Family-run medicinal marijuana business venture in Ravenna

Following the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio, the list of 24 companies authorized to produce medical marijuana have been released. A location in Ravenna has been given the green light as the program will be implemented in 2018.

A cultivation business will open at 4000 Lake Rockwell Road in Ravenna Township. This site is currently a vacant lot.

 

Businessman Tom Hobson is the owner of the location. Hobson said he became involved in the business because he has a personal stake in the industry.

“I have a family member suffering from Parkinson’s disease and another suffering from rheumatoid arthritis,” Hobson said.  “I think it is right to allow them to have a safe avenue of relief through medical marijuana.”

 

 

While there are multiple locations opening in Akron and one in Portage County, Hobson’s business is unique; it is a family business. FN Group Holdings, LLC, will be owned by Hobson, his daughter, Claire, and his son, Spencer.

The three were all involved in different ventures before coming together for this business.

Hobson said his daughter had a great job in the Boston area but wanted to come back home to help take care of her grandmother that had taken ill. While his son had been involved in marketing and really wanted to strike out in a new field.

All of this was happening right around the time that the medical marijuana ballot initiative passed.

House Bill 523, effective on September 8, 2016, legalizes medical marijuana in Ohio. The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program will allow people with certain medical conditions, upon the recommendation of an Ohio-licensed physician certified by the State Medical Board, to purchase and use medical marijuana

Hobson is excited to be working with his children.

“I started my first business in my early twenties with the help of my father, so it felt like the stars were aligning for me to be able to start a business with my kids,” Hobson said. “I feel a real connection with my father and understand what he must have been feeling when working with me to start a business.”

Hobson approached the Ravenna trustees in March with his business. Trustee Vince Coia seconded the motion to approve the writing of a letter in support of opening the medical marijuana processing plant.

A big part of the approval of this location is that it is a processing facility and not a dispensary.

Ravenna officials have different perspectives and roles in the new cultivation. Watch below to learn more

While the rules for medical marijuana are set by the state, according to Coia the township did put some restrictions on the facility. The business can never retail anything from that site.

Hobson’s business is to be opened in nine months and he says the challenges to get up and running so soon are no joke. They are currently faced with erecting a building in the dead of winter.

“This process is a lot of hard work, but we are definitely up to the challenge,” Hobson said.  “One thing that has become obvious to us in this process is that Ravenna Township is a great community and a great place to start a business.”

 

 

5 Benefits of medical marijuana

• • It can be used to treat Glaucoma
  • It can help control epileptic seizures
  • A chemical found in marijuana stops cancer from spreading
  • THC, the active chemical in marijuana, slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease
  • It may decrease anxiety

Ravenna officials have different perspectives and roles in the new cultivation. Watch below to learn more

 

Following the bill for medical marijuana being passed in Ohio, a family-run processing plant is to be opened in Ravenna #JMCRPP https://t.co/6yWRPnjJUD

— Paige Brown (@pbrownKent) December 12, 2017

Medicinal marijuana is brought to you by a family in Ravenna #JMCRPP

— Troy Lee (@T_Lee_1031) December 12, 2017

Ravenna has green light a medical marijuana cultivation. learn more about this new development #JMCRPP https://t.co/0x7MDQMDdg

— Julian Wissinger (@IsellSwiss) December 12, 2017

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