Cash infusion helping keep hemp plant going
One year after a loss in funding halted construction on their own hemp processing facility, the Canadian Rockies Hemp Corporation has acquired $16 million in new financing, putting the project full steam ahead.
“There was always a risk we wouldn’t be able to finish. We didn’t have money to complete it, but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” said CRHC Chief Operating Officer, Aaron Barr. “We had to raise $8 million privately before the bank would finance the other $8 million.”
In terms of raising the $8 million privately, Barr said it took some sleepless nights and the help of partners and friends.
“We started with a group of 13 investors and were able to bring on an additional 35 shareholders. Combined, they have invested over $9 million to date,” he said.
The CRHC first began constructing the decortication facility in 2019 after purchasing 75 acres of farmland just inside Bruderheim town limits. At that time, Barr focused on supporting local farmers in growing hemp and processing the resulting crops.
“We are building a decortication facility here in Bruderheim so that farmers will be growing hemp for fibre. We will be processing it and making it into products for consumers,” said Barr at the time.
Bad weather delayed progress on the facility bringing it to a complete halt last January when financing became an issue.
“It was all a change in bank conditions. We met all the requirements initially, and then when COVID hit, they clamped down and increased them substantially. It seemed they no longer wanted to finance the project, and then pulled funding completely,” he said.
“They wanted to stop funding cannabis facilities in general because a lot of money was being lost on them. We are not cannabis at all, but we were lumped in with them. We are an agricultural product and not a controlled substance.”
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“We got a lot of support from the Agriculture Minister and Agriculture Canada to put pressure on AFSC (Agriculture Financial Services Corporation). They told AFSC they wanted to support these industries and that it wasn’t cannabis,” he said. “Even Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, our MLA, helped significantly.”
Armstrong-Homeniuk was pleased with the success of CHRC in acquiring their funding.
“I’m very thrilled they were able to secure their financing through AFSC, and I was happy I could introduce them to the people that would be best suited to help,” she said through a phone interview.
Barr added that through it all, no one lost their jobs.
“We didn’t have to lay off any employees. None of the owners got paid, but our employees did,” he said. “Obviously, we couldn’t continue with construction, but we got all of our crops off and paid all of our farmers. It was a good year that way.”
Barr said CHRC currently employs eight full-time employees and four contractors filling communications, operations, logistics, processing, and office employee positions.
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Jana Semeniuk,
Staff Reporter
