CHESTERFIELD – Ember Gardens, a southeastern Massachusetts-based marijuana company, is looking to establish a growing facility in town – if the community will have it.
“Our goal is to find a home that accepts us,” said Shane Hyde, CEO of Ember Gardens. “We do plan to have an extensive reach out.”
A community outreach meeting is being planned for February although no date has been set.
Hyde and others associated with Ember Gardens spoke before the Select Board last week. It is the first marijuana company to bring a formal proposal to the Chesterfield’s Select Board.
“It was a very well-done presentation,” said Chesterfield Town Administrator Susan Labrie.
Ember Gardens is seeking to transfer its cultivation license from Middleborough to Chesterfield. Hyde said the company is considering a move from the Middleborough site because its plans for organic cultivation don’t make sense there.
“We really needed a farm,” Hyde said. “We landed in Chesterfield after a thorough search.”
The proposed site in Chesterfield, off Willcutt Road, is a little more than 10 acres. It would feature both indoor and outdoor marijuana cultivation, with plans for outdoor cultivation to be phased out over time.
In both greenhouses and outdoors, Ember Gardens plans to grow marijuana alongside plants such as lavender and clover in an organic no-till system.
“It’s a pretty unique way of growing,” Hyde said.
The initial hiring estimate for the proposed project from Ember Gardens is 41 people, full and part-time, with a final hiring estimate totaling 107.
The company has plans to open up a marijuana delivery business in Middleborough, and dispensaries in both Boston and New Bedford, as well as a processing facility in New Bedford.
With the exception of the Middleborough business, however, Ember Gardens is still in the approval process for the other businesses.
Select Board Chairman Roger Fuller said there are state requirements involved with the marijuana industry, and the community will weigh in on the project as well.
“I look at it as a positive,” said Fuller of the project, adding that the business would bring revenue and jobs to the town.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.