A long-shuttered timber mill in northern Minnesota could soon be home to a $67 million cannabis-growing operation that is expected to employ 400 people in Grand Rapids. HWY35 has received $20 million in public loans and is being headed by Missouri cannabis entrepreneur Jack Mitchell and business partner John Hyduke.
"We will revitalize the 138-acre former Ainsworth site into a high-tech, state-of-the-art, cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility that our communities will be proud of and that will serve as an industry leader for the state of Minnesota," Hyduke said.
Area leaders heralded the development, one of Minnesota's largest cannabis-related investments announced since legalization this summer, as a major win for the area's economy. "It's a huge project for our region," said Rob Mattei, director of community development for Grand Rapids, in an interview Tuesday. "We have worked a long time to see that site put back to use and to create jobs and tax base for the community. We're thrilled about it."
The Ainsworth mill permanently closed in 2008, costing the city 180 jobs. The state's new Office of Cannabis Management will still need to license the facility, a process that could take well into next year or early 2025 as the agency is set up.
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