By John George  – Senior Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal

The Philadelphia region’s first medical marijuana grower/processor is on schedule to begin shipping product in October.

Agri-Kind’s indoor growing facility in Chester received operating approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Health in June and began growing its first plants in late July.

“We expect to have our first harvest in mid-October, and we are looking to start shipping by the end of that month,” said Jon Cohn, CEO of Agri-Kind.

Cohn said the first phase of construction for the nondescript complex on Broomall Street along the Chester Waterfront between Talen Energy Stadium and Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. The company’s original plan was to wait until next year to begin the second phase to create additional capacity. But supply shortages statewide has led to work on the expansion beginning right away, Cohn said.

“Pittsburgh is dry right now and the Philadelphia-area dispensaries are in short supply,” he said.

Agri-Kind spent $18.2 million to get its facility operational. Cohn estimates the final cost for the 62,000-square-foot complex, when both phases are completed, at between $23 million and $25 million.

The company initially hoped to open for business in February but encountered some delays. Working through the local zoning approval process took longer than expected, as did tearing down a condemned city high department garage on its property after asbestos was found. The company also had to replace its initial construction manager and replace them with Philadelphia-based Palmer Construction.

“It’s been a challenging process,” Cohn said. “I can’t say enough good things about Palmer Construction.”

The medical marijuana facility has 20 employees now, and that number is expected to grow to about 85 when the complex is fully operational. The jobs being created include growers, trimmers, extractors, chemists, compliance staff and security.

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“We are doing it in stages,” Cohn said. “We have 20 people now, but when the first harvest is ready we’ll have to bring in 15 trimmers right away.”

Trimmers are people trained to properly trim and prune cannabis flowers to maximize the parts of the plants that produce medical compounds cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Cohn wants to hire as many local qualified people as possible. The company has already held two job fairs the meet with potential employees.

As for production, Cohn said Agri-Kind’s approach was to plant seeds for 300 different strains of medical marijuana with a goal of finding about 80 that are best suited for this area to clone and make part of its product offerings.

“You really have to grow in your environment to know what you’re dealing with,” he said. “We know not everything we are working with now will make it.… Certain plants, for example, do better with certain lighting. We are using LED lighting so we need to figure out which do best with that.”

The company is aiming to have a variety of products to meet the different needs and preferences of customers.

“Some strains are better for pain and some are better for anxiety,” Cohn said. “We want to have five to seven strains for each indication (for which the use of medical marijuana is approved in Pennsylvania) across the board. There’s also the flavor profile. Some may have a berry flavor and other a more earthy flavor. We want to have a broad array.”

In the Southeastern Pennsylvania region for Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program — which includes Philadelphia and its surrounding four suburban counties plus Berks, Schuylkill and Lancaster counties — the other medical marijuana grower/processors to receives licenses are: Prime Wellness in Sinking Spring, Berks County; Franklin Labs in Reading, Berks County; and DocHouse of Pottsville, Schuylkill County.

Prime Wellness is the only grower in the region currently shipping product, according to a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The five-county Philadelphia region got its 20th medical marijuana dispensary earlier this week when Beyond/Hello, which is owned by Jushi Holdings of Boca Raton, Florida, opened its third local dispensary at 475 N. 5th St. in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. St. Beyond/Hello also has dispensaries at 12th and Sansom streets in Center City and in Bristol, Bucks County.

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