By the end of the year, PharmaCann Inc. intends to open a medical marijuana district of Verilife in former Home D’s Pizzerias in College Township, Pennsylvania.
After receiving final permit approvals from township officials, the company plans to begin refurbishment and construction at 1820 S. Atherton St.
PharmaCann’s government and regulatory affairs associate Brandon Nemec told The Gazette via email that the company “will work towards our state regulatory approvals” per the improvement project. The company plans to open the Verilife State College dispensary in November 2021.
From Pizza to Medical Cannabis
After 67 years in business, Home D Pizzeria permanently closed its doors on June 20. For more than a year, Home D’s owners attempted to lease a portion of the South Atherton Street building while operating the restaurant in a smaller space. However, as the deal was finalized, the new tenant’s “needs increased, and they ended up needing and leasing the entire building,” according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
PharmaCann Inc. is a parent company of Verilife distributors based in Chicago, established in 2014. In Pennsylvania, Verilife now runs four dispensaries: Manayunk-Philadelphia, Shamokin, Chester, and Williamsport. The company is licensed to grow, process, or dispense medical cannabis products six states.
College Township granted the company a zoning use permit for the location in May.
According to College Township zoning officer Mark Gabrovsek, medical marijuana facilities are treated like any other retail business.
According to Gabrovsek, the township had not received formal plans for the build-out as of July 9.
Verilife will employ between 25 and 30 people when it becomes operational, according to Nemec. He also said that the jobs will be benefited full-time, living wage positions like management, asset protection, security specialists, and patient care officials.
Nemec also promised to consider the Central Pennsylvania region, seeing it as an
opportunity to recruit talent for dispensary positions among the local workforce. PharmaCann’s associate also says the company will “make it a priority to hire locally.”
In the months before the company’s start date, the positions are filled on a rolling basis. Nemec said it encourages skilled candidates to apply to www.pharmacann.com online.
A Medical Cannabis Opportunity
Further, he stated that the firm saw an opportunity to invest in the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in Pennsylvania’s capital city of State College.
“[We] simply saw a tremendous opportunity to revitalize this location,” Nemec said, referring to the area within the State College locale. The company also perceives this as an opening to “provide an additional access point for medical patients” in the greater central Pennsylvania region.
The medical cannabis market in Pennsylvania is expanding. According to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, nearly 600,000 patients and caregivers have signed up for the program.
With this increasing demand, the company is working to bring high-quality, consistent cannabis products to patients in central Pennsylvania to help them with their treatments.
This will be the second medical marijuana dispensary in the Centre Region. In 2018, Nature’s Medicines opened a dispensary at 2105 N. Atherton St.
Original article: https://www.statecollege.com/medical-marijuana-dispensary-to-open-at-former-home-d-location/
