Recreational marijuana market finds unlikely home in Webberville

The rural, conservative village of Webberville has never made much of a name for itself.

Fields abound, tractors pulling farm equipment often roll through the one-stoplight town. Besides the grainery, few downtown businesses remain: One restaurant, Dollar General, the party store, a pharmacy, a pizza shop that doesn’t keep regular hours. Just as many storefronts are vacant.

It’s 1,300 residents flock to a small carnival outside the volunteer fire station every year for ox burgers. The annual tractor pull and homecoming parade at the only high school — which routinely churns out graduating classes of fewer than 50 students — is known to stop traffic.

Lansing mainly knows Webberville for its McDonald’s and gas station pitstop en route to Detroit.

Much of the local workforce, village residents explained, are on the farms. But even that outdoor tradition hasn’t found itself immune to the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan. One study showed statewide agricultural sales dropped $2 million since COVID-19 arrived in March.

Webberville, in turn, is increasingly focused on a new type of agriculture within its secluded business park off I-96: weed. And many residents are hopeful it could help keep the town alive.

“This town in conservative in the nature of how it thinks, but when it comes to bringing in industry and jobs and revenue, that’s something we’d never look down upon,” said Josh Rockey, who owns Z-Solutions, a computer  and chairs Webberville’s Downtown Development Authority.

Farming has long driven the economy in Webberville, 20 miles east of downtown Lansing. And while fewer than 1,300 people live there, more than 10,000 legally grown pot plants will be sprouting up just outside of the village limits next year, when C3 Industries plans to double its staff and triple the size of its massive growing facilities just off I-96.

The expansion is quickly cementing the rural Ingham County village as a powerplayer in a lucrative new industry. Adult-use pot sales in Michigan are expected to top $3 billion annually.

“It’s driving more business to the village, plain and simple,” said former Village Councilman James Greene. “There’s also no signage on the buildings. You really can’t even tell what’s going on back there. That’s a big part of it. Overall, I think it’s a great industry to have here.”

C3 Industries brands its products under the names Cloud Cover Cannabis and Galactic Meds and launched in Portland, Oregon, in 2018 — since expanding to three other states and centering its Michigan operations in Ann Arbor. It also operates five High Profile provisioning centers statewide, with locations in other major Michigan cities like Grand Rapids and Detroit.

The sleepy town of Webberville, however, is home to C3’s ever-growing “cultivation campus,” explained co-founder Vishal Rungta. It’ll expand from 35,000 to 125,000 square feet next year as it looks to grow its local workforce from 52 to more than 120 employees by the end of 2021.

“For us, Webberville is a site that makes sense. The village has been incredibly supportive and great to work with all around, and it’s very centrally located for statewide operations,” Rungta added. “Frankly, Webberville was ahead of the game and that has benefited the community.”

After recreational pot was legalized in 2018, the village of Webberville became a noteworthy outlier in becoming one of the first (and only) rural municipalities in Mid-Michigan to embrace the industry. And its location along one of the busier shipping arteries in Michigan just made sense. Because of its proximity to Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Southeast Michigan, Rungta explained.

Last year, the Webberville Village Council passed an ordinance that allows for an unlimited number of growers, processors, testing facilities and transporters — just no retail pot shops.

The decision largely mirrored public sentiment at the time. County data shows that voters in Leroy Township (most of whom are also Trump-supporting Republicans) were split on whether to legalize recreational marijuana at all, passing the proposal 849 to 749.

Similarly situated municipalities near Greater Lansing like Dansville, Mason and Williamston snubbed the industry altogether. Webberville appears to be the only town along M-36 between East Lansing and Walled Lake to have allowed for the licensed market.

So, why is Webberville different? Many local residents said they were skeptical at first because Webberville has a friendly country reputation to maintain, they explained. But the prospect of more job opportunities and higher tax revenues for a struggling town can be enticing.

And while COVID-19 takes its toll on businesses across the nation, the legal marijuana industry in Michigan is still booming. State records show that recreational weed sales climbed more than eightfold since December and have rested at more than $10 million weekly in recent months.

“Initially, there was a big backlash and fears of crime and decreasing property values. We haven’t seen any of that in Webberville. It’s been nothing but positive news,” Rockey added.

Beyond C3 Industries, at least two other marijuana-related businesses are also budding next door. Primitiv, the other Webberville cannabis powerplayer founded by NFL teammates Calvin Johnson and Rob Sims, is still advertising job opportunities online. The mayor’s daughter, Lynsey Hitchcock, also launched a marijuana transportation company on the same block. See related story on the previous page.)

“The village of Webberville had this really nice industrial space, and I think they just saw an opportunity for a venture like this to be successful in their town,” added Robin Schneider, executive director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association. “I think people realized and understood this could be safe, secure and also an opportunity for job creation and tax revenue.”

Some residents were indifferent to the expansion plans in the business park. Part of the industry’s local success has also been about keeping things quiet, tucked well away from local schools and neighborhoods. The overarching thought: Out of sight, out of mind.

“I haven’t noticed anything beneficial, but I’m pleased there hasn’t been a noticeable difference in the town,” added Webberville Community Schools Superintendent Brian Friddle. “I think the big reason for that is because we don’t have a dispensary here. That’s not really the reputation we want to have. There’s no controversy with this all being back there in the industrial park.”

Neither Mayor Brad Hitchcock nor any Village Council members returned calls. Most customers at Webberville Party Store didn’t want their names to be published.

“I like the idea of a booming industry, even if I’m not big on marijuana itself. I don’t smoke. I’ve never smoked, but if people still want to buy that stuff, we might as well keep making it here in our town,” one Webbervillian said. “I’d rather have those jobs stay here.”

Another resident added: “It’s here. So what? I don’t think there’s much we can do about it.”

“It’s putting people to work. It provides income and it’s actually helping some people with pain and other medical things,” added resident Ed Powell. “I think it fits right into the market here in Webberville. We’re an agricultural community, so it just makes sense: Another thing to grow.”

Though uncommon, Webberville isn’t the only rural village in Michigan to embrace marijuana. The conservative town of Kalkaska near Traverse City is reportedly expected to be home to a distributor, 14 licensed marijuana growers and five adult-use dispensaries by early next year. The town has also welcomed microbusinesses where house-grown pot can be smoked on-site.

Village President Harley Wales told the Northern Express newspaper  that even the more stalwart conservative residents are growing increasingly open-minded about the industry. Moreover, everyone seemed to understand that the small village needed an economic stimulus.

“Our last industry was the oil industry. Before that, it was the lumbering industry back at the turn of the century, and so these people are starved for what’s next,” Wales told Northern Express.

Meanwhile, the economy in Webberville is beginning to see the first dividends of its own progressive investment. Village officials couldn’t provide estimates for tax revenues, but at least two C3 employees (and their families) have moved to town. Another 28 live in Greater Lansing and are becoming regular customers at nearby gas stations, restaurants and other businesses.

C3 Industries also hires a local landscaping company for maintenance and snow removal and  also briefly used Lynsey Hitchcock’s shipping firm to transport products, company officials said.

“I’m happy about it being there,” added Stephany Bohlmann, a teacher at Webberville High School. “I have not heard anything negative about it, which is an improvement. I’m happy to see another business in Webberville that should last. I see this being good for our village because it should bring more people here, which should help with keeping the restaurants going as well.”