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A Bronx-based company is opening the first tier one cannabis processing business in New York City in coming months, which will allow it to process, extract, blend, manufacture, package and distribute cannabis products to licensed dispensaries.
ProXtract in Morris Park expects to begin operations this spring, stocking licensed stores in the Bronx and the rest of the city with the first cannabis products extracted and manufactured in NYC.
Sean and Ilana Maguire, a husband-and-wife duo who co-founded ProXtracts, said they’re actively seeking partnerships with small and micro cannabis businesses in the Bronx and beyond. They will have the ability to distribute wholesale cannabis extract – like oils and hash – but also manufacture products for Bronx retailers looking to develop their own brands.
“ We’ll make it for you,” said Sean Maguire. “We’ll do the testing. We’ll get the label right.”
Sean Maguire, a longtime cannabis consumer himself, said he was inspired to get into the business from his previous career operating a chain of drive through convenience stores on Long Island. Cashiers would often – illegally – sell weed to customers in the drive through. While illegal, Sean said it made sense and many liked the service.
“ What a great situation for you to come in, you get a cup of coffee, you get your newspaper, you get your milk for the day, and you get a couple of pre rolled joints and you’re gone for the day,” Maguire said.
But he couldn’t get a license to sell cannabis out of his drive-throughs, and, at the time, only cannabis for medical use was permitted. But Maguire said the dream never died. During the pandemic he sold the convenience stores, and then he started looking for avenues into the cannabis industry when the state legalized adult-use in 2021. In 2022, he found that opportunity in processing.
“We came up with an awesome lab, and an awesome game plan here,” he said. “We have people involved here that have been doing this for a long time.”
The facility, located on Stillwell Avenue, will have a lab for extracting THC that will go into oils, waxes or rosins; two different rooms for processing the flower; a room for dry processed hash; and one for wet processed hash; and cold storage space for various cannabis products. Dispensaries in the Bronx and New York City can purchase their wholesale products and then sell them directly to consumers.
ProXtracts says that its products are of the highest standard, claiming that it sets the business apart from its rivals. The firm’s lab uses equipment exclusively from Prodigy, a highly regarded equipment manufacturer that complies with FDA regulations.
Maguire said the decision to use equipment from Prodigy is an investment in the future for when cannabis is legalized at the federal level.
Once the industry is regulated on a federal basis, Maguire said ProXtracts will already be compliant with FDA regulations, allowing the Bronx-based business to produce pharmaceutical grade cannabis extracts for medical use.
The equipment ProXtracts will use complies with strict regulations for Current Good Manufacturing Practices. Courtesy of Prodigy Processing Solutions”}]] A Bronx-based company is opening the first tier one cannabis processing business in New York City in coming months, which will allow it to process, extract, Read More