By Rachel Foor

Altoona Mirror

Green Leaf Medical LLC will permanently lay off 73 employees at its Saxton facility effective Feb. 28, according to a warning the company gave to the state Department of Labor and Industry.

The layoff will affect more than half of the facility’s employees across all departments and positions, according to a person familiar with the Saxton facility who spoke to the Mirror on condition of anonymity.

Green Leaf said in a statement Dec. 30, that the reduction in its workforce at the Saxton facility was necessary in order to “meet the appropriate supply and demand levels of the market.”

According to the company’s statement, it appears the facility’s future rests with lawmakers, who for years have been weighing the issue of making marijuana legal.

“We are hopeful that with adult use on the horizon, this facility will be back up to full capacity in the future,” the statement said.

President and CEO of the Bedford County Development Association Bette Slayton said that officials were aware of the layoff situation at Green Leaf and that the association’s top priority would be maximizing all services available to the displaced employees.

In addition to the state’s Rapid Response Team that meets with people to review available programs, Slayton said that the “regional labor market is very tight” and that many employers have a variety of job openings.

“Our local CareerLink does a good job providing help with job searches or training for a new career,” Slayton said. “If folks prefer to start a new business, there is also support for budding entrepreneurs.”

Green Leaf purchased the former Seton facility in April 2017. The 274,000-square-foot building had been vacant for about a decade, Slayton said. In 2018, the company received state approval to become a grower-processor of medical cannabis.

“Since then, Green Leaf has invested over $50 million in that facility, including the recently completed $35 million Phase II expansion,” Slayton said.

In 2017, Saxton Mayor Alan Smith praised the economic implications of a local marijuana operation in what was considered a depressed area, according to articles published in the Mirror at that time.

Green Leaf began operations in Saxton during the summer of 2019 with about 100 workers. When the announcement came about the job cuts, about 130 people were employed there, a person familiar with the operation said.

A Phase II expansion project announced in 2020 was to create 500 additional new jobs, and Green Leaf CEO Phil Goldberg said at the time that it was “an additional $30 million investment on top of the $13-plus million already invested.”

Phase II construction included a vertical cultivation facility that was “expected to increase Green Leaf’s annual production capacity from 10 tons to more than 30 tons per year” and add 48 more flower rooms.

While Phase II won’t open at this time, if the market returns, it’s hoped the operation will again expand.

“We are hopeful that once the market makes the appropriate adjustments, Green Leaf will be able to open the Phase II facility,” Slayton said.

Green Leaf has been a good community partner, said Saxton Fire Chief Mark Taylor.

Since the purchase of the former Seton facility, the company “has made significant annual contributions to the school district, volunteer fire company, senior citizens program, community college” and is “paying property taxes on its 274,000-square-foot fully renovated building,” he said.

“We’re certainly hoping that things go well for them,” he said. “They’ve helped us financially and have allowed us to use their facilities for events in the past.”

“We need them in Saxton,” Taylor said.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.