THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Parkway Dispensary cannabis connaisseur Zakk Dawson, left, and Molly’s Joint General Manager Jamie Lionti are shown with product produced at the combined facility in Tilton.
TILTON — Product from a Tilton cannabis cultivation center is now on the shelves at a dispensary next door — Parkway Dispensary, celebrating its one-year anniversary — as well as other cannabis dispensaries in the state.
“We’ve been busy since we opened up” in April, said Redemption Botanicals’ CEO Marshall Lionti, talking about the local growing facility. “We’ve already had four harvests that have come down. The first one has made it to market. Product first went on the shelves here at Parkway in Tilton, but we’ve sent out to another seven or eight dispensaries (Wednesday) morning and then next week, probably another six or seven.”
Two Stash Dispensaries locations, one in Orland Hills and another in Peru, are among those that will be carrying Redemption’s cannabis.
“We’ve got some folks on the southern part of the state, some in the city. So, we’re spreading out,” Lionti said. “It takes getting samples into buyer’s hands for them to see what we’re about. But the response has been overwhelmingly supportive and excited that there’s a new craft grow on the scene.
“Down here, it’s all about premium products,” he added. “We want to bring a level of quality that hasn’t really been seen yet in the market. At least few and far between. People are excited and supportive and ready to get behind the wave.”
The flower product has gone out as DNA Genetics, as Redemption Botanicals has a deal to produce flower cannabis under that label. DNA Genetics is a 25-year veteran in the game and has seed distribution all over the country and worldwide, Lionti said.
“So, we’re really proud to be the exclusive producer of their products here in the state,” he said. Redemption Botanicals also is working on some more deals with a few other brands.
Redemption has about 30 full-time employees at the cultivation center and needs more help, Lionti said. There are job openings in cultivation as well as packaging and logistics.
Lionti said both buildings’ operations add about 100 jobs in Tilton, with about 50-60 employees at the dispensary, consumption lounge and bar and grill.
On the cultivation side of the center, four of the nine flower-cannabis rooms are currently in use. Phase 2 must wait until the company has been in operation for six months and has proven to the state that it has sold at least half of the product it has produced.
“Our extraction on the nonsolvent side just got the green light from the state on Monday, so we’re going to start that next week,” Lionti said. “With ice and water, you can extract THC and terpenes from the frozen fresh harvested plants. So we actually extract it and that’s how you make concentrates.”
Lionti said the facility will also use a second method that involves hydrocarbons.
“Basically, you take the frozen material, butane passes over it and pulls all of those chemicals, the THC and all the cannabinoids plus the terpenes, and then the system actually recaptures all the butane and just leaves the pure extract behind,” he said.
On Monday, the state inspected all of the equipment and determined everything was safe, and that cameras are positioned correctly to see the process.
Lionti said the Tilton facility will start the ice-and-water extraction probably on Tuesday, and he expects that the butane component will likely get the green light next week and start the following week.
He said most people who come to a dispensary are looking for flower, packaged and pre-rolled cannabis, but vapes are also a big component of the market. Those involve either extracting oil from the plant and putting it into a vaporizer, or getting a vaporizable concentrate — basically, the pure extract in a jar — and vaporizing it.
“We’ll be having a lot of different SKUs (end products) coming out under a few different brands that we’re going to be producing in house,” he said. “So, hopefully here by the end of the year, we’ve got something between 15 and 20 SKUs available for buyers and dispensaries around the state.”
While Lionti has been busy with the cultivation center, he said it’s crazy how fast one year went by for Parkway Dispensary.
“It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve learned a lot in the short time that we’ve been up and going,” he said.
He said they’re also pleased to have been chosen as best dispensary in The News-Gazette People’s Choice Awards.
“That’s obviously a feather in our cap that we’re proud to show off,” Lionti said. “People have really responded well to the dispensary. We have that kind of local feel. It’s not so much just like a turnstile, in and out, get your product and leave. People have made this a home. They like interacting with the ‘budtenders’; people know everybody by their first name.”
He said people also have responded well to the event space and outside stage area, which hosted a craft grower showcase last week. He said the consumption lounge, called Molly’s Lounge, and having the restaurant plays a big part in that.
Lionti said the facility is excited to have the NFL season underway and show the games on TV for patrons.
He said there’s been a lot of positive response and “we’re here loving it.”
A new entrance door has been added to go directly into Molly’s Bar and Grill.
Lionti said when someone goes into the restaurant, they don’t smell smoke and aren’t forced to be around it.
The dispensary is open seven days a week. The consumption lounge and bar and grill are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
For Saturday’s one-year anniversary celebration, there will be cannabis vendors, music, games and food.
It will be a good time, and they hope a lot of people will show up, Lionti said
The cannabis movement is continuing to snowball, he added.
They will continue to have different events in the future, more music into the fall.
They want it to be a venue where people can come and enjoy themselves, whether or not they’re involved with cannabis. They want Molly’s Bar and Grill to stand up on its own without it necessarily associated with or relying on the other businesses for traffic, Lionti added.
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