(Denver, CO) AmeriCann, Inc. (OTCQB: ACAN) hosted a ground breaking celebration for its Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center (MMCC) on Tuesday.

The facility will be the largest in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and projects to begin operations within a year. Multiple tenants are expected to occupy the facility and are projected to employ up to 400 people.

AmeriCann designed the MMCC on a 52-acre parcel located in Freetown, Mass. The project allows for 987,000 sq. ft. of cannabis cultivation and processing infrastructure and will be developed in three phases. The ground breaking event will celebrate the first phase of the MMCC construction which will be a 30,000 sq. ft. cannabis cultivation, processing and research facility. AmeriCann plans to complete the first phase of the MMCC by the spring of 2019. Campanelli Construction is the general contractor and CBRE/New England is the project manager for the MMCC.

“We believe the first of phase will set new standards for the industry and have a big impact for the company moving forward,” stated AmeriCann founder Ben Barton. “The ground breaking signifies the first step in creating a sustainable process to produce clean, quality cannabis.”

AmeriCann uses greenhouse technology. According to industry experts, by capturing natural sunlight, greenhouses use 25 percent fewer light bulbs, and utility bills are up to 75 percent less than in typical warehouse cultivation facilities. As such, AmeriCann’s Cannopy System enables cannabis to be produced with a greatly reduced carbon footprint, making the final product less expensive. Additionally, greenhouse construction costs are nearly half of warehouse construction costs.

The MMCC will be built to maximize workflow and take advantage of growing plants under natural sunlight which the Company believes produces healthier plants from both cannabinoid and terpene perspectives, making the final product higher in quality.

“Currently, almost all the cannabis being produced in Massachusetts is from converted warehouses with 100 percent artificial light, high energy costs and huge carbon footprints” said Tim Keogh, AmeriCann’s Chief Executive Officer. “The MMCC facility is designed to produce superior sun grown cannabis products year-round in a controlled environment at a lower cost. This is the first phase of an extensive project designed to help the Massachusetts cannabis industry reach its full potential.”

AmeriCann assists partners to obtain licenses and cultivate medicine in its next generation of eco-friendly state-of-the-art cannabis cultivation facilities and provides essential resources including access to a team of experts, and capital, which has been traditionally hard to obtain for cannabis companies. The first publicly traded Certified B Corp in the cannabis industry, AmeriCann has proven its commitment to sustainable, clean cultivation of medical cannabis.