Flowr, a Canadian Licensed Producer of premium cannabis products, and Hawthorne celebrated the ground breaking for the construction of North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques and systems. Hawthorne Canada is a subsidiary of Hawthorne Gardening Company which provides an array of tools for a multitude of gardening needs and is a subsidiary of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.
The 50,000 square foot facility is located on the cultivation campus Flowr is constructing in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The facility will include laboratories, indoor and greenhouse grow suites, training areas and genetics breeding areas in a single building. Flowr expects to develop and test Hawthorne cultivation systems such as lights and fertilization and irrigation systems in the facility. Flowr also intends to research genetics and cultivation data analytic systems in the facility. Hawthorne is funding the construction of the facility which is expected to be completed in the summer of 2019.
Executives from The Flowr Corporation, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and Hawthorne Gardening are joined by elected officials at the ground breaking for the companies’ cannabis research and development facility in Kelowna, British Columbia. Left to Right: Mr. Steve Thomson, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Kelowna-Mission; Tom Flow, Co-Founder & President, Flowr; David Aronowitz, Business Development and Government Relations Lead, Hawthorne Gardening; Vinay Tolia, CEO, Flowr; James Baker, Mayor of District of Lake Country; Chris Hagedorn, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Hawthorne Gardening; Steve Klein, Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Strategist, Flowr; Mr. Norm Letnick, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Kelowna-Lake Country; the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament, Kelowna-Lake Country; and Michael Lukemire, President and COO, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Photo Credit: The Flowr Corporation.
The facility is the centerpiece of an exclusive strategic R&D alliance Flowr and Hawthorne created in March 2018. Hawthorne selected Flowr for this alliance based on the technical expertise of Flowr’s design, build and cultivation team under the direction of Flowr Co-Founder Tom Flow. Flow co-founded MedReleaf which recently was acquired by Aurora for C$3.2 billion.
Flowr Chairman and Chief Strategist Steve Klein said, “Flowr’s partnership with Hawthorne is more than just an acknowledgement of the talents and track record of Tom Flow and our design, construction and cultivation teams. We strongly believe it will also help us sustain our competitive advantage in cultivation and remain at the forefront of industry innovation.”
”We chose work with Flowr due to their ability to grow quality, consistent plants,” said Chris Hagedorn, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hawthorne Gardening Company. ”Dedicated to innovation, this first-of-its kind research facility will help to optimize our entire array of products, from lighting to nutrients and environmental controls, and put us in the unique position to help our customers, no matter their size and scale, get the result they seek with even more precision.”
Flowr’s campus in Kelowna will include an additional 85,000 square feet of cultivation, processing and office space that is presently approximately 20% operational and is expected to be fully complete in early 2019. These facilities employ proprietary cultivation systems and are engineered to meet pharmaceutical quality production standards allowing Flowr to grow premium cannabis flower. Flowr expects to produce upwards of 12,000 kilograms of cannabis flower in the facilities beginning in 2019.
Together, the R&D and operations facilities are expected to create upwards of 200 jobs following their completion.
Among those in attendance for the event were the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament, Kelowna-Lake Country; Mr. Norm Letnick, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Kelowna-Lake Country; Mr. Steve Thomson, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Kelowna-Mission; Mayor Colin Basran, City of Kelowna; Steve Klein, Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Strategist, Flowr; Vinay Tolia, CEO, Flowr; Tom Flow, Co-Founder & President, Flowr; Michael Lukemire, President and COO, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company; Chris Hagedorn, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Hawthorne Gardening; and David Aronowitz, Business Development and Government Relations Lead, Hawthorne Gardening.
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