A CBD manufacturing company has bought the large Andrews Foodservice building in Pueblo West with plans to open a CBD extraction center that will employ 150 to 200 workers, the companies said. The sale will result in the closure of Andrews, which has operated since 1926, originally based in the city of Pueblo.

Deb Hinkle, Andrews Foodservice vice president of sales and marketing, confirmed the sale has closed and that Andrews is closing its doors. She added that Andrews employees have been invited to apply for positions at the new company and some will be offered positions.

"They're a great company and it's a great thing for our community," Hinkle added.

The buyer is Colorado Springs-based Folium Biosciences.

Folium said the extraction facility will be one of the hubs in its growing business, which includes a farming operation in La Junta and a manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Colorado Springs. In January, the company expanded further, adding its first international facility in Canada.

Folium touts itself as the nation’s largest manufacturer of CBD products. THC-free CBD oil and CBD is derived from marijuana and hemp plants for a variety of uses, including in wellness products that seek to aid pain, anxiety and other ailments.

Folium is the second major CBD manufacturer to locate major operations in Pueblo County. Veritas Farms, a division of Florida-based SanSal Wellness, operates a large hemp farm and CBD product manufacturing complex about 10 miles west of Lake Pueblo.

Since they are located outside of the city of Pueblo, neither of the projects requested or received assistance from the city of Pueblo's half-cent sales tax fund for economic development.

The Pueblo area is aggressively marketing itself as one of the best places in the nation for CBD, hemp and other cannabis-related businesses due to the region's prime growing conditions, strong manufacturing roots and support for the emerging industries.

In purchasing the Andrews Foodservice building, Folium Biosciences’ operation will operate in a building that is already an FDA-registered facility. That is key to the company’s future growth, which includes CBD-based food and drinks, CEO Kashif Shan said.

“With our industry rapidly pivoting toward mainstream food and beverage markets, purchasing an FDA registered facility made complete sense,” Shan said. “Five years of experience in this space has led us to identifying the proper partnerships, equipment and systems to execute with efficiency and optimum output.”

Shan said Folium Biosciences is certified by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a producer of 0.0 percent THC products and has been issued a Free Sale Certification, allowing it to ship its products across the nation and the world.

The Pueblo West plant will allow Folium to increase its capacity tenfold, Shan said. To reach that capacity, the company will be adding mostly highly-skilled workers.

“A lot of these jobs are going to be relatively high-paying jobs, lab techs and folks that are mechanically-inclined to operate this scale of equipment,” Shan said. “We hope to positively impact the community by contributing to (the Pueblo area’s) growing economy.”

Colorado Senate President Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo) applauded the move.

“I am excited that Folium Biosciences has chosen to expand their business to a new facility in our community that will bring good-paying jobs to Southern Colorado,” Garcia said. “I also look forward to exploring how the state can work together with Folium Biosciences to address the growing opioid epidemic and get Coloradans the help they need.”

asandstrom@chieftain.com

Twitter: @ASandstromView