Marijuana company expanding to prepare for recreational cannabis

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Everest Apothecary is now known as Everest Cannabis Co.

The name change coincides with New Mexico legalizing recreational marijuana.

The expansion has been years in the making.

"We opened our doors in December of 2016," said Jefferson King, marketing director for Everest Cannabis Co.

Since 2016, the company has continued to grow.

"When I joined the company, I was opening our third location on Central and Atrisco, and this summer I’m going to be opening our eighth location in Santa Fe," King said.

As New Mexico expands from medical to recreational marijuana, Everest Cannabis Co. has found more opportunities to grow.

"We grow our own plants on the farm, we have our own lab, so we produce our own concentrates, we can produce our own edibles," King said.

The company also plans to get into the wholesale business.

"What we’re doing now is figuring out how to scale up and keep up with the industry," King said.

The expansion will lead to more stores and more jobs, King said.

"Everything from entry-level to science work, we should be able to offer a great, a great opportunity," King added.

King expects the company to double in size in a couple of years.

"Right now, there’s just over 100,000 medical patients. So you can imagine. Now our demographic is anyone over 21, so we’re definitely going to need a lot more plants than we currently have," King said.

But with the expansion, King said the company is also committing more to sustainability.

"As we grow our infrastructure here, we want to look at our HVAC systems, make sure that we’re running more efficient systems," King said. "We’re looking at our watering systems, making sure that everything we use uses the least amount of water that we can. And we’re currently in the middle of upgrading our lighting."

Everest Cannabis Co. is also concerned about safety. They want their containers to be child resistant, and have more warning labels.

"We want to grow, but we want to grow responsibility," King said.

The company is looking at hiring 30 more people by the beginning of 2022.

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