Fewer than 80 people will be employed by the company at the Kirkwood hemp park now under development by the third year of operation, well below initial estimates when the project was announced.

Originally planned as a 400-employee site, a development plan filed with the Broome County Industrial Development Agency projects that after three years, Canopy Growth will employ 75, with three-quarters of the workers paid $50,000 annually or less.

"We expect 400 jobs will be created in the industrial park," Schumer said on the steps of the federal courthouse in Binghamton when announcing the project on Jan. 14, 2019, calling it a win for the Southern Tier economy because it "will receive a major shot in the arm in new good-paying jobs."

Now, according to applications, Canopy says the plant "has the potential" of creating 400 jobs, with no time frame given for additional hiring. Those involved in the project insist the 400 job number is realistic over a longer time frame. The company currently has no jobs listed for its Kirkwood site on its career page.

“The numbers submitted to the IDA are a short term projection.," said Rade Kovacevic, Canopy Growth, president. "Canopy is committed to investing in the long term growth of our operations in Broome County and are actively working with local and state governments. The intent of the facility remains production of our best-in-class products and we will be hiring to support this work once construction has been completed."

Company representatives added they are still attempting to focus the Broome County operation while dealing with an uncertain regulatory framework.

"I think 400 is still a target for them," said Stacey Duncan, executive director of the Broome County Industrial Development Agency. But reaching the goal, she said, could take up to five years or longer.

"They're confident they'll have those numbers," Duncan said.

In the interim, however, Canopy Growth has encountered difficult growing pains as the company struggles to find its foot in the fledgling cannabis marketplace, including the firing of the chief that hatched that Broome County initiative. Financially, too, the company has underperformed expectations, with a $1.27 billion (U.S.) loss in the first half of the 2020 fiscal year.

Manufacturing on hold

Canopy Growth originally said it will invest between $100 million and $150 million in its Broome County operation. The Canadian company expects to spend slightly more than $100 million in opening its initial American beachhead in Kirkwood, which it bought for $9.5 million.

Questions also have been raised about Canopy Growth's production plans for the newly acquired 47-51 Pine Camp Road building it bought from Felchar Manufacturing.

Canopy representatives, speaking at a Kirkwood Planning Board meeting this week, said they are unsure what will be manufactured at the site. One thing is certain, however: A hemp extraction process — producing oils from the raw product — is not in the immediate plan.

Initially, Canopy had expected to operate a vape and a gummy production line, representatives told the IDA board in November, though initial ramp-up could be longer than expected because the 308,000-square-foot production site is in need of substantial renovation.

Further complicating operations at the Kirkwood site are the still ill-defined regulations surrounding CBD products at both the state and federal levels.

"Current manufacturing processes are on hold," John Engel, Canopy Growth expansion director, told the Kirkwood planning board.

Engel stressed the company will eventually produce "natural health" products at the site, but plans are still tentative because regulations affecting the manufacture of CBD product are still in flux.

"Manufacturing isn't going to be at the level we originally thought it was," said Robert Switala, a principal for the Canopy's design firm, Bergmann Associates.

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Job creation concerns

Canopy will be granted a standard 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that will trim the property tax bill by more than $1.7 million over the life of the agreement.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, the Canadian company will qualify for a 39% reduction in property taxes over the first five years of the 15-year term of the agreement.

Next year and through 2024, Canopy will pay $192,000 in property taxes versus a full tax bill of $312,000. From 2025 through 2029, property tax payments will be $252,000, and from 2030 through 2034, $282,000.

Town of Kirkwood Supervisor Gordon Kniffen has expressed concern the company will be unable to achieve its job creation target. He noted the company currently has fewer than 20 people now employed at the site.

"It's very discouraging, very disappointing," Kniffen said. "We still hope they're going to employ a lot of our people."

Binghamton has become ground zero for the industrial hemp industry with Canopy, Southern Tier Hemp and at least one other processor seeking to establish operations in the region.

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