Medical cannabis company to locate in Mexico Farms
Oct. 8—CUMBERLAND, Md. — A medical cannabis processing company is expected to locate in the North Branch Industrial Park in Mexico Farms, bringing up to 20 jobs to the area, according to Allegany County officials.
The Allegany County Board of Commissioners met Thursday at the county office complex on Kelly Road where they voted unanimously to grant a five-year lease to Abdo Development, who will be subleasing the space to the medical cannabis processing company, Bouquet Labs.
Bouquet Labs was recently granted a license by the Maryland Cannabis Commission. The commission focused its latest round of awards on companies with women and minority representation. Bouquet Labs has 90.25% women and minority ownership.
"We are very lucky to have developers of this stature taking an interest in Allegany County," said Nathan Price, county project manager. "We feel this is a great opportunity to increase employment."
Price introduced Jim Abdo, president and CEO of Abdo Development, one of the largest developers in Washington, D.C.
"We have been in business in D.C. for 35 years and it has been refreshing to work with (county economic development director) Jeff Barclay and the entire county staff," said Abdo. "We are very excited to come here. Tonight, we're literally within hours of investing millions of dollars here in Allegany County.
"We are here for the long haul and we are creating local jobs. We are very bullish on everything we see here."
Abdo said he expects Bouquet Labs to be up and running at Building 88-1, 11201 PPG Road, sometime in the first quarter of 2022.
Barclay said the building has a history in the medical cannabis industry. The location, according to Barclay, was previously home to Pharmaculture followed by a Canadian-based company called Curaleaf. Barclay said those companies did not last at the location, but he is optimistic that Abdo Development will be successful.
"We had a five-year deal with the previous owner (Paul Hetzel), which just expired," said Barclay. "The state of Maryland recently awarded some more licenses to processors. These companies get more points on their application if they locate in a distressed community and (Allegany County) does fit that (description)."
Barclay said Abdo had already established a relationship with Bouquet Labs.
"We like the (Abdo) development company and we think it is a great opportunity for us," said Barclay. "This is their first taste of Allegany County. We have a great relationship with them. We hope this is their first project and there is more to come as a developer."
Barclay said Bouquet Labs could employ around 20 people.
"Bouquet Labs will invest in quite a bit of equipment and possibly (do business) with a grower in the area," added Barclay. "We want to look to the future. We could wind up with a cluster (of medical cannabis companies) and draw other ancillary businesses in the sector to the area. So it's a good opportunity."
Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter
@GregLarryCTN.
