Marijuana jobs surpass the sawmill as an old timber town pivots to cannabis

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The town of Raymond made it easy for Peter Saladino to start his marijuana business there.

“We went and met with the mayor, economic development, the port and police,” he said. “They backed us completely.”

For generations, Raymond was a timber town. Over the past few decades, though, that industry has fallen away and left many rural, Washington towns with few options for employment. When marijuana was legalized in 2012, though, Raymond saw an opportunity to lure potential employers to town.

While some rural areas, such as the city of Pasco, made outright bans on marijuana producers and retailers, Raymond worked to make sure its zoning and codes were clear and gave producers clear direction.

“It has been hard because fishing has declined and the number of jobs in timber has declined,” said Rebecca Chaffee, manager of the Port of Willapa Harbor in Raymond.

Raymond doesn’t have rail and is not on the interstate highway system. It doesn’t have a university. It doesn’t have the infrastructure to support major manufacturers, she said.

“But we have low power rates, empty buildings and we wanted (the marijuana producers) here when so many communities were hemming and hawing, trying to decide what they should,” Chaffee said.

So the port identified properties, including one that had just lost its largest tenant, to create a sort of “marijuana campus” in the industrial area. The growers flocked there.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/07/26/raymond-timber-cannabis-industry-jobs-bmf-saladino.html?ana=e_mc_prem&s=newsletter&ed=2018-07-27&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1532713170&j=82948481

[Aristus]

1. See? It can be done.

Reviving dying regions with new, or at least reliable old ideas, can be effective. The people who say it can't be done simply need to stay out of the way of the people doing it.

[KT2000]

2. good for them

our county is half-hearted. They have zoned for them but one fellow was late for an inspection, having been grandfathered in, so they want to shut him down. He has spent $250,000 on his business and has employees. The penalties for making a mistake anymore are too harsh.