Paul Rodgers
Construction has launched and the sign was unveiled at the new Dycar medical cannabis production facility on Friday, February 16.
“It was our dream now it’s all of your guys’ dream,” said Carmen Wannop, VP of marketing and sales and Dycar co-founder. “Something that the community can prosper from, individuals can prosper from, getting medication into the hands of the people that need it. And it’s safe, legal access its what we’re all are here for.”
The facility is located at 900 Industrial Road 1, the former Ice River Springs Building, and while Wannop wasn’t able to comment on the proposed layout due to security issues, she was able to say that the full buildout will produce over 8,500 kilograms of cannabis a year.
“Any medical patient in Canada with a doctors prescription can access it from any LP they want to which is a licensed producer,” Wannop said.
The cannabis will be delivered by bonded carrier or Canada Post directly to the patient or user, and ordering will all be done online or over the telephone.
“When legalization comes in that’s going to be a little bit different,” Wannop explained. “The federal government is going to deal with the production still so it’s us licensed producers that will still produce. Each province gets to decide how they want to roll out their distribution model. So it’ll depend on which province you live in, will depend on how you can access it recreationally.”
Coming back to the issue of security, Wannop said they will have round-the-clock security on site in the facility, as well as cameras and motion sensors.
“So you literally will not be able to get into this building without us knowing about it. If you’re not an employee actually you won’t get into the building plain and simple.”
That security force is only one aspect of the facility that will create local jobs. A hiring fair, slated for April, will be held to fill approximately 200 full-time jobs, in positions from sales, marketing, receiving, shipping, and packaging to jobs on the grow floor tending to the plants, trimming and harvesting.
There will also be three on-site labs in the facility, so there will be a need for employees doing things like extraction and research and development. They will also be working with the College of the Rockies, putting a classroom in their building so that the College can expand their science programs, have students actually come in and work in the labs and have a classroom right there.
Dycar, explained Wannop, strives to support the communities they operate in, and they will try to utilize as many local resources as possible in the construction and operation of their new facility here.
Additionally, Wannop said that the community support for this endeavour has been strong right from the start of the process in 2013. She explained that they started off by contacting Cranbrook the day after the old mayor and council changed the existing bylaws back in 2013.
She said that mayor and council support them now and have received tremendous support from not only investors, but the Ministerial Association, the East Kootenay Addiction Centre and the local RCMP and Fire Department.
“It’s actually been overwhelming at times on how much support we get out of the City of Cranbrook,” said Wannop, “it’s just unbelievable.”
