MJBizMag July 2020 - 99

lab, CEO Oludare Odumosu judges
the size of his operation by what the
market can allow.
" You want to build to potential, "
Odumosu said.
When Zelira Therapeutics first
started in Pennsylvania, Odumosu
constantly evaluated the patientpool
numbers and tried to expand
his CO2
and ethanol extraction units
accordingly.
To allow his operation to scale up,
Odumosu put in the infrastructure
for a time when expansion would be
necessary. For example, the building
was wired with electrical capacity
that exceeded the company's initial
need.
It also was outfitted with an
air-compressor line that could feed
into multiple spaces, though that
wasn't required at the beginning.
Ultimately, Odumosu
underestimated the size of the
Pennsylvania medical marijuana
market. The projected patient pool
he referenced was 35,000, but the
pool ended up totaling 80,000.
" If we knew that was going to
happen, everyone would have built
bigger, " he said.
Add-on Ability
Odumosu also recommends buying
extraction equipment that can accept
add-on pieces. " Configurable units
are key, " he added.
Tully Stroud, chief scientific
officer at Elite Molecular, a cannabis
business based in King County,
California, said the equipment his
company uses is modular and can
receive additional like parts. So far, he
has added six different features to his
system as the business scales up.
Like Odumosu, Stroud recommends
building out and expanding extraction
equipment concurrent with the growth
of the economy in the state where the
business operates.
" You want to scale appropriately to
your market size, " he added.
Mara Gordon Photo by Natalyia Arditi
His team's thinking was to avoid
producing more product than the
market allowed. To determine that,
they evaluated California tax revenue
and built relative to that.
" Most of your equipment needs
to be chosen for 20% more capacity
than what you're producing, "
Stroud said.
As far as the facility, Elite
Molecular is working in a building
with 11,000 square feet of space,
though it has developed only about
5,000 square feet so far.
Stay Flexible
For Gordon, designing Aunt Zelda's
extraction facility to allow for
When thinking about adding equipment such as the rotary evaporator in this photo, cannabis
companies should consider how well the system can accommodate add-ons. Courtesy Photo
modifications was key to her success
in scaling.
The facility she moved into was
7,500 square feet-although she
needed only 2,500 square feet at the
time. That allowed for growth and to
add different rooms.
Inside that facility, Gordon set up a
" clean room, " which she describes as
similar to a surgical tent with electric
fans where her crew bottled and filled
oil containers. The clean room can
be moved to another facility as the
business grows.
Aunt Zelda's also installed two
cargo containers in the main cargo
area-one for keef production, a
messy process that is good to keep
separate from the rest of the business.
The containers can be moved to
another facility if Gordon ever maxes
out her space.
" It's nice to have the freedom of
that, " Gordon said.
Bart Schaneman is a
reporter for Marijuana
Business Magazine.
July 2020 | mjbizdaily.com 97

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