If everything goes according to plan, there will be an outdoor cannabis grow-operation about 10-minutes outside of Pembroke. Glasshouse Botanics is looking to expand operations to allow for the outdoor cultivation of cannabis.
Co-Founder, CFO and CEO of Glasshouse Botanics, Jeff Black, says the cost to grow cannabis indoors is about $1 per gram. He adds outdoors, the cost ranges between $0.16 and $0.25 cents per gram. Black says right now there are more than 50 people employed at the 41,000 square foot greenhouse located at the Whitewater Industrial Park. On Wednesday night, Whitewater town council approved a zoning application amendment to allow for the outdoor grow. Glasshouse Botanics plans to submit an application for the outdoor grow to Health Canada within the next month and hopes to hear back by May or June of this year.
Black says they will be applying for a license to grow on a 10 acre piece of land next to the greenhouse. If they receive approval for the outdoor grow, Black says Glasshouse Botanics could potentially hire another 50 to 100 employees, many seasonal and some full-time.
Glasshouse Botanics has already installed fencing to allow for the 10-acre outdoor grow. Black says they have plans to purchase another 10-acre section of land for more outdoor grow space and also plan to build another 40,000 square foot greenhouse.
