COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Ravenna company is the first allowed to grow cannabis under Ohio's medical marijuana law.

The Ohio Department of Commerce awarded a final certificate of operation to small-scale cultivator FN Group Holdings LLC on Friday. The company, which plans to do business as Wellspring Fields, is the first of 25 provisional licensees to pass a thorough state inspection.

The certificate allows Wellspring Fields to grow up to 3,000 square feet of cannabis plants. The state also awarded testing lab licenses to the two colleges that applied on Friday, according to Department of Commerce spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski.

Wellspring Fields is owned by Chagrin Falls businessman Tom Hobson, his daughter Claire and son Spencer. The company built its facility on an empty lot at 4000 Lake Rockwell Rd.

Ohio's new medical marijuana program was supposed to, by law, be "fully operational" by Sept. 8. The state won't meet that deadline. It takes 12 to 16 weeks to grow marijuana plus a few weeks to cure, process and package it, and none of the companies have plants in the ground.

Large-scale grow facilities can grow up to 25,000 square feet. One company, Pure Ohio Wellness LLC, was inspected in May and failed. It is working with the state to fully comply with all laws and rules. Seven inspections are scheduled for July and four are scheduled for August.

The commerce department also on Friday awarded testing lab licenses to the two colleges that applied to test medical marijuana products: Central State University in Wilberforce and Hocking Technical College in Nelsonville. Licenses for privately-run labs will be awarded soon, a department spokeswoman said Friday.

All marijuana and marijuana-infused products must be tested for quality and potency by an independent lab. The 2016 law allowed only Ohio colleges to test products for the first year of the program. But state regulators interpreted the law to mean it could award licenses to private companies one year from the time it first accepted applications for any type of marijuana business license.

The pharmacy board awarded 56 dispensary licenses earlier this month. The Department of Commerce plans to award up to 40 processor licenses next month.

Ohio's law allows patients with one of 21 qualifying medical conditions to buy and use marijuana after registering through a doctor certified to recommend cannabis here. Fewer than 200 doctors have been certified by the state medical board.