Medical marijuana business planned

BESSEMER — Business partners from Wisconsin and South Carolina have recently purchased the old Big Dollar grocery store building in Bessemer.

According to City Manager Mike Uskiewicz, the partners are planning to convert the space into a “state of the art” facility for producing medical marijuana.

Uskiewicz said their product will be sold out of Gogebic County to down-state facilities that process the marijuana into medicine for treatment of patients with seizures, epilepsy, cancer and other ailments.

Uskiewicz said the business will not be open to the public and its product has no recreational purposes.

“They told me the product they’re growing will have less than 1 percent THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana,” he said.

Uskiewicz said he has been collaborating with the business partners for approximately two months.

“They were researching possible locations and what city regulations would be,” he said. “The partners presented their business plan to my office.”

According to Uskiewicz, their business plan complies with state code and local ordinances.

In the future, Uskiewicz said the business will create five to seven “well-payed” jobs.

If the 2016 statewide referendum to reform Michigan’s marijuana laws passes, Uskiewicz said the new law would call for a 10 percent excise on sales, with proceeds going to Department of Transportation, state school aid funs and local municipalities with such businesses.

“Their is potential for the city of Bessemer to collect hundreds of thousands in sales tax revenues from business sales, beginning in 2017,” he said. “This kind of business has the potential to not only help people, but employ people and increase tax revenues for the city.”

Having met with them and seen their business plan, Uskiewicz said the partners are “good people.”

“I welcomed them,” he said. “They’re bringing their families, sending their kids to school and want to be part of the community.”