Blissful Science, one of five marijuana-related companies setting up in Olds, is one step closer to beginning production.
President and CEO of Blissful Sciences, Mukhdeep Mangat, expects their facility to be up and running within six months, creating 10 to 15 jobs. The facility is to be located in the Imperial industrial area at 17 Imperial Close.
The company has not yet been licensed by Health Canada to produce, sell or distribute marijuana.
Late last month, council passed a bylaw redesignating the land the company wants to utilize from Light Industrial District to Direct Control 7.
The rezoning to Direct Control 7 was required in order for Blissful to send in an application to the town for a development permit for a marijuana production facility. Now the company intends to send in that development permit application.
The focus of the company will be initially medicinal, but then once recreational use is legalized, they will move into that market.
“Next year we expect the market to be fully legalized, all derivatives of marijuana will be game and then that’s when we want to enter that market but that’s something that we still have not fully finalized,” Mangat said.
He says employees' salaries will be good, but not like they were in the oilpatch boom.
“The salaries people are going to be paid out are pretty solid; not energy market salaries like we saw in 2008 to 2012, those things were quite overblown,” said Mangat. “It’ll be very reasonable and well above the living wage.”
Mangat also doesn’t feel that the large amount of companies based in Olds will be an issue but rather a good thing.
“It’s going to be a large market; like with all market forces, let the best product win,” he said.
