WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A new hemp processing company is considering locating its facility and a retail store in the warehouse behind Vermont Salvage on Gates Street.
Convert, the company, along with developer Mike Davidson’s Execusuite and the current property owner Jesse LaBombard, who owns Vermont Salvage, have applied to the Zoning Board for a conditional use permit for the property, which is required for a manufacturing use in the central business district.
The Zoning Board is slated to take up the issue at its July 10 meeting and the Planning Commission at its July 15 meeting, but Convert’s owner Elisa Tarlow said she does not yet have a firm plan to move to White River Junction.
She also is considering locations in other parts of the state, which has a growing hemp industry.
“I am opening a hemp processing company in Vermont,” said Tarlow, who is now based in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. “It may be in White River Junction. It may be somewhere else.”
For their part, Execusuite’s leaders say the project fits into the ongoing efforts to revitalize White River Junction. Davidson, who has a large portfolio of properties across the Upper Valley, also is planning to construct a five-story mixed-use building on a lot off South Main Street in White River Junction, to the southwest of the warehouse where Convert may set up shop.
“Mike and I are excited for the continuation of downtown White River Junction’s renaissance,” Tim Sidore, Execusuite’s managing agent, said in an email. “Out of respect to the other parties involved in this transaction, we will refrain from comment at this time. We look forward to presenting these projects to the community in the near future.”
Reached by phone on Tuesday, LaBombard asked for questions to be emailed to him. He did not respond to the email by deadline.
In documents filed with the town, Tarlow said she plans to purchase dry hemp from farmers to make into oils such as cannabidiol, or CBD.
“Convert is not growing hemp and rather wants to work with the community together and help each other succeed in this rapidly growing market,” she wrote in the Zoning Board application.
Convert’s website says the company will have the capacity to process 2,000 pounds per day. The process Tarlow plans to use includes washing the hemp with ethanol and then separating the ethanol from the oil. She said she plans to find another business to use the rest of the hemp plants for other purposes such as manufacturing plastic and building materials.
Beginning this fall, Tarlow said Convert would begin processing hemp eight to 10 hours each day, five days a week. But Tarlow would like to be able to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the application.
“All production will take place inside the building and working during the night should not impact the neighborhood,” she wrote.
She said Convert will begin with two to four employees this fall and grow to as many as 15 in the next couple of years, with two to five employees on site to operate the processing plant at any time.
She expects to sell some of the oil from the facility but most will be shipped, she said in the application.
In addition to the processing plant, Tarlow also aims to set up a retail shop, operated by one employee at a time, to sell hemp and CBD-related products, primarily those made in Vermont or by Vermont-based companies.
She said five parking spaces would be needed for the processing facility and three to four for the retail space.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
