Jeff Platsky | pressconnects.com

Kate Collins, kcollins@gannett.com | @kcollins213

In 2014, Canopy Growth started in Smiths Falls, Ontario with five employees occupying barely 100,000 square feet at an abandoned factory.

Smiths Falls, about 50 miles south of Ottawa, was reeling from the closure of Hershey's plant and the disastrous economic ripples that crippled the town that once proudly boasted of being Canada's chocolate capital.

There was little expectation Canopy Growth would fuel a rebirth of this town largely surrounded by rural communities. But the company has breathed new life into Smiths Falls. Home prices are rising. Rentals are hard to come by. And the main drag, once home to several empty storefronts, sports a new bakery among other new shops catering to the influx of new residents.

Kate Collins, Kate Collins / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Today, 1,300 workers are employed at the plant. Canopy now maintains about 1 million square-feet, growing recreational cannabis for the Canadian market and producing plant extracts.

On Monday, as Canopy Growth executives came together on a sunny and humid morning to celebrate the start of work on renovation of a former vacuum cleaner plant they used Smith Falls as an example of what can happen in Broome County. As Canopy Growth sets up shop in Kirkwood with the prospect of investing up to $150 million in its first U.S facility, representatives expressed optimism the operation eventually could generate hundreds of jobs starting with 200 at the 46 Pine Camp Dr. facility.

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"We make big bets and Broome County is one of the big bets we made," said Rade Kovacevic, Canopy Growth president.

While Canopy Growth's expansion in Krikwood may not exactly mirror the expansion experienced in Smiths Falls, the company is encouraging other entrepreneurs to explore opening nearby for opportunistic synergies. For example, Canopy will use the leaves for extraction to produce cannabidiol — better known as CBD — the stalk and fibers can used to create building material, clothing fabric and other other uses. Kovacevic said Canopy would be willing to work with businesses that employ other parts of the cannabis plant to create an industry hub in the region.

"This will create opportunities unlike anything we've seen in New York" said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Kate Collins, Kate Collins / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

New York began planning for this day a little over five years ago when Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, started pushing the development of industrial hemp as an alternative crop for the state's hard pressed farmer. At first met by skepticism, the movement to explore industrial hemp picked up steam as experimental programs determined the crop could have future potential to develop in a lucrative industry.

This year, New York has 500 licensed industrial hemp growers and 100 permitted processors. And the state Department of Agriculture and Markets is in the process of developing regulations to assure the quality of New York-produced product.

Kate Collins, Kate Collins / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

By next year, Canopy Growth expects to be producing extract in Kirkwood at 308,000-square-foot plant on a 48-acre parcel just north of the Susquehanna River. The company acquired the facility from ShopVac, which closed earlier this year, idling more than 100 workers, for $9.5 million

"When they start hiring we've got a line formed," said Gordon Kniffen, Town of Kirkwood supervisor.

Canopy Growth, traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange, may be the most well known of those companies now making a play for the largely untapped demand for hemp-related products.

Beyond Canopy, there are more enterprises just waiting to pounce on the billions of dollars in commerce that will surely develop as industrial hemp goods gain acceptance and amid what many expect will be the eventual wide acceptance of recreational marijuana in the United States.

The industrial form of hemp contains less than 0.3 percent THC, the substance that creates the marijuana high. The largely illegal types contain a far higher proportion of the substance.

Kate Collins, Kate Collins / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Industrial hemp uses are varied. Plant fibers can be used for new and lighter forms of building and insulation material, and livestock bedding. Hemp-derived oils can be used in salad dressings, nutritional supplements, beauty products and animal feed. Some even speculate the product can be used in new pharmacological products to treat illnesses, but more research needs to be done.

New York's Southern Tier is now hoping success in the now-evolving cannabis industry will rescue it from a more than two-decades-long economic spiral that has caused the region to shed thousands of jobs, and with it a share of its population.

Not only will the region benefit from new jobs created, Schumer and others say, but it will offer a lifeline farmers long suffering from depressed dairy and crop prices, giving them a lucrative cash crop that offers enhanced revenue opportunities over the traditional corn and soybeans.

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Canopy Growth unveils Broome County hemp facility

Jeff Platsky, jplatsky@gannett.com | @JeffPlatsky