State awards medical pot licenses
PurePenn to grow marijuana in McKeesport; Greene County firm also gets one of 12 permits
Gabriel Perlow was picking up his daughter from summer camp Tuesday afternoon while listening to a state Department of Health news conference on his mobile phone.
“They didn’t say at the news conference but then my phone blew up with congratulations,” he said, describing how he learned that his Downtown company PurePenn LLC will join AgriMed Industries of PA LLC in Carmichaels, Greene County, as the only two licensed medical marijuana growing and processing facilities in the state’s southwestern region. The PurePenn facility will be in McKeesport.
The state Department of Health announced that 12 companies — two in each of six districts in the state — will receive licenses from 177 applicants. They will create state-approved cannabinoid products including oils, creams and tinctures to be sold statewide through licensed distribution centers that the department says will be announced next week.
“I’m ecstatic. Our whole team is ecstatic, and the whole team is looking forward to being operational within six months” as required by state Department of Health, said Mr. Perlow, PurePenn CEO, whose role as a Downtown real estate attorney and developer is now on hold. “Family and friends will have a celebration, but then we’ll get down to work tomorrow.”
Holistic Farms LLC in New Castle and Cresco Yeltrah LLC in Brookville, Jefferson County, will receive grower/processing licenses in the northwest region.
In eastern Greene County, AgriMed Industries LLC plans to build a grow/processing facility on a 61-acre plot south of the small borough of Carmichaels. The company has said it plans to invest $25 million in the project and expects the facility will create 62 jobs. Carmichaels officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
In a brief phone interview after the announcement, AgriMed chairman Bruce Goldman said the Philadelphia-based company was formed in September after he and managing partner Sterling Crockett had previously applied for medical marijuana grow licenses in Maryland. Those applications were unsuccessful.
They decided to apply in
Pennsylvania, he said, because “it seemed they were really serious about making medicine out of this.” He credited Mr. Crockett for the application effort, describing him as “a longtime entrepreneur and was involved with cannabis before.”
“He’s the one who put this whole idea together.”
Mr. Goldman said they are purchasing the lot where the facility will be built from Wellington Development Co. in Fairmont, W.Va.
In a May 22 press release, AgriMed announced former Steelers linebacker Jack Ham would be a spokesman and consultant for the company.
“I’m not talking about people getting high, doing recreational drugs,” Mr. Ham said in the release. “This is about medicine and giving patients an alternative option to manage pain and other medical complications that arise from cancer treatment, and other problems.”
A number of former football players have said that managing pain is an integral part of a professional football career, including Steelers great Franco Harris, who was a principal with the Laurel Medical group that unsuccessfully applied for a state permit to operate a grow/process facility in Braddock.
Mr. Ham said he had relatively few injuries during his career, although a foot injury did prevent him from playing in Super Bowl XIV against the Los Angeles Rams. “The medication was almost as bad as the initial surgery on my foot. It didn’t bring me the relief I really wanted,” Mr. Ham said in the release.
He added: “I can see myself down the road — yes, without question — taking medical marijuana for any kind of a pain situation I have as I go further in life.
PurePenn, with a 21-person ownership team, submitted a 2,000-page application to set up a growing and processing operation in the RIDC Industrial Center McKeesport, initially to involve a 21,000- square- feet modular facility on 5 acres with 25 to 50 employees, with a minimum company wage of $14.50 an hour.
It already received zoning approval with purchase of the property and construction is ready to begin, Mr. Perlow said, noting no obstacles in being operational within six months.
Key members of the ownership team include Jordan Lams, CEO and co-founder of Moxie, which processes and distributes pharmaceuticalgrade cannabis-oil products in California, Michigan and Nevada; and McKeesport native Raymond Boyer, chief financial officer for SDC Nutrition, a Pittsburgh company that manufactures protein powders and supplements.
“State officials had a difficult decision in narrowing the applications, and we’re pleased that they recognized PurePenn’s business sense and equally strong mission to bring the highest- quality products to patients,” Mr. Perlow said, this time in a prepared statement. He also said the company is eager to provide “new opportunity for a hard-working, skilled-labor force in the historic steel community.”
Mayor Michael Cherepko said he was “very, very excited” when the news broke during the 1 p.m. health department news conference. A ofTuesday afternoon news conference involving city and PurePenn officials quickly was scheduled at the facility site on Industry Road.
It all happened after an anxious wait.
“We had PCN- TV on [broadcasting the news conference] but ended up getting a text message from PurePenn telling us we got the license,” the mayor said. “It was tense, and we didn’t know what was going to happen, but I couldn’t wait for the announcement. I was busy throughout the day but a little bit nervous.”
He said he had confidence in PurePenn’s prospects, given the company’s experience and professionalism.
“How exciting it will be with the up- and- coming health care industry in Pennsylvania with economic benefits in McKeesport,” Mr. Cherepko said. “We’re very excited and truly appreciative.”
State Sen. Jim Brewster, DMcKeesport, issued a statement about the selection, touting the benefits medical marijuana will provide for those needing such treatments while also noting the permit will help improve the economy, and rebuild the city and the Monongahela Valley, with spin-off business also generating additional jobs.