“We view Peace as the centre of excellence; any Cronos employees will come here to be trained, so we can show the world that this is not the typical cannabis market that was in the shadows, that we’re in the forefront of advancing science,” he said

“We’re working relentlessly to get new markets. We believe in the medicinal aspects of the industry, and when you believe passionately about something, you don’t want to restrict to one location.”

The expansion at Peace Naturals will increase the workforce from 50 to 200 employees, with production increasing from 5,000 kg. of dried marijuana annually, to 40,000 kg.

“We love that this is an agricultural community, there’s a lot of expertise here, whether its day-to-day dealing with the plants, or researching the plants,” Gorenstein said. “We choose to acquire this company because we feel the Clearview area really gives us a competitive advantage because we have access to a great labour force and passionate people.”

The superstructure should be up by November, and operations will be phased in over the next year. Gorenstein expects the expansion to be fully operational by December, 2018.

Clearview Township Mayor Chris Vanderkruys welcomed the expansion and what it represented for the municipality.

“It recognizes some possibilities of different things that can be done within Clearview, both industrial and farm-wise, and it opens up for more jobs,” he said.