Green Thumb Receives Incentives To Build New York Cannabis Facility At Former Federal Prison

Orange County, New York's Industrial Development Agency said Wednesday it has approved local financial incentives for cannabis company Green Thumb Industries Inc GTBIF GTII to build a marijuana cultivation and manufacturing facility.

Green Thumb plans to buy the remaining eight lots, covering around 40 acres, at the Warwick Valley Office and Technology Corporate Park to construct a state-of-the-art cultivation and manufacturing facility.

With the new manufacturing operation, the multistate operator plans to hire around 125 full-time employees with full benefits.

The incentives approved by the agency include “sales and use tax exemption, mortgage recording tax exemption, a 15-year property tax abatement and the issuance of taxable revenue bonds,” per the report.

“We are thrilled to help bring Green Thumb to Orange County, along with 125 good-paying permanent jobs, hundreds of construction jobs and $50 million in capital investment in the first phase alone,” according to the county agency. 

Green Thumb has 97 licenses for retail stores across 12 states and 13 manufacturing facilities. It was founded in 2014, and in 2019 it reached the New York market with the acquisition of Fiorello Pharmaceuticals. It is one of 10 medical marijuana operators in the state.

“Planting a flag at a former federal prison that used to incarcerate people for cannabis and will now employ people to grow cannabis is another example of the full circle nature of this industry,” Ben Kovler, founder and CEO of Green Thumb Founder, said in a statement.

“We are proud and humbled to be in this spot and look forward to creating hundreds of jobs, generating a lot of vital tax revenue, enabling well-being and changing people’s assumptions on cannabis.”

The project is subject to regulatory approvals.

Photo by Richard T on Unsplash.