McKeesport became the medical marijuana capital of Allegheny County on Thursday.
Community members and elected officials broke ground for PurePenn’s 21,000-square-foot facility in the RIDC Industrial Park. One of the first licensed production sites in Pennsylvania, the facility sits on five acres.
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Danielle McGurk, whose daughters have epilepsy, took part in the groundbreaking and said medical marijuana has changed both of her daughters' lives.
"Knowing I am not going to have to travel out of my state and do anything illegal to get my kids the help they need is a blessing," McGurk said. "This is life-saving. This is going to be life-changing."
Community members also said they hope the facility jump starts the economy. PurePenn hosted a job fair at the McKeesport Palisades Event Center on Thursday where more than 1,000 people are competing for 25-50 jobs.
"We are bringing good, family sustaining jobs back to McKeesport. This area was devastated by the steel industry (leaving)," said Pure Penn CEO Gabe Perlow.
Perlow said the jobs start at $15 per hour.
As part of the event, the city and PurePenn also hosted a community gathering. After the groundbreaking, PurePenn presented a $50,000 check to the McKeesport Community Fund.
Cox Media Group