Emerald Fire Farms blaze trail for local cannabis culture

“It’s mandated, and it gives people a sense of security,” said Emerald Fire Farms President John Siggerud.

There is additional security to protect what is grown on the premises. Employees change into scrubs with they arrive for work, so no one brings any contaminants from outside into the growing facility.

“We grow it here, harvest it here and put it on the shelves,” Siggerud said. “We keep things as sanitary as humanly possible.”

There is no duct work; all the air is recycled so the vents aren’t pulling in possible contaminants from the outside. With the hemp crops around, pulling in contaminants into grow rooms could ruin an entire crop. They also use Ozone water.

“It is more environmentally friendly and better for the plants,” Siggerud said. “It was an investment, but something we needed to do.

The business has done more than $150,000 in sales in the nine weeks. It has had 137 customers in a past seven-day period.

“We were concerned about the retail side, but the retail sides been easier than the growing,” Siggerud said.

Growing has taken place for a year in the facility, but the business opened on March 7. They went through a process of testing the product before opening.

Part of Emerald Fire’s popularity is its location — is as easy drive from US -10. Having that major thoroughfare nearby brings in return customers from Gaylord, Traverse City and other Northern Michigan locations, Siggerud said.

The 14,000 square-foot business, located at 4980 N. Dixon Road, was formerly Tobins Lake Studios and used to build stages for entertainers. The company purchased the facility in March 2020 when the owner retired. It was converted to fit the needs of this growing Michigan industry. There is a retail store in front and a grow-and-cultivation center in the back. There are eight rooms reserved for growing including a “Mom Room,” where they pull clones from the plants and regrow them. They are then placed into climate- and light-controlled rooms and given scheduled feedings.

Siggerud said it is 12 weeks between planting to harvesting. In the eight grow rooms in the facility, employees can harvest 5.3 times a year. Moms rotate out between two months and a year. 

It costs between $420 and $480 to produce a pound of marijuana that sells for about $1,000 per pound. Last year that amount was $2,000 a pound but Michigan growers’ profits have taken a hit. One reason for that is 65,000 pounds of marijuana was taken out of rotation for testing and then qualified to be returned to the market.

Employees help nurture the marijuana plants by signing and talking to them.

After Michigan voters approved the sale and use of medical marijuana in 2008, Siggerud left a 20-plus year career in auto body repair in 2014 to start a grow operation with his business partner, Paul Dixon. Siggerud leaned on cannabis for pain relief after hip surgery and turned down traditional pain medications.

“I’d rather take a gummy. I saw the positive affects it had,” Siggerud said. “People with chronic pain, sports injuries – it gave people pain relief.”

He’s not alone. People have shared with the business owners that they stopped taking multiple pills a day and taken up marijuana, Siggerud said, which he says doesn’t have the same side effects.

When Siggerud and Dixon were looking for a municipality who was friendly to their cause and mission, Coleman stood out to them by being an early adopter and opting-in to formalizing retail recreational marijuana sales.

“Most of the stuff we sell here is craft-type cannabis,” Siggerud said. “Most of it is 23 to 30% THC, with the majority in the upper 28%.”

What’s on the menu? The store sells edibles, vape cards and straight-up marijuana buds and pre-rolled joints. The store’s best seller is its Zkittlez Mints strain. The fruity and fresh-smelling bounty is a “beautiful” strain to grow, said Siggerud.

“It’s definitely our most popular,” Siggerud said. “We can’t keep it on the shelves.”

Another popular seller is Midnight Roots, an organic chocolate bar.  

Strains, that bare names like Granny’s Apple Fritters, Future Number 1 and Bruce Banner Moon Rocks, get their names from their breeders. Customers sometimes buy because of the strain names.

Cannabis customer Patty Simons said she loves to say she tried a unique-named strain.

When asked about recreational marijuana citing that such facilities are a bad influence to children, Siggerud, a father of two, said he was nervous at first. But he made it clear to his children, 10 and 13, what he does. He said the children his son goes to school with know his dad is in the weed business.

He strongly encourages young people not to use the substance, citing that their brains aren’t fully developed until they are 25.

“They understand that a lot of this is medicine,” he said.

The father said the company cares about the community, including its youth. Siggerud said the company is a sponsor and co-sponsor of youth sports and events like the upcoming Coleman veteran’s fundraiser “United by Sacrifice” concert featuring the 80s hard rock band Skid Row.

Midland County resident John Ryan said such businesses help mitigate people’s physical pain and the hurt on their wallets for such community amenities.

“It is great to see a small town greet a business like this,” Ryan said.

Another small community, Sanford, is moving forward with establishing retail marijuana. The village unanimously voted to opt-in to retail sales in April. The village had to put together a planning commission to ensure the followed proper state procedure. The village council researched the item for months, visiting other facilities and talking to residents.

The item garnered much support said Sanford Village President Dolores Porte.

What about the biggest community in Midland County?

Midland is missing the mark, Siggerud said. Emerald Fire welcomes many customers from Midland.

“I talk to a lot of people and there’s overwhelming feedback that the people want it,” Siggerud said. 

Midland Mayor Maureen Donker said Friday the city is “thoughtfully moving forward with it.”

Will the city council opt in or will Midlanders continue to take their dollars outside of the city?

“I think that people can access it now,” she said. “(But) we are being very thoughtful about considering it.”

Donker cites the city is concerned for the youth and unintended consequences.

As of March 2022, there were 374 cannabis licensees in Michigan, according to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.

From those businesses, an estimated $150 million was generated for Michigan municipalities, schools, and transportation. According to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, in 2021 Michigan saw $1,311,951,737 in marijuana sales for adult-use and $481,225,540 for medical cannabis.

Andrew Brisbo, executive director of the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, reportedly told Marijuana Moment that, “The funding provided directly to local governments—and the thousands of jobs created across the state—show that Michigan is leading the way in the cannabis industry.”