Groundbreaking

Reporter GRANTS, N.M. – Bright Green Corporation had the groundbreaking on October 5 for their $300 million marijuana research and development facility, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was expected to attend, called ahead and informed Bright Green that complications in her schedule meant she was unable to attend. According to a press release provided to the Cibola Citizen, Bright Green also expected U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich who also did not show up. The crowd was filled with people, and few local elected officials.

New Mexico State Representative Harry Garcia was present, along with Mayors Martin “Modey” Hicks of Grants, N.M., and Felix Gonzales of Milan, N.M. City Councilors Erik Garcia and Fred Rodarte were both present at the event, along with Rosanne Lopez, Village of Milan Trustee. Commissioner Robert Windhorst was the only county commissioner present at the event; the county also had Anna Larson, GIS, present at the event.

The event was catered from an out-of-county restaurant, and upon first looks, is contracting with a business out of county for their temporary toilets.

Opening the event

As Pat Davis, Bright Green member, began introducing the local elected officials, an interruption by Erik Garcia caused a pause in the event. Councilor Garcia broke into the meeting after he was introduced as a councilor for Grants; Councilor Garcia was concerned that his name was mentioned as someone Bright Green Corporation had been working with to which he asserted he has not been working with them. The tension inside the room was undeniable with at least one individual noting “you could cut it with a knife, the tension is so thick in here.”

Before the event even started, Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks fell into an argument with one member of Bright Green Corporation, Jay Coltassanti in a loud argument disrupting the already loud and enclosed environment. The argument was broken up by three women who separated Mayor Hicks from this incident. Cibola County Representative Harry Garcia who was sat just behind the event, said the mayor was simply correcting the Bright Green member. According to Mayor Hicks, and confirmed by others near him, the argument allegedly began when Coltassanti made a statement about the efforts Bright Green had gone to clean up the existing greenhouse property on George Hanosh Boulevard in Grants. According to multiple eyewitnesses, Mayor Hicks informed those present in a raised voice that the City of Grants has been working with the Northwest New Mexico Solid Waste Authority for years to provide dumpsters to Bright Green to clean the facility, an endeavor the mayor states didn’t begin until recently. The Cibola Citizen attempted to speak with Coltassanti about the incident but was unable to speak with him before leaving the event to meet an extended deadline on this story.

Breaking ground

“The markets in New Mexico are a wonderful place to call home,” Bright Green Chairman Terry Rafhi said. Rafhi stated that this new growth and research facility is going to be using advanced equipment to keep the facility running and provide jobs in the county, he did not go into specifics about the new technology.

“I would like to ask the residents of this community to embrace bright green to make this part of the state even stronger. The whole world will take notice of the facility,” Rafhi said.

“I’m a believer in giving back to the community, and believe me – that, we’ll do.” Rafhi explained, stating that the City of Grants will be able to produce a great amount of marijuana to meet the needs of the soon-to-boom marijuana company. Bright Green will have cutting edge technology because it is “committed to excellence,” according to Chairman Rafih.

“Today is really a momentous day – not just for Bright Green, but all of New Mexico. Where you’re seated is set to be the nation’s only state-of-the-art facility to produce pharmaceutical grade plant-based therapies that have long been sought by our medical research community. It is no small thing to say that this group of folks, including the folks here in our community, all around the country, and all around the world are picking New Mexico to lead the nation and the world in this sector. This is a truly ‘only in New Mexico’ story. This is an opportunity for the world to capitalize on the best things that New Mexico has to offer. They found exactly what they needed here in Grants; it is all about our weather. Its about a workforce that is ready to work and do something innovative and lead New Mexico and the country. It’s about our technology, our people, our business-friendly climate that welcomed cannabis and cannabis research in the next innovation in agriculture and medical research across the country.”

According to a press release provided to the Cibola Citizen by Bright Green the morning of the event, the new facility is going to be a $300 million research complex which is made possible thanks to a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. This agreement opens up marijuana – which is still illegal on a federal level – to be grown and sold to researchers. Currently, only one facility in the entire country – the University of Mississippi’s National Center for the Development of Natural Products – had the ability to grow marijuana for research. Despite the drug being legal for recreation and medical use in certain states, it is not legal federally, because of this, Ole Miss has been the only entity with the federal clearance to grow the drug. Now, Cibola’s own Bright Green can join the fold and sell marijuana to research institutions.

After a short speech by Davis, Rafhi took the podium for a short time and said, “I operate about 70 different companies, I’m very excited to be here with you all today.” Rafhi opened by introducing Lynn and John Stockwell, owners of Bright Green Corporation, then he thanked the State of New Mexico, and Governor Lujan Grisham directly for their assistance. This comes after a September 9 email from Gov. Lujan Grisham’s Director of Communications, Tripp Stelnicki, saying that the governor’s office has not been in contact with or working with Bright Green. The Cibola Citizen intended to ask Governor Lujan Grisham about this when she arrived in Grants, but she did not show up for the groundbreaking and due to an extended deadline for this story, the Cibola Citizen was unable to contact the governor about this. An email has been sent to the N.M. Governor’s Office regarding this, the Cibola Citizen will inform the community of the response when it receives one.

Rafhi explained that Bright Green will be using their cannabis research and production to find better uses for marijuana that would make opioids a thing of the past.

As Rafhi finished his speech, Davis rose once more to invite everyone outside where the executive team of Bright Green pushed their shovels into the ground for the groundbreaking of the new facility.

Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation’s Executive Director Eileen Yarborough said that the full-time jobs Bright Green is expected to supply will be tax-based jobs that have the potential to bring economic growth to Cibola County.

The facility expects 100 construction jobs and a varying number of full-time jobs. In the original announcement by Governor Lujan Grisham about Bright Green – which caught every single elected official in Cibola County off-guard, including the county’s legislators, because they had not been contacted about this business – the facility was expected to create 170 construction jobs and an initial 200 research jobs. In both of the most recent press releases by Bright Green, they only state the facility will, “employ over 100 people.”

Working with academic institutions

In a September 29 press release, Bright Green alleges to work with academic institutions, saying that they are “affiliated with several universities, including the University of New Mexico.”

Considering that the Grants has a New Mexico State University campus, a college which is centered around agricultural research, the Cibola Citizen reached out to UNM to ask about this newly announced partnership. The announcement caught the UNM off guard, as they were unaware of the press release when asked, both the UNM President’s Office and the UNM Continuing Education Department – which is doing research on marijuana – both offices stated that they are unaware of any partnership with Bright Green, and that their marijuana producer is a company called Green Flower. The partnership with Green Flower was announced on September 23, a week before the inaccurate claim by Bright Green’s press release.

At this point, Bright Green has not publicly released institutions it will be working with, other than UNM – an institution which has already denied their involvement with Bright Green.

The ground has been broken

“Where are we?” Mayor Hicks said, “Here’s where we are. They [Bright Green] have no New Mexico Tax ID number, they have no building permits, they have no water rights. We really don’t have any water to give them. We’re hoping we can move forward, maybe with them paying some money to help us get the water wells online where the need to be and start getting some water out there.” Mayor Hicks then stated, “We’re willing to work with them [Bright Green] as long as they do what’s right and don’t screw us like they did last time.”

Mayor Hicks was referring to the Sunnyland Settlement Agreement, where Sunnyland, now Bright Green, was reorganized in a 2015 United States Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Mexico.

“Where is their labor force? That’s the big thing,” Councilor Garcia asked, “Where are they bringing these jobs? You know I’m in the cannabis industry, I think this is great – I think its really cool. But, at the end of day, you have John Stockwell who has left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth, like the mayor said, for the last 20 years. And the hoops, and the bull[expletive] and how he left the company here then decided to mosey back in here, not even having a sit down with the mayors and giving them the respect - and it’s not there.”

Mayor Gonzales and Representative Garcia were both cut off when discussing what happens now that the ground has been broken, but both issued the same sentiment about proceeding with caution on any economic development project.

Robert Castillo, President of Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, said that CDEC will rise to meet whatever power demands are necessary for the new facility, but said that he is unfamiliar with the strain the new facility might add to the local power grid. Castillo was stopped by Mayor Hicks who thanked CDEC for their work in clearing out trees at the Grants Memorial Park.

Water rights

After the groundbreaking, Mayor Hicks said, “Today, [Bright Green] came over to me and said, ‘hey, how are you doing, thanks for coming’ that’s the only contact I’ve had with the Bright Green since this [expletive] started, a few years ago John Stockwell came talking all this trash so I gave him free dumpsters and stuff to move the trash, that barely happened a few months ago.” Mayor Hicks then pointed to a mountain of trash just off to the side of the property. The mayor said that this is trash which has still not been cleaned out by Bright Green, despite having given them the dumpsters years earlier.

All of Cibola’s elected officials that the Cibola Citizen had spoken to at the event stated that they were unfamiliar with any water rights Bright Green has secured.

None of Bright Green’s leaders or executive board members mentioned the water issue the facility may be facing.

Taxes

On September 15 the Cibola Citizen reported that Bright Green Corporation owed Cibola County $126,030.43 in past due property taxes. According to documentation acquired by the Cibola Citizen the morning of October 5, Bright Green fully paid up the balance on their property taxes. Receipt of payment was made by Cibola County on October 4, the day before Bright Green’s groundbreaking.

The Cibola Citizen will continue to follow this story.