Springfield Business Journal_2021-04-05

$2.00 · SBJ.NET APRIL 5-11, 2021 · VOL. 41, NO. 37 40 YEARS • YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY The family venture at 1794 S. Ash St. re- ceived the green light in February from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to begin manufacturing. Mi- chael Pearcy, managing partner, leads the company with the help of his children: daughter Maddi, who is director of operations, and son Hayden, who serves as lab director. That followed the state’s Dec. 30 commencement inspection of the facility. It wasn’t the first infused-prod- uct manufacturer to get state approval, as that distinction was in December to Kansas City-based Clovr. However, Heartland Labs is still in fairly small company. As of press time, only eight manufactur- ing facilities in the state had been approved to operate, according to DHSS data. “In that moment, everybody got to take a deep breath and really appreciate all of this hard work we’re about to be able to see pay off,” Maddi Pearcy said upon the company getting approved to operate. The state’s 368 active licensed or certified dispensary, cultiva- tion, testing, transportation and infused-product manufacturing facilities require a commence- ment inspection from DHSS. As of March 26, 179 have requested an inspection and 106 of those were approved to operate. The remainder are either in progress or have been set aside for further review after the state determined the facility was not ready. Heartland Labs originally received the “set aside” designation after a DHSS re- view of the company’s paperwork Jan. 5 revealed an issue with a couple of the facil- ity’s security cameras, said Michael Pearcy. He said the two cameras were in an ex- traction booth, which is used to extract cannabinoids from cannabis, and didn’t fit within the Class 1, Division 1 classification set forth by the National Fire Protection Agency. “They were not C1D1 and that was an oversight on our part and the state pointed that out. We had to reorder new cameras for that area to ensure isolation C1D1 quali- fication,” he said, adding they cost $4,000. Michael Pearcy said that was the only is- sue that prevented passing the commence- ment inspection. “It took a little bit of time to get the cameras ordered, installed, calibrated and linked to our security system,” he said, not- ing the process was around 15 days. Let’s commence Prior to the camera issue, the Pearcys say they were cautiously optimistic about how their 6,000-square-foot facility would rate during the state inspection. The family de- clined to disclose startup costs. “Whenever we were waiting on the ap- proval for the new camera installations, we were anxious and optimistic at the same time,” Michael Pearcy said. “Everyone here was just chomping at the bit.” ME ANS GO T he medical marijuana industry is budding in Missouri and there’s hundreds of companies wanting to make an impact. One of those is Heartland Enterprises LLC, dba Heartland Labs. It’s a Buffalo-based, family-owned operation that’s just started the manufacturing of cannabis-infused products for distribution to dispensaries across the state. Springfield Business Journal is documenting the early steps of Heartland Labs as production ramps up. This is a multipart series, called In the Weed. by Mike Cullinan PART I MCKENZIE ROBINSON Heartland Labs employee Ian Kelly measures marijuana for use in infused products. See HEARTLAND on page 24 BANKING & FINANCE Encore Bank Springfield lead Doug Parker says COVID-19 tested and proved the bank’s digital-first strategy. PAGE 10 GREEN