[[{“value”:”Apr 22, 2025
For The Intelligencer
The first marijuana dispensary in Belmont County is coming to Bridgeport, where it will be operated by Cresco Labs and will have wellness advisers on the sales floor to help with customer needs. (Image Provided)
The first marijuana dispensary in Belmont County could open by early 2026, offering cannabis products for both medical and recreational use.
The dispensary, which will be operated by Cresco Labs, will be at 435 Main St. in Bridgeport. It is projected to open in 2026 with construction starting this year.
Bridgeport Village Council recently passed an ordinance to allow the dispensary at a specific location. Now that council has given Cresco Labs approval, it is able to get to work and start to develop its plans to rehabilitate the facility.
The work for the dispensary is being done internally right now, with Cresco Labs taking a look at plans and what it’s like to do in terms of layouts, floor plans and more. Ultimately, once it has a good idea of how it wants the signage to look, it will reach out to the Department of Commerce, specifically for the cannabis commission, to get all of the required permits and approvals. Cresco Labs will also work with Bridgeport for the building permits, as well.
Ficara said no shovels go into the ground until Cresco Labs goes through all of the regulated channels and gets building approvals.
The store will offer a variety of different medical and adult use products. The shop will have wellness advisors in the dispensary who will be there to answer questions and be a resource for people.
These advisors will be able to steer people toward products they’re looking for, whether they’re a first time customer or somebody who uses marijuana frequently, Ficara, said.
These wellness advisors will be able to guide people to meet their needs, such as finding products that help with stress or anxiety.
“It’s going to be a very warm, very welcoming atmosphere …,” Ficara said. “This is a highly professionalized, highly regulated operation where you’re going to get very clear labeling, very safe and conservative advertising.”
Ficara added the dispensary is not allowed to put anything that would appeal to children on the packaging, such as cartoons, bubbly letters or animals. All of the packages will be tamper- and child-proof. He said this dispensary is a much safer, more regulated operation, where all of the products in the store are going to be lab tested and state approved, than the illicit market, where drug dealers sell marijuana.
Ficara described Cresco Labs stores as looking like Apple Stores, which are bright, warm and welcoming and have touch pads in front of people as well as wellness advisors circling the sales floor.
People must be 21 to purchase any of the products, according to state law.
“There’s also this feeling of safety and security as well,” Ficara said. “There are vestibules out front so you can’t even get onto the sales floor before you go through security and check in to swipe your ID. And that’s a good thing. It instills consumer confidence and patient confidence that you know the industry isn’t selling to kids, and that nobody’s trying to kind of bamboozle the system a little bit. It’s highly secure and very safe.”
Cresco Labs plans to distribute updates on construction through its website, sunnyside.shop, where people can click Bridgeport and ultimately see when plans are to open and updates to construction.
Some dispensaries around the state only sell medical use products or only recreational use products. However, this dispensary would offer both, appealing to both medical patients and adult users.
Ficara said Cresco Labs chooses to make the dispensary medical and recreational because that’s an inclusive part of the process to make sure both patients and recreational users feel like they have a safe, secure and regulated place to go.
Cresco Labs is expecting to hire anywhere from 25-30 jobs locally after floor plans and schemes of how the building will work are built out. The agency will then hire full, part time and management positions. There will also be some ancillary business opportunities as well, such as needing construction workers, plumbers, electricians, landscapers and cleaning services.
Ficara said another big piece of this dispensary is that the village is going to generate tax revenue. He believes there is a lot of upside for Belmont County for an opportunity like this one. The economic upside is that the village is creating jobs.
He noted that the state demands that 10% tax on cannabis products and of that 10%, 36% of that tax goes to the local municipality, which is going to be a lot of money for the village, presumably hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ficara said this added money could go toward law enforcement, education or infrastructure, and Cresco Labs is happy to be a fabric of the community and help the village invest as a result of being there.
“We look at ourselves as being a really good community partner, a great neighbor, a resource to constituents, but also to law enforcement as well,” he said. “And we’ve already had good conversations with the police chief about how we can work together and make sure that not only we’re being safe as an operator, but it’s safe for our employees, it’s safe for our patients and our consumers, and then ultimately, the community at large.”
Ficara said he thinks there are a lot of stereotypes that come with cannabis use, but Ohio took a big step forward in legalizing marijuana through the ballot referendum.
“I think the American public at large, you’re seeing trends of cannabis being more and more normalized and professionalized,” he said. “A lot of folks younger and older are turning to cannabis products instead of, let’s say, alcohol or opioids. They find it safer.”
He added research finds there are less side effects in using cannabis, whether it’s medicinal use or recreational use, so Cresco Labs is excited about that trend.
He noted using marijuana is a safer alternative to a lot of things out there. People have been smoking marijuana for a very long time, just via the illicit market, which Ficara described as a very dangerous enterprise because products could be laced with fentanyl, heavy metals or contaminated with E. coli.
However, when someone is buying from a regulated, licensed operator, they know it’s 100% safe, lab tested and state approved.
Ficara said people are going to buy cannabis one way or another, and if it’s not from a licensed, regular operator, it’s probably from the illicit market, so what would someone prefer.
Most people, he said, understand the argument and determine the upside is having a safe and professionally operated dispensary that creates jobs and generates tax revenue from it.
“We’re really excited. I think our feeling is really optimistic, really excited to be part of the community,” Ficara said. “This is not something where we come in and come out. We’re here to stay. We want to be part of the community and look forward to being that and being a good partner.”
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“}]] The first marijuana dispensary in Belmont County could open by early 2026, offering cannabis products for both medical and recreational use. The dispensary, which will be operated by Cresco Labs, will be at 435 Main St. in Bridgeport. It is projected to open in 2026 with construction starting this year. Bridgeport Village Council recently passed Read More
