Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood — Two companies that plan to open retail marijuana shops in Ironwood may soon start working on their facilities along Cloverland Drive.
In the adult use marijuana establishments license application update to the Ironwood Economic Development Corporation on Wednesday, Tom Bergman, director of city community development, said the two applicants that were approved for retail marijuana establishment licenses are now moving forward with the construction phases of their respective projects. Both companies will need to provide a state license for retail marijuana sales to individuals ages 21 or older before the city of Ironwood approves the city license, he said.
“They do have to be inspected by the state to get their state license and we won’t issue our local license until they have their state license,” Bergman said.
Higher Love Corporation, the retail division of Ottawa Innovations, LLC, has demolished residential structures in the 800 block of East Cloverland Drive to prepare for construction of a new retail outlet. Rize U.P. is expected to close the sale this week on the former surplus store at 411 E. Cloverland Drive for use as the dispensary retail outlet and to lease remaining spaces to retail and a restaurant.
“So, they’ll probably be moving forward,” Bergman said.
Free World Farms, the company approved for a class B growing license for up to 500 plants, is currently conducting site preparation to repurpose existing structures of the former Ahonen Lumber Mill property at 90 Mill Street. The construction on Mill Street could start as early as next week, Bergman said.
Ottawa Innovations was also awarded a class B growing license and is building a facility on a vacant lot at the corner of East Ayer Street and Luxmore Street.
Steve Lehto, a business services specialist with Michigan Works!, spoke on the opportunities presented by the Going PRO Talent Fund. The talent fund application period opened last week and is open through close of business Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. EDT.
Any privately-owned businesses are eligible to apply for reimbursement funding for skills development and training for employees who earn at least $12 per hour, he said. Western U.P. businesses including Burton Industries, Ironwood Plastics and Jacquart Fabric Products have already participated in the program over the past few years, he said.
“This program is basically designed to up-skill those employees so that later down the road, they can see an increase in their living wage, an increase in benefits, or maybe promotions — anything like that,” Lehto said. “So if there are any companies interested in hearing more, and they want to up-skill their employees, they can definitely contact me and I can help them to get that application started.”
For more information call the U.P. Michigan Works! office at 906-932-4059 or visit upmichiganworks.org.
EDC member Michael Meyer, who is also director of the Ironwood Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke on the agenda item regarding internal marketing. He said that recent low attendance at well-advertised speaking engagements has led to discussion on incentivizing participation at chamber events that are designed to benefit business owners and the community in general.
Filmmaker Dirk Wierenga will attend a screening and panel discussion on the film “Route 2 Elsewhere,” according to Meyer. The ongoing film production depicts former mining and railroad communities that sprouted up on what is now U.S. 2 from Michigan to Washington State. The screening will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Historic Ironwood Theatre.
“The film is really about economic development,” Meyer said. “It’s about communities that were developed along the U.S. 2 route back in the days of the railroad, and how many of these communities were boom and bust communities and Ironwood is featured in the film as one of these communities.”
The film offers discussion about how communities are coping with economic and social change over time, he said. The film offers a perspective on the entire northern tier from the beginnings of U.S. 2 and up to the present oil boom in the Dakotas and the next leg of the production moving on to Washington State.
In other reports, the draft zoning ordinance links have been sent to city committees for comment on relevant areas of the ordinance, Bergman said. The city commission approval of the ordinance will likely be pushed into early 2022 to account for the November elections.
The next EDC meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 3.
