Financing amounting to $4.5 million has been availed to bolster the supply chain of hemp through the production of uniforms in Alberta, Canada. Of this amount, $3.65 million will be provided to Askiy Hemp LP by the Canadian federal government. Askiy has plans to set up an industrial plant to process industrial hemp within Elk Point.
In addition, the provincial government of Alberta will inject $804,000 in Logistik Unicorp, a company that makes uniforms.
The intention of this initiative is to convert locally grown hemp in Frog Lake and Elk Point into a variety of products, starting with textiles. Indigenous communities in the area, such as Frog Lake First Nations, will commit to growing hemp on at least 125,000 acres.
The funding to Askiy Hemp is a loan by the federal government through a fund created to promote diversification and economic development at the community level. The industrial complex planned by this company will sit on a 7.5-acre tract of land in the Diversity Industrial Park located in Elk Point. Various technologies will be available at this complex, including industrial hemp decortication, cottonization and refinement technologies.
This industrial park, which is expected to use 40,000 metric tons of stalks annually, will make products that can serve the construction, paper, textile and fertilizer industries. The factory will create 45 employment opportunities when it starts operating by summer 2025.
The federal government believes that bolstering demand for industrial hemp will have the effect of creating a new income source for farmers while also diversifying the agricultural sector of Alberta Province.
Logistik Unicorp, which will receive funding from the provincial government, will open employment opportunities for 33 workers on a permanent basis while another 50 workers will be taken on temporarily from time to time. All these opportunities will go to people in Elk Point.
The investments will diversify the economy of the area, which largely depends on the oil and gas industry. By stimulating the creation of value-added production in the agricultural sector, another dependable economic activity will flourish.
It should be noted that according to statistics from the federal agency Statistics Canada, the province of Alberta takes the number-one spot in terms of hemp production across the country. Last year, approximately 55,400 acres of industrial hemp was cultivated in the entire country. Alberta accounted for approximately 20,000 acres out of this national total.
It therefore makes sense for funding for a hemp value chain to be directed to this province, which grows such a large amount of the crop each year. As production of different hemp grows, companies such as Astrotech Corp. (NASDAQ: ASTC) could attract plenty of interest from Canada and beyond by those interested in the testing equipment that they manufacture.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Astrotech Corp. (NASDAQ: ASTC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ASTC
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