The Carpenter family, longtime vegetable producers in Lincoln County, broke ground on Aug. 9 for a medical marijuana facility in Grady.
Longtime farmer and businessman Abraham Carpenter Jr., who spoke for the family at the ceremony, said the facility is being developed to help the local community and that it will provide jobs.
The new business is Carpenter’s Medical Group “Natural Relief,” established in 2020 and the construction company is HARCO Constructors, according to a news release from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Cooperative Extension Program.
Friends, county officials, state representatives and others joined the Carpenters for the groundbreaking ceremony. This facility will be one of five such facilities in the state, according to the release.
The Carpenter family started growing vegetables decades ago with assistance from the UAPB Cooperative Extension Program specialists.
Thomas Vaughns, retired UAPB Extension horticulture specialist, and others at the university assisted the family when they started the transition from row crops to vegetable crops. The Carpenters also grow watermelon, squash, cantaloupe and industrial hemp.
