A local group could soon move forward with plans to launch the first legalized medical marijuana cultivation and dispensary facility in El Dorado, per approvals from federal and state entities.
South Arkansas Cannabis Solutions, LLC, has entered into a lease-purchase agreement with an investor, a limited liability corporation, who submitted the only bid on Sept. 15 in a court-ordered real estate auction for the former Therma-Flite manufacturing facility on Champagnolle Road.
Local attorney Mattison Thomas, who is representing Cannibis Solutions, said the group submitted the only bid during the real estate auction.
Another group of local investors who had been interested in purchasing the building did not submit a bid on Sept. 15.
The $1.5 million bid has been approved by U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts of the Southern District of Texas.
Thomas said auction proceedings went quickly, and Cannibis Solutions feels confident that the bankruptcy court will approve the sale.
As soon as the bid for the property was accepted by Thomas Blackmon Realty of Little Rock, Thomas said Cannibis Solutions filed two applications with the state — one for cultivation and one for a dispensary — by the Sept. 18 deadline.
The group — for which local business owner Bilo Beege is listed as incorporator/organizer in the Arkansas Secretary of State’s LLC listings — also forwarded fingerprint cards to the FBI for federal background checks and posted pre-approval surety bonds, Thomas said.
A total of 322 applications were turned in to the state by the Sept. 18 deadline to vie for a total of 37 licenses that will be issued to grow and/or sell medical marijuana in Arkansas.
The applications will be forwarded to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission, who will then publicly release the list of applicants.
The state will award 32 licenses for dispensaries and five for cultivation centers.
The 37 awards will be spread over eight zones around the state.
Thomas said Cannibis Solutions submitted the only application for a cultivation facility in Zone 8, which includes 14 counties in southwest Arkansas and encompasses the “Golden Triangle” of Union, Ouachita and Columbia counties.
“We don’t know of anyone else who applied for a cultivation facility and dispensary in Zone 8,” Thomas said.
He has said the operation is expected to employ 100 people — a number that hinges on the approval of both applications.
Hourly wages would range between $13 - $25 for jobs in cultivation, concentrate extraction, retail and wholesale sales.
“The state has told us it will be somewhere between November and December when they make a decision,” Thomas said.
If the applications are approved for Cannibis Solutions, he said operations could be up and running within 90 to 120 days.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.
CORRECTION
This article has been edited to reflect that the bid has been approved by the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts of the Southern District and that South Arkansas Cannabis Solutions, LLC, has entered into a purchase-lease agreement with the bidder.