The Flower Shop president Greta Brandt talks about The Flower Mine, a 100,000 square foot indoor marijuana grow located in San Manuel, Arizona
A mega cannabis operation could help the former mining town of San Manuel shed its Magma Copper reputation.
The Phoenix-based dispensary chain The Flower Shop is betting it can grow some of the state’s best marijuana out of an old mining facility nestled on the outskirts of San Manuel, about 45 miles northwest of Tucson.
“We found this building, it had been empty for, I believe, almost six or seven years,” said Cody Phillips, chief cultivation officer for The Flower Shop. “This was a perfect shell of a building that we got to do whatever we wanted to. But the best thing about this building, honestly, is the town that we're in.”
One of the multiple grow rooms inside of The Flower Mine, an indoor cannabis growing facility in San Manuel. It is owned and operated by The Flower Shop dispensaries, a line of medical and adult-use dispensaries in the Phoenix metro area.
Trying to replace copper with cannabis
The Flower Mine, a 100,000 square foot indoor marijuana grow facility located in San Manuel, is growing marijuana out of an old mining facility in the community best known for its copper mining history.
The opening of The Flower Mine indoor cannabis farm has brought new economic opportunities and hope for revitalization to a town founded on copper mining.
Founded in 1953 by the Del E. Web Construction company, San Manuel was originally constructed to house workers at the nearby San Manuel Copper Mine.
In it's heyday, the mine was one of the largest underground copper mines in the world, employed up to 5,00o people in the region and produced over 700,000,000 pounds of ore in its life span. Since mining operations ceased in the early 2000s, the town has been seeking ways to boost its economy.
The Flower Mine, with its 100,000 square foot, state-of-the-art cultivation space is capable of processing 30,000 marijuana plants a week, aims to become a key player in the town's economic revival.
According to Phillips, the site currently has 75 employees, with about a third coming from the Tucson area, a third from Oracle or Oro Valley and another third hailing from San Manuel itself.
One of those locals is Adam Christofferson, the veg manager in charge of making sure plants flourish in their initial stage of life. Christofferson, a former Army Ranger, said he already notices a difference economically.
Mature marijuana plants are close to harvest at The Flower Mine grow operation outside of San Manuel, Arizona.
"Well the mine closed... we are starting to revitalize it," he said. "The gas station had diesel put in with the trucks that we're bringing in. We're hoping for a grocery store soon. It really is just those simple things that you enjoy in the city that kind of leave a town once the main workforce leaves."
The presence of the Flower Mine in town has some residents sharing Christofferson's appreciation for the new job opportunities it brings, while others have concerns about the nature of its product, said Kennedy Ivy, the president of the San Manuel Revitalization Coalition.
"It's just about the same as anywhere that you have some sort of cannabis industry move in," Ivy said. "Some people are really happy that there's jobs. Some people don't like that it's the cannabis industry. A lot of people just don't really care. Some people don't even know it's there."
While the coalition did not play a direct part in attracting The Flower Mine to town, it has been supportive of its presence, Ivy said.
"I have seen that there's been quite a few people who've been able to get a job down there, and that's always nice in a small town like this," he said.
The Flower Mine, a 100,000 square foot indoor marijuana grow facility located in San Manuel, is growing marijuana out of an old mining facility in the community best known for its copper mining history.
For Pinal County District 1 Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh, the presence of The Flower Mine is a welcome sign. He said The Flower Mine has delivered on its promises of new jobs and attracting potential business and people to the area. Plus, it's helped the region retain residents.
"This business has allowed people to stay," Cavanaugh said. "Now I know we've had in the area an overall increase in the price of homes, but people are now staying in San Manuel, where they might have looked elsewhere."
Supplying a growing demand
One of the main challenges for The Flower Mine was meeting the high demand for cannabis products in The Flower Shop's three stores located in the Phoenix area.
Greta Brant, president of The Flower Shop, emphasized the importance of expanding their flower production capacity to meet the needs of the company's retail locations and four in-house brands.
"Our smaller cultivation site only allowed me to feed 30% of the flower needs for my stores," she said.
And now? With The Flower Mine facility replacing the much smaller grow in Glendale, Arizona, the company is able to increase flower production by over 3,000 pounds a month, suppling their stores and even wholesalers their products to other dispensaries across the state.
Phillips said he's also had conversations with other brands about growing their marijuana flower at the Flower Mine, as well.
Production at The Flower Mine began about 11 months ago, but it wasn't until recently that the facility has expanded into all of its rooms. And there is still space for expansion, as some of the facilities flowering rooms sport double tiered hydroponic growing systems capable of essentially doubling the growing area of a room.
Plus, Phillips and Brandt showed off a currently un-roofed area of the property that could potentially be utilized to add another 50,000 square feet of production space to the facility.
"Just in case," Brandt said, with a laugh.
Outside of the main building out The Flower Mine is a large expanse that could be utilized as grow space in the future, according to company president Greta Brandt.
The farm's expansion plans indicate a positive trend, with more rooms being added and increased opportunities for growth. Brandt hinted that the company was not done trying to acquire more licenses and open more retail locations. In addition to its three Phoenix locations, The Flower Shop also sports two medical-only dispensaries in Utah.
However, Brandt noted that opening The Flower Mine wouldn't work without the support of its employees and the community.
"This is not only about growing cannabis; it's about fostering a sense of community and contributing to the local economy," she said. "We are proud to be a part of San Manuel's revitalization.”
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