Adam White hasn't had much time to get a suntan this summer. That's because he's been working around the clock for the last two and a half years applying for government approvals and building a new company called GrowUps Inc.
His final Health Canada approvals arrived last week after years of submissions and back and forth communications about his application with the federal health ministry, to establish a government-sanctioned indoor cannabis grow in Elliot Lake.
Since 2018, he has been working mostly by himself to rehabilitate an existing building in the city to house the new indoor pot growing operation.
"Once you submit a package the soonest you can expect to hear back from Health Canada in response is three weeks," White said.
When the final approval arrived from Ottawa last week, White took to social media to make an announcement:
"Good day Elliot Lakers, some of you may remember me posting about wanting to open a cannabis cultivation facility here in Elliot Lake. Getting your license is a long process. It takes years to obtain.
"From a long application process, obtaining investors, a long construction stage and of course the final approval process also takes time. And we all know government time is usually plus a couple weeks on anything lol," he continued.
"Today, I am happy to announce that Elliot Lake is now the home of GrowUps. I also believe I am the first person to be approved in the Algoma district, for a fully-licensed micro-cultivation facility through Health Canada.
"Yesterday I received my license from the Management Board and Minister of Health Canada.
"My company will produce/cultivate cannabis in dry bud form and sell in bulk that will make its way to store fronts like Sessions here in town. We don't sell to the public directly." White went on.
"Unfortunately I will be starting operations with minimal employees (five), so there are no positions open at present but we will be hiring eight employees around month four to five of operations and are hoping to have a team of 18 by the end of my first year."
Understandably, White is keeping the location of the new business a closely guarded secret – for security and other business reasons.
He said much of the building process has been a 'learn as you go' operation. From wielding a paint roller to wiring 400 amp electrical circuits, most of the work was self-taught.
"ELNOS (Business Development Corporation) did indeed invest ($57,000) in Adam’s 'GrowUps Inc.' business to help him establish a commercial cannabis 'micro production' facility," ELNOS Manager William Elliott told ElliotLakeToday. "This is an entrepreneurial venture that we feel could create new jobs and new economic activity in the area, and service markets outside of the ELNOS Region (be ‘wealth generating’).
"Adam approached us with a well-developed business plan, and he has several other key investors in the project. These were two significant factors in ELNOS agreeing to participate in the project.
"It has been a long and winding road to get licensed and Adam has had to overcome numerous challenges to get to this stage. Our hope is that now that he is licensed, he can move into a more traditional financial market, the same as any other business with his type of cash flow needs.
"The goal is for the business to provide stable employment in the Region and generate other long-lasting economic benefits," concluded Elliott.
White said his next step is the purchase of equipment, which he estimates will cost about $150,000.
Although he doesn't need any more investors to get production started, White may accept one more with a view to repaying his loan faster.
Interested parties can contact him directly through Facebook pm. or by texting him at 705-227-0171. Resumes may be submitted by email to [email protected].