GRAND RAPIDS, Minnesota — Editor’s note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in August 2023.
To put it bluntly, the cannabis industry is already thriving in Minnesota despite a limited number of products currently available for sale.
That seems particularly true for communities north of the Twin Cities metro, which now includes the Iron Range.
The Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) voted to help fund plans for a nearly $68 million cannabis growing and manufacturing facility at a former lumber mill in Grand Rapids at its funding meeting on Monday, awarding a $10 million loan to HWY35, LLC, the company behind the project.
“While launching the cultivation and manufacture of cannabis products as a new industry in the state of Minnesota is exciting, the opportunity to create positive economic impacts in northeastern Minnesota and, in particular the Grand Rapids and greater Iron Range communities, for generations to come is both thrilling and rewarding,” said HWY35 lead Minnesota investment partner, John Hyduke, in a statement.
The new facility will include state-of-the-art LED grow lights, HVAC systems and automated nutrient delivery systems to help manufacture “a diverse range of high-quality cannabis products” in the 138-acre space formerly occupied by the Ainsworth lumber mill. Officials predict the development will create around 400 new jobs for area residents and build considerable growth for the local economy.
“The HWY35 project is expected to benefit northeastern Minnesota through the creation of 400 jobs and increased tax revenues that can be reinvested back into the region. Because the project is based in both manufacturing and agriculture, it has the potential to significantly diversify the local economy, which is one of our agency’s primary goals,” said IRRRB Commissioner Ida Rukavina, in a statement.
Since recreational adult-use cannabis was signed into law and subsequently legalized earlier this year, many local economies have already made moves to capitalize. By Oct. 10, the Minnesota Department of Health reported nearly 2,500 businesses had registered with the state to sell edible cannabis products; St. Cloud State University announced it would start offering a cannabis education program; and both the Red Lake and White Earth Tribal Nations have opened their own recreational-use dispensaries in Red Lake and Mahnomen, Minnesota, respectively.
The green light for the facility also comes amid recent turbulence inside the state’s newly created Office of Cannabis Management. In September, Erin DuPree, Gov. Tim Walz’s first pick to lead the office, resigned just a day after she was appointed after allegations surfaced over former business dealings.
Charlene Briner, a former deputy commissioner for both Minnesota’s Department of Education and Department of Human Services, was tapped to lead the office in the interim until a permanent replacement is found.
Recreational cannabis is expected to hit the state’s retail shelves by 2025.
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