DYERSVILLE (KWWL) -
As the trend of legalizing medical marijuana continues to spread across the United States, some companies are getting a boost, and one of them is in eastern Iowa.
On Thursday, the governor of Minnesota signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana.
That makes 22 states, plus Washington D.C., that allow medical marijuana. Only Colorado and Washington allow recreational marijuana.
On Friday, Gov. Terry Branstad plans to sign a bill legalizing one form of marijuana for medical use. The legislation will only allow a cannabis oil derived from the plant to treat chronic epilepsy.
All of these developments mean good news for Engineering Services and Products Company, or ESAPCO, which is a Connecticut-based company that manufactures all of its products in Dyersville.
People who have traveled along U.S. Highway 20 between Dubuque and Waterloo have likely seen the signs for FarmTek, ClearSpan and TekSupply, all of which ESAPCO owns.
Growers Supply, which is a division of FarmTek, makes and sells greenhouses.
Martina Bockenstedt is ESAPCO’s general manager. She said one of Growers Supply’s fastest-growing customer bases is marijuana growers.
In fact, Bockenstedt said, the company’s commercial greenhouse sales are up 25 percent because of changes in states’ laws allowing marijuana. Most of that growth is coming from Colorado, Washington and Arizona, she said.
“Any time the laws change and there’s an opportunity or a demand for a product, you know, especially when it revolves around the greenhouse industry, it definitely could make an impact with our company,” Bockenstedt said. “That’s what we’ve been seeing over the course of the last few months.”
She said the company’s largest commercial greenhouse covers an entire acre, and two of those are going to Arizona for the purpose of growing marijuana there.
Bockenstedt said the company anticipates continued growth in greenhouse sales over the next few months and years, as more states legalize marijuana and as the locally-grown food movement continues to spread.
Marijuana legalization boosting one local business
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