Left to right, Dominic Sergi and Rob Sampson of Cresco Labs are joined by Bill Thomas of Logan County Economic Development Partnership during an Informational Meeting held for the public on Saturday. The men fielded questions about the facility plans and processes, and future employment opportunities.

Cresco Labs aiming for ‘the gold standard’ at new Lincoln facility

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[June 10, 2015]  LINCOLN - The Logan County Economic Development Partnership and Cresco Labs held an informational meeting on Saturday at Lincoln College. The meeting was held as a chance to provide the public with answers to questions concerning Cresco Labs’ new in-progress facility north of Lincoln.

Cresco labs is currently building a medical marijuana cultivation facility next to Gehrke Trucking. In recent years, the state of Illinois became one of 27 states that have some form of law regarding legal marijuana use. In Illinois, it is legal for marijuana to be used for specific medical conditions.

Bill Thomas, the executive director of the Partnership, began by asking questions of two representatives from Cresco. Dominic Sergi and Rob Sampson were present; Sergi and Sampson are two of four owners of Cresco Labs. After Thomas spoke, members of the public were allowed to ask questions as well.

Sergi said that Cresco Labs successfully filed three applications to build facilities in the state. The other two facilities are under construction in Joliet and Kankakee. “We had the top highest scores in the state,” said Sergi. “We’re trying to set the golden standard in Illinois.” Sampson added that they are trying to model their business plan after the best parts of other plans and operations in the country.

One application was granted per state police district in Illinois for companies such as Cresco. There are twenty-one of these districts in Illinois, and Lincoln is in the 9th District.

Sergi said that Cresco chose to build in this part of the state because of its centralized nature. “We asked ourselves, how do we make sure we’ve got a facility from a locational standpoint that can service the entire state?” said Sergi.



The building will measure 40,000 square feet, although there will be room for future expansion. Sergi said the area will be very non-descript, and “all we will do is grow the product and manufacture the product. There will be no retail sale here.” Sergi said there are sixty dispensaries in the state they will ship to.

As for security, Cresco will be connected to the state police twenty-four hours a day. There will be 182 cameras on the building, with state of the art security measures in place.

Sergi said they hope to be operational in September. It would likely be at least four months after that when dispensaries would be selling their product.

On the topic of possible expansion, Sergi said that there are currently thirty-nine conditions that can be treated in the state with medical marijuana products. There is also legislation going through the state government that could expand that list.

“This program, with the way the state has set it up, is phenomenal. There are other states looking at Illinois as a model,” said Sergi. Currently, Cresco and other labs are part of a four-year pilot program at a state level, and they are hoping it will be extended by another four years.


On the topic of how the product would be grown, Sampson said that everything would be grown indoors. Although they are allowed to use greenhouses, Sampson said they will grow the plant inside the building for the time being. The product will be tested for quality both internally by Cresco Labs, and externally by state-approved independent labs.

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A question was asked about transportation and how Cresco will move their product. Sampson said they will be covering transportation themselves, as they are required to transport it with two drivers and specialized GPS software.

Multiple people asked about the future, and what Cresco would do if recreational marijuana was legalized. Sampson said that they are keeping that thought in mind, but they are not planning on altering their business plan should that happen. Sergi said the focus of the company is to provide marijuana for medicinal purposes, not recreational.

As for the product itself, Sampson said the plant will be concentrated into pills, salves, oils, and other similar medical products. Sampson said they will be making the various medical products on site, and working with twenty different strains of marijuana. When asked where the closest dispensary would be, Sergi said the closest one would be between Lincoln and Springfield.

On the topic of possible jobs, Sampson said the state will be involved in hiring employees, and approving hires could take up to forty-five days. Potential employees will need to be granted state-approved ID’s, pass background checks, and be finger-printed by state police.

Sampson said that as the facility opens, Cresco will need around twenty employees. Those jobs will range from entry-level positions to management positions, technicians, and gardeners. Security officers will be hired with the assistance of an outside security company, as per state regulation. By the end of the facility’s expansion, they will likely have fifty to sixty jobs at the facility. Sampson said that by the end of the weekend, job descriptions will be up on their website, and they are already accepting applications.
 


When asked about part-time or seasonal help, Sampson said there is a chance for that to happen. Sampson said that harvest time will likely present a need for part time help for quicker harvests, especially at first. Sampson said that Cresco will likely harvest every week.

As for pay, Sampson said that salaries will vary based on position and various kinds of experience that people bring to the facility. Sampson said Cresco will be offering full health insurance and benefits to their employees, including those with disabilities. Sampson also said they will be looking to hire locally for their job openings.

Additionally, an employee will be able to work at the facility and still qualify for medical marijuana use, should they have an approved condition. “As owners, I can’t be a card-holder, but the employees can be,” said Sampson.

A question was asked as to how employees will be trained. Sergi said Cresco is partnering with experienced harvesters in Colorado to provide training for the first groups of employees.

Thomas said the Development Partnership will be helping as well to get the job information out to the public through the news media.

[Derek Hurley]

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