The state’s cannabis industry is poised to top $1 billion this year in combined medical and recreational sales.
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
Hippos Cannabis has a 40,000-square-foot production facility in Vienna, Missouri, a town of 600 people that’s just 30 minutes north of Rolla.
Since Missouri’s recreational marijuana sales began in February, they’ve added 25 workers, bringing the total employees to 70—who come from Vienna or the surrounding communities.
“A lot of the employees were born and raised and went to high school in Vienna, and now they’re all working together,” said Nicholas Rinella, CEO of Hippos which also includes three dispensaries throughout Missouri. “So it’s a real community at the facility.”
Like other companies, Hippos is working on expanding their facility, where they largely make jarred cannabis flower buds and pre-rolled joints, in order to ramp up production and keep marijuana dispensary shelves stocked.
“We didn’t know if Amendment 3 was going to pass,” Rinella said. “Once it did pass, what the industry had expected was a 2.5 times bump in sales. And it ended up being closer to five to six times.”
Missouri’s recreational marijuana sales came in at $91 million for April, according to a report the state released
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