A plan to build an organic cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility in Babbitt is the topic of an upcoming public hearing.

The Babbitt Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a hearing on May 1 at 9 a.m. to discuss the project which would be located west of the Ely Area Credit Union location and a building owned by Negley Properties LLC.

Phase one includes four 20’ x 72’ double-walled high tunnels for indoor cultivation.

Phase two is a 7,500 sq. ft. building with pneumatic-driven manufacturing, processing and co-packing facility with additional fencing and parking. Company officials say 12 full-time jobs will be created once the building is completed.

The Green Mining Company is based in Ely and owns the former bowling alley building, also known as the 1895 Temperance Hall. Retail sales would take place in Ely. OnWednesdaythecompanywas notified they have been granted a license from the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management.

The plant in Babbitt would be able to “produce 300 perfect prerolls every four minutes with one operator.”

The company plans to purchase three lots on Commerce Road.

Security at the completed site would include artificial intelligence- enabled surveillance, and motion sensor lighting at each entry point, parking area and around the exterior. The building would have biometric access control. Indoor and outdoor security cameras would be monitored 24 hours a day.

Chad Davis and Richard Stewart were on the Pulse of Ely Podcast last week to talk about the project.

“I really owe it all to the Ely Echo for this project even beginning because it was reading the Echo in December of 2022, when a gentleman by the name of John Chaulkin went in front of the Ely city council, and when he did that and he mentioned bringing a (CBD) lounge to town, it triggered something in me to say, how do we turn around and have taconite, timber, tourism, and THC here on the Iron Range. And I have been working diligently ever since.

“Chad and I have teamed up and we have assembled the Green Mining Company and the Green Mining Company serves as a holding company to develop properties to make sure that they are ready for licensed cannabis operators.

“We are right now on the cusp of the next phase, and that next phase is one, we are doing the demo of what was the Ely Bowling Center, that will become Camp Street Cannabis, the bowling center itself will evolve into a duck pin social seven lane duck pin recreation center. I’ve been working diligently with the Brunswick Bowling Company.

Stuart said the cannabis growing facility and manufacturing will take place in Babbitt with the retail sales in Ely.

“I think this is going to be an instrumental cornerstone project to help expand that Babbitt Commerce Park. The cultivation side is in four, 20-foot by 72-foot Gothic style, double-walled greenhouses that exchange 100% of the air that’s in them through carbon filtration every three minutes.

“The phase two of the project is a 7,500 square foot manufacturing facility that takes the raw biomass, dries it, cures it, then goes into manufacturing, and then that comes out the other door as compliant packaged ready for retail sale products.”

The state regulations require a “seed to sale” process of tracking the cannabis plant through the process.

“And everything that we’re doing is in living soil and it’s organic, so there’s not going to be any pesticides, there’s not gonna be any fertilizers, this is the premium of the premium because we’re looking to set the Range apart from what’s taken place at some of these other, dispensaries that are up and running now and what will be up and running with multi-state operators, in the in the future,” said Stuart.

The company has already been in contact with Minnesota North College about grants for workforce readiness training, both for the 12 jobs in Babbitt as well as for the dispensary positions in Ely this fall.

“When it comes to staff, it will be a gradual ramp-up of staff. The plan is to have a base salary of $41,600. That also has health insurance included with that. That’s for four 10-hour work days. On top of that, there are monthly bonuses because everyone that’s going to be working within our organization, as Chad likes to say, is a lion, not a lamb. And then the plan is, after five years of gainful employment, your base salary is going to be $100,000.”

Davis said these are good-paying jobs that will be located right here.

“I think it’s important to point out Richard brings up in the very beginning, the four Ts, timber, tourism, taconite and THC. And I really do feel we feel that THC can be that bridge, that bridges the gap between these other industries that we have on the Iron Range and the Ely-Babbitt area, that can provide opportunity both at a community level, city level, tax revenue, livable wages, et cetera. So there’s a whole component to it there that that’s gonna help too.”

Stuart said they have been working with a company in Michigan that has cutting-edge technology.

“The manufacturing plant is essentially food grade compatible, and all of that equipment is pneumatic driven equipment.

“So, we’re reducing our footprint by using proprietary pneumatic tools that have been developed specifically for this industry, and it’s in a clean space. We’re providing products that people are gonna ingest or enhance. So it has to meet those qualifications. And so it’s the same thing.

“If we start with the highest quality organic product, it’s going to then translate into the highest quality product that you can ingest or inhale on the retail shelf.”

For the Ely location, Stuart and Davis said they want to be able to connect to Ely’s past which for the building goes back to when it was an opera house and temperance hall.

“The Camp Street Cannabis dispensary really gives a nod to the founders of our community. Why is it called Camp Street? And that was after Asa Camp, who was one of the original investors in that area. “As we continue to move forward with the recreation space, yeah, there’s a lot of modernization that has to take place, but we are acutely aware of the history and who laid that foundation, and I’m fascinated that it was a temperance hall and that we’re seeing the trends with alcohol consumption going down and THC and CBD consumption going up. To me, that’s a clear sign of temperance.

“As people enter that building, they’re going to learn a little bit more than just maybe what they came in there to buy, right? So that’s kind of a fun thing, too. And when they walk out, they’re gonna have a packet in their hand.

“And every time they revisit the dispensary, that packet will be added to that ties into Ely’s history directly,” said Stuart.

While getting the growing facility, manufacturing plant and the retail location in place are the top priorities, the plan is to be able to give back to the community, both literally and recreationally.

Stuart said the plans for a duckpin bowling facility allow for less equipment and less space.

“The lanes are much shorter. You don’t need to put on special shoes. You can walk right up in your work boots, grab a ball. There’s no special ball, there’s no holes in it. It’s all one weight, and honestly, it’s chuck it down the lane and see what happens. It’s a lot of fun.”

Stuart also said the facilities in Ely and Babbitt will be ADA-compliant. He added the company has a plan to benefit the community.

“We’ve worked out numbers in our net revenue stream with part of that net revenue going directly back into our communities. And so that will be going directly back into Ely youth programs and Babbitt youth programs. We live here in the community. We know we have to compete against some very large operators with deep, deep pockets. And so this is for the love of our community and this is a project that we, I truly believe, will leave a legacy for the next generation and how to do it in a positive way.”