A trade magazine, Cannabis Business Times called us to photograph a very successful cannabis growing operation in the Spokane Valley. The photo editor told me that they were very successful and had been interviewed already for this story. To quote the magazine story, "Grow Op Farms’ Robert and Katrina McKinley talk about how they have reached the No. 1 spot in Washington’s challenging marketplace."

Robert and Katrina were fine hosts and we spent the better part of an afternoon there. Robert suggested that we photograph Katrina as she is the head of the day-to-day operations. I have to say that, for a very large (and anonymous) building, it is very full of everything you can imagine related to horticulture. Dozens and dozens of growing rooms, many large fertilizer tanks and the requisite plumbing to get the fertilizer to the right place, and a lot of employees moving plants, sweeping, watering, pruning, processing and packaging. Upstairs, the "mother" room with plants from which the cuttings are taken for new starts. If I remember right they employ more than 370 people to keep things running well. Five harvests per year, in house processing to retail packaging, more than a hundred edible products sold. This is a large-scale operation by any measure. I can only imagine their payroll. While we were there a food truck parked outside the factory as there are not any places to eat right near the plant. Our equipment and clothing had a curious aroma for a couple of days after. Who could have imagined all of this twenty years ago?

Check out these links to view the full article:

http://magazine.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/issue/may-2017

http://magazine.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/may-2017/boutique-cannabis-on-a-big-scale.aspx