Pueblo's $50M Hemp Plant Powers Up, Promises 200 Jobs

Pueblo's hemp industry gained a powerhouse this week with the opening of a $50 million processing facility, initially reported by KRDO News. Located in the cannabis-friendly Pueblo West area, the plant builds on the city's track record of hemp processing, including past projects like Thar Extracts Colorado's 2019 facility in the Pueblo Airport Industrial Park, which created 27 full-time jobs. Earlier plans by CBD Biosciences in 2016 targeted 163 jobs with average salaries of $41,590 plus benefits at the former Boeing building, establishing a Global Hemp Center for Innovation.

The new facility, spanning capabilities akin to the 108,756-square-foot turnkey hemp and CBD plant sold in Pueblo West in 2022 by Hilco Real Estate, is projected to generate 200 jobs, focusing on extraction, purification, and formulation. Pueblo Economic Development Corp (PEDCO) has long championed hemp, welcoming innovators to the area with resources like their dedicated hemp page. This aligns with Pueblo's regulatory framework, where product manufacturing requires conditional use permits from the City of Pueblo's Planning Department, ensuring compliance with zoning that prohibits operations near schools and mandates enclosed buildings.

Southern Colorado's outdoor-friendly climate, exemplified by Grasshopper Farms' 48-acre marijuana operation with 3,000 plants, complements the indoor processing boom. As hemp demand rises nationally post-2018 Farm Bill, Pueblo's latest venture—equipped for cold storage and advanced machinery—bolsters the state's $1.5 billion cannabis economy, drawing conferences and R&D to the Steel City.