CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PRESS RELEASE--Cresco Labs, one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States, has announced that it has completed the expansion project for its cultivation and manufacturing facility located in Brookville, Pa. The expansion project provides an additional 66,000 square feet of indoor and greenhouse cultivation area, bringing the total cultivation space in the facility to 88,000 square feet. The Brookville site supplies Cresco’s house of brands to 100% of the licensed dispensaries in Pennsylvania and the company currently maintains one of the largest wholesale market shares.

The company also concluded a significant expansion of its manufacturing capabilities with new and advanced extraction booths and integrated safety systems. The expansion project provides a 300% increase in capacity for butane extraction and a 90% increase in ethanol extraction which enables Cresco to efficiently process its increased biomass to manufacture its full portfolio of brands, including Cresco, Remedi and Reserve, with new brands launching soon. As a result of tripling the site’s capacity in a phased approach, the company expects products from the third, 22,000-square-foot phase to enter the market this month, with production from the fourth, 22,000-square-foot phase starting in July 2020 and gradually increasing throughout the remainder of the year.

Charlie Bachtell, Cresco Labs’ CEO and co-founder, said, “Pennsylvania continues to be one of the most attractive and highly coveted markets in the country. Today’s announcement marks a strategic milestone towards building our leadership in this high-growth market. This expansion enables us to more efficiently cater to patients across the Keystone State and increase our operating leverage. This expansion project follows the recently completed scale up of our cultivation facilities in Lincoln and Kankakee, Ill. It is testament to our stated strategy of going deep in key states and focusing on branded products and wholesale distribution.”

Pennsylvania is a high-barrier, limited license market that is expected to become one of the biggest medical markets in the U.S. and has already witnessed rapid demand acceleration with over 284,000 registered patients and nearly 80 operational dispensaries as of April 2020.

Cresco Labs first entered the Pennsylvania market in February 2018, with the opening of its CY+ branded retail dispensary in Butler making the first-ever legal sale of cannabis under the state’s medical marijuana program. Cresco’s flagship location opened in June 2018 in the historic Strip District in Pittsburgh. A third dispensary opened in New Kensington in February 2019. The company has plans to open three more dispensaries in the Philadelphia area as well as rebrand all dispensaries in the state to its Sunnyside national retail brand.