MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY – Aurora Cannabis has announced plans to close down operations at a number of facilities, including the 55,200-square foot Aurora Mountain production facility north of Cremona, officials said Tuesday.
Opened in 2015 just west of Highway 22 off Twp. Rd. 304, the Cremona facility was the company’s first production facility.
In a press release, the company said it has initiated a plan to close down operations at five facilities (including the Cremona facility) over the next two quarters “in order to focus production and manufacturing at the company’s larger scale and highly efficient sites.”
The company did not immediately return calls seeking further information on employee numbers or details of the closure timeline.
Mountain View County Division 4 Coun. Greg Harris called the closure bad news for the community.
“There are a lot of county residents and some Village of Cremona residents who work there,” said Harris. “That is going to have a big impact for sure. It’s a bit of a shock. What hurts the most is the people losing their jobs.
“I have no idea what would have happened that would have made them (Aurora) do something drastic like that.”
He estimates that about 100 people worked at the facility.
It was not immediately known how much tax the company has been paying the county.
In its release, Aurora said the company was immediately reducing overall staffing by 25 per cent, followed by a further 30 per cent over the next six months.
More to come.
