As Minnesota’s cannabis market gears up for a licensing lottery, two companies are making bold moves to establish cultivation facilities in Itasca County—less than two miles apart.
HWY35, led by Missouri cannabis investor Jack Mitchell, plans to transform a former lumber mill site in Grand Rapidsinto a large-scale cannabis park. Meanwhile, M.N. Technology, a locally-owned business, is developing its own cultivation facility in the Cohasset Industrial Park.
For Mitchell, Minnesota’s newly legalized cannabis industry presents a lucrative opportunity. With previous ventures in Missouri and South Dakota, his attention turned to Grand Rapids after the state’s unexpected move to legalize marijuana.
Mitchell cited support from the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRR) and a warm welcome from the local government as key factors in choosing the site. “The city of Grand Rapids has been incredibly welcoming and supportive of getting this project off the ground,” Mitchell said in a recent interview with KAXE.
For M.N. Technology, the project is more than business—it’s the realization of a long-held dream for local entrepreneurs eager to contribute to their community’s economic growth.
As the license lottery draws closer, both companies are racing to establish a foothold in what could become one of Minnesota’s most promising new industries.
Here are some other stories you might find interesting: Recently, Spanish police were hospitalized after seizing drug-laced sweets in a Fuengirola raid, and in the U.S., the FDA approved a cannabis trial for veterans suffering from PTSD.