San Marcos will soon have a state-of-the-art cannabis cultivation, production and retail facility.
Parallel, parent company of Goodblend Texas, invested $25 million in the 63,000 square foot facility, which will provide patients with access to medicinal cannabis products in a variety of forms that are cultivated and produced locally.
“As a licensed cannabis manufacturer in the state of Texas, Goodblend is helping to further diversify our region’s economy while creating new, good paying jobs,” said Jason Giulietti, president of Greater San Marcos Partnership. “This is a prime example of another innovative company choosing to come to the Texas Innovation Corridor. We are excited to welcome Parallel, and its Goodblend retail brand.”
City of San Marcos officials, Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra and members of the Greater San Marcos Partnership and San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce gathered Monday to break ground on the new facility located at 2850 Leah Avenue.
City councilmember Melissa Derrick shared that in her personal life she’s seen a use for medical marijuana plenty of times.
“When my children’s father died of terminal brain cancer, he had to feel like he was some of a criminal getting stuff from California to help ease his pain,” Derrick said. “My son also has epilepsy and there are many people in Texas that have children with epilepsy that had to live in RVs in Colorado while the breadwinner was in Texas making the money because they had to be somewhere they could treat their children that were having hundreds of seizures a day. So, to me, this is very emotional, very exciting. I’m so glad that we’ve made it here and I’m so glad (Goodblend has) chosen to make San Marcos and the 78666 your home.”
Goodblend Texas, which has facilities in Plano, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio, operates under the Texas Compassionate-Use Program — legislation signed into law in 2015 that allows patients with intractable epilepsy to use medicinal cannabis. The program was expanded in 2019 to include other medical diagnoses such as multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer and incurable neurodegenerative diseases.
“Everything we do is to do good for our patients,” Goodblend Texas President Marcus Ruark said. “We’re humbled being able to help so many Texans with their treatable conditions … We’re just humbled every time we get to deliver more medicine to our patients. With this facility we’re building here, state-of-the-art facility for cultivation, production and retail will find an opportunity for patients to come to us, get education in person — in what's going to be a pretty amazing facility.”
Mayor Jane Hughson said the city is pleased that Goodblend selected San Marcos as its first Texas production facility.
“(Goodblend will) be assisting many with their medical issues,” Hughson said. “We welcome you and the jobs that you will bring to our residents, jobs that pay well to begin with and allow for career advancement. We are ready to assist with a successful development process and we look forward to a long collaborative partnership as you grow your business.”
The new Goodblend facility is expected to bring hundreds of new jobs, Parallel said a news release.
“This is a great day for San Marcos,” said Jason Mock, president and CEO of the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce. “Any day that we’re breaking ground in San Marcos is exciting and especially exciting after almost a little over a year of being under a lockdown pandemic when a lot of our businesses have been struggling. And so, to see the fact that we have opportunity coming to San Marcos is exciting … It just shows that this community, this region is very strong and we appreciate everything that the company is doing to bring opportunity to our community.”
