issuing the Class 2 licenses, because we’re ready to get to work on behalf of Georgians,” CEO Jeremy Fort told the Telegraph.
Two companies received Class 1 licenses in the state: Trulieve and Botanical Sciences. Trulieve has a dispensary in Macon off of Riverside Drive, while Botanical Sciences’ website states that its dispensaries are soon to open.
Fine Fettle wants to employ 50 people in Macon initially, with plans to expand to around 150 employees. Fort said that the dispensaries that will be supplied and owned by Fine Fettle will also employ around 15 to 20 people each. Fine Fettle plans on operating as many dispensaries as it can, which at the moment is seven across the state, per Georgia law.
A producer can have up to five dispensaries to start, and then for every 10,000 customers it has past 25,000 customers, it can add one dispensary. For now, Fine Fettle says that it has about 50,000 customers waiting for its products.
Fine Fettle plans to locate those dispensaries near cities in Georgia like Atlanta and Columbus. The products the company produces cannot travel across state lines.
The company, according to COO Ben Zachs, was founded partially to support those struggling with opioid addictions, as well as others who are suffering from cancer or other maladies.