A hemp product manufacturer has been approved for a “light industrial operation” in downtown Paducah.
The Paducah Planning Commission approved GenCanna’s application on Monday for a 120,000 square foot facility on North 3rd Street. The site was formerly occupied by Amerisource Bergen.
The Lexington-area company GenCanna makes hemp-derived products including powders and oils.
According to Public Information Officer Pam Spencer, the real estate agent for the property linked GenCanna with the city this spring.
Under conditions from the city, GenCanna will improve the landscaping, incorporate murals on the building, will only use 10 percent of the building for warehousing and will open a retail facility to the public five days a week.
“What we are hoping to do in downtown Paducah is to establish a retail presence to show off the products that we manufacture for others, the many different brands,” GenCanna President Steve Bevan said. “We want to literally bring together a storefront full of brands with Kentucky farmers’ hemp-derived products contained in them.” He also said there are some high-value products they want to manufacture in downtown from local farms nearby.
Bevan said he is meeting with farmers around the region and the company is working through the purchase process for the facility.
