MACON, Ga. — A new business is coming to the industrial part of east Macon: A medical-marijuana farm.
Fine Fettle is building the facility, and showed leaders inside Monday afternoon. 13WMAZ cameras tagged along.
The company keeps the massive 115,000 square foot building locked up pretty well, but inside, there's a winding maze of rooms under construction. The room that's completely finished is the first grow room; and that's where it all begins.
The grow room is a 4,700 square foot room where medical-marijuana plants begin their life cycles. Much like the plants that could one day sprout there, Fine Fettle is also looking to grow some roots in Macon.
"The feedback that we've gotten from people that have moved here from all over the country is how lovely Macon is. And they're glad to be part of the community," Fine Fettle Georgia CEO Jeremy Fort said.
The facility is the Connecticut-based company's first in Georgia. They're one of four Class 2 growers in the state, according to Chief Operating Officer Ben Zachs.
"There is the Class 1 license, of which there are two. Those can build 100,000 square feet of canopy. Then, there are four Class 2 licenses, of which can each build 50,000 square feet of canopy," Zachs said.
Zachs says their operation helps people get relief nationwide.
"Fine Fettle is an old British term to mean 'good health' or 'good condition,'" he said.
Now, with things on the way in Macon, he hopes they'll be able to help thousands of Georgians with medical-marijuana cards.
"Georgia's veteran population with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the hospitals and research centers around this state. To be able to do that here in a big state is what it's all about," Zachs said.
Fine Fettle is putting about $35 million into making the facility a reality. They expect to finish in September. The company is still waiting to officially get their medical-marijuana license, but Zachs says a state board did award one to them.
Once they get it, they'll produce low-THC cannabis oil. They plan to sell it at about seven dispensaries across the state.
One of them is planned for Riverside Drive in Macon.