Struthers council hears proposal for marijuana cultivation at CASTLO site

STRUTHERS

City council members are mulling a proposal from a company seeking to grow medical marijuana in the city.

Ken Krismanth, CEO of Somerset Cultivation Group LLC., gave the company’s first public presentation to council Wednesday evening. Council had previously heard from the company during a closed-door executive session last month.

Krismanth, also a principal and CEO at Signet Corporate, created the Akron-based Somerset Cultivation Group to apply for a Level-1 medical-marijuana cultivation license from the state.

The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program will give out only up to 24 cultivation licenses, including 12 Level-1 licenses for facilities up to 25,000 square feet.

The state will grant provisional licenses to cultivators as soon as September. After receiving a provisional license, a business has less than a year to begin operating.

Krismanth said Somerset Cultivation Group plans to purchase property at the CASTLO Industrial Park on South Bridge Street and employ between 25 and 30 full-time workers, with the possibility of more jobs.

He emphasized state-mandated security measures that will be in place, including 24-hour camera surveillance, employee background checks and tracking of every seed.

Read more about the proposal in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.