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Medical marijuana company picks Marshall as headquarters, will bring up to 400 jobs

The Marshall City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved Pure Med's site plan to build the growing and processing center that will also act as a central campus for the company.
Marijuana plants

MARSHALL, Mich. - Come this fall Michigan Pure Med plans to break ground in Marshall on what is slated to be the headquarters of its Michigan medical marijuana operations.

When fully built-out in five years the headquarters will be 1.2 million square feet and employ about 400.

“We are going to do a lot of research and development at the facility,” said Joe Jarvis, chief operations officer of Pure Med. “We are taking a pharmaceutical approach to the market and bringing high-quality, low-cost product and making that available to Michigan patients. “

The Marshall City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved Pure Med’s site plan to build the growing and processing center that will also act as a central campus for the company on Old U.S. 27 South inside the Brooks Industrial Park.

Pure Med had previously received approval for a smaller site, but later decided to build on a larger site.

Marshall’s central location appealed to Pure Med, which will have 10 retail locations or provisioning centers throughout Southern Michigan. One center last month received approval from Emmett Township to operate at 1240 E. Columbia Ave.

Other Pure Med retail locations are planned for Lansing, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Hazel Park and Warren.

“We believe in medical cannabis and what it can offer for patients and we know there’s a medical revolution right now and we are just starting to scratch the surface on that,” Jarvis said.

The company's state applications are pending.

Marshall was the first municipality in Calhoun County to allow medical marijuana business after a regulatory framework for licensing them was signed into law in September 2016, though it doesn't allow dispensaries.

"The City Council felt it was a legal industry and determined they would approve the growing and processing," Marshall City Manager Tom Tarkiewicz said.

Four medical marijuana operations site plans have been approved by the city: Green Eden, a grower, 16500 Division Drive; Cresco Labs, a grower and processor, 210 Oliver Drive; Delta One, a grower and processor, 1120 Industrial Road; and Pure Med, grower and processor, Old U.S. 27 South. All of them are in the vicinity of the Brooks Industrial Park, said Scott Fleming, CEO of the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance.

The alliance encourages new companies, including medical marijuana companies, to develop in the city. It works with those companies to find property.

The city's ordinance says that the facilities have to be a half mile away from each other, so there is still room for one more company to develop in the city. The alliance is seeking out other medical marijuana companies.

Pure Med will be located next to the Marshall Energy Center, which will have two natural gas-powered plants that will together provide 1,000 megawatts. Construction on the center is slated to begin in 2019.

"We have been pretty busy lately," Fleming said. "There's a lot we have to do to get ready for the energy center. All those facilities doing construction will be utilizing hotels and helping out the local economy at the same time."

Pure Med Site Plan by Kalea Hall on Scribd

Contact Kalea Hall at (269) 966-0697 or khall@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @bykaleahall.

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