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As seen in Cannabis Science & Technology

Hamilton Farms opens new cannabis cultivation facility completed by DAG.

In a recent press release covered by the Patch , DAG, an organization that constructs and designs Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facilities for cannabis and produce industries, revealed that they recently completed a new cannabis cultivation facility for Hamilton Farms, a cannabis cultivator for the New Jersey adult-use market. The building is located in Millville, New Jersey and is 13,000-square-feet.

The CEO, Mark Gemignani, and Director of Architecture and Engineering, Jeff Lair, of DAG, both represented the company and attended Hamilton Farms ribbon-cutting and grand opening event for the new building.

Prior to becoming a cannabis cultivation facility, the venue once was a warehouse. DAG began construction and renovated the location for it to be utilized as a cultivation enterprise. The project began in May 2022. According to the press release, “DAG commenced the project in May 2022 with a preliminary high-level schematic design providing 4,496 square feet of canopy, including a seamless flow between mother, clone, propagation, vegetation, and flower rooms; and appropriately sized rooms for harvest activities (dry, trim, cure) and post-harvest activities (packaging and vault). The company also designed and constructed a headhouse (water room), electrical room, IT room, areas for shipping and receiving, storage rooms, and ancillary spaces including offices, locker rooms and restrooms.”

When cannabis became legalized in 2021, Rahul Patel, CEO of Hamilton Farms, and Kunal Lodaya, COO of Hamilton Farms, submitted an initial application for a New Jersey Cannabis business license in December 2021. The company was one of the first approved applicants to receive a conditional license, as well as, one of the first to be approved to convert into a full annual license.

“DAG was with us from step one to build out an initial concept. We looked at many sites, and DAG’s insight was invaluable. Once we locked in our lease, DAG was integral in envisioning the design and layout; its team members were always available,” Patel mentioned. “Their breadth of knowledge in CEA and planning, design and construction of Cannabis facilities is incredible.”

“When we began this journey, we were new to the Cannabis industry and chose DAG because we could trust their guidance in helping us to make decisions. Their team is honest, and we value their opinion. They continue to be a part of many decisions we make day in and day out,” Lodaya said.

“Throughout foundational planning, design, pre-construction and construction, and even now during post-construction, we are pleased to have guided and worked with Hamilton Farms to create an efficient and effective facility that will help them run a profitable Cannabis operation,” Gemignani explained. “We helped them to be practical, thoughtful and economical, so their processes beyond growing can be seamless.”

Link to article: https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/hamilton-farms-unveils-new-cannabis-cultivation-facility-completed-by-dag

Getting a cultivation to grow quickly takes planning, foresight, and coordination. If you want to expedite your facility without creating additional costs, keep these 3 steps in mind:

Step 1

Prepare your Foundational Plan.

“By Failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” – Benjamin Franklin

Once you’ve selected a site and completed your due diligence, create a high-level plan for the development of your facility. This plan should consider all aspects of how your facility will function and include a schematic of your facility layout with a focus on optimizing production and minimizing operating costs.

With an understanding of your operational flow, budget, equipment, and long-term plan, you’ll have the facts you need to help you right size all items for your facility before final design. This knowledge is essential to aligning your entire project team, plus it will give you a framework to foresee and discuss important future decisions and tackle critical points that may slow down your project in the full design phase.

Step 2

Make your Temporary Grow a Component of Your Permanent Grow.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Pablo Picasso

If your state requires you to be operational quickly to secure a license, any temporary grow solution should be integrated into your permanent grow. Many options exist, such as grow pods, retrofitting an existing structure, or using a temporary structure. No matter the option, design it into your Master Plan. Part of your plan should include the creation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that will work for you in the short term and be adapted for the long term.

In addition, once you are beyond the initial planning phase and moving into preconstruction, you should identify long lead time items and equipment so you can execute early procurement to avoid the frustration of future delays.

Step 3

Align your Budget to Fit Your Grow.

“It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.” – Warren Buffett

Understanding your budget as it correlates to your specific plan is critical. Many companies overreach when it’s better to maximize efficiency with the resources on hand. Companies that ramp up too fast based on optimistic projections rather than actual market demand often find themselves in trouble.

Designing and building your facility for expansion that is aligned with your fundraising and realistic growth is more achievable. It all starts with proper foundational planning and having the key information and insights on how to best execute on your plans.

About the author: Jeff Lair is Director of Architecture and Engineering at DAG. With experience in nearly 200 cultivation projects, Mr. Lair is one of the leading professionals for creating operational efficiencies and leading successful cultivation projects throughout North America.

5 Essential Cannabis Facility Questions with Jeff Lair

1- Why is it so difficult to get cannabis facilities running properly?

A grow room is nothing like an average office room designed for people, instead the environment is designed for plants and constantly changing conditions. There’s a lot more to consider such as air movement, temperature, humidity, and water usage which are all essential the successful operation of the facility.  A facility’s operation team needs to know how all the systems and equipment are affecting each other, especially how it affects their cultivation set points.

2- You’ve commissioned around 200 facilities to get them working properly; what are the most common challenges you’ve seen with Cannabis facilities after the original commissioning stage?

A lack of documentation of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). It’s common to see a larger turnover rate in this industry; having companies bring on new cultivators and key team members (due to a lack of performance, poor fit with company culture, or even scouted by another company).  I’ve seen so many organizations that must begin the entire process again, causing learning curves and delays, which only increases the hurdles in an already difficult industry. This ranges from not only the style of cultivating, but also to all maintenance programs and crucial operating practices. Documenting every step in every procedure is the key to success – it will be well worth it!

3- What is the best way to check all systems to see if they are working in unison?

Be prepared! I like to tell everyone to plan for ‘Murphy’s Law’ and be ready for anything. Cultivators and Operations need to make the effort to understand their equipment and facilities capabilities. Once the facility has been commissioned, everyone wants to grow as fast as possible. However, it’s important to spend around 2 weeks doing trials of best and worst-case scenarios prior to loading your room with plants. This way you’ll see how all equipment and systems function in terms of reaching proper set points. Again, it’s always better to be prepared then learn on the fly, especially with such a valuable crop at risk.

4- What does DAG do to ensure their customer facilities are in working order?

Since DAG takes ownership in procuring all equipment and overviewing the entire design of the facility, we can assure all aspects within are being coordinated with each other.  Taking leadership of the entire process assures timelines are met as well as all facets of installation and commissioning are done thoroughly and properly. Once construction is complete, we work with our partners on commissioning each piece of equipment, and additionally commission the facility holistically to assure it is operating as it should. Again, knowledgeable leadership is the key to insure proper integration.

5- What’s the #1 mistake you’ve seen with CEA facility operations?

A lack of understanding of how important the facility maintenance plays in creating a profitable operation. While most of the people new to cannabis think more canopy equals more profits, this is rarely the case. You need to understand best practices, operational flow, and proper upkeep of a facility. If you don’t consider operational efficiency thoroughly, and maintenance falls short on key equipment, it doesn’t matter how large your canopy is. Here at DAG, we say build your facility around your equipment, do not just try to cram your key equipment in to maximize canopy. The ability to work and operate around the equipment, along with proper SOPs, will keep your facility running efficiently.

In the end, you are running a production factory, so operational efficiencies and repeatable procedures go a long way.

Jeff lair is the Director of Architecture & Engineering at DAG. for more information, contact Jeff at dag@dagfacilities.com

Planning, designing, and building for cultivation is no easy task. Here are some of the most common errors we found hamper your ability to get operational quickly and grow effectively.

#1 Skipping a Review of Your Site Plan or Existing Building.

Make sure professionals specific to agriculture review your site plan or building before purchase or lease. Understanding the parameters needed for an efficiently designed facility is essential to site selection.

#2 Maximizing Canopy at the Expense of Operational Function

Everyone wants to maximize canopy space, but often there is a lack of consideration for accurate space allocations to access and maintain your equipment, or for your operational workflow. As a result of these design flaws, you will be building in ongoing disruptions to your production cycle.

#3 Waiting Too Long for Procuring Your Equipment.

This may be the most common mistake of all. Early procurement is a must… don’t wait until dimensions and construction drawings are completed to finalize your equipment purchases. Equipment that arrives late will create expensive stoppages.

Miami – DominionAG (DAG) – North America’s leading Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) firm for Controlled Environment Agriculture facilities – is pleased to announce the hiring of Jeffrey Lair as Director of Architecture & Engineering, effective July 12, 2021.  In this role, Mr. Lair will report to Mark Gemignani, CEO of DAG, and will oversee design operations for the company.Mr. Lair will be responsible for all design and planning related activities across the entire facility development cycle. He will direct and manage contracted professional service providers including architects, engineers and consultants and oversee the evaluation and selection of key systems and equipment suppliers. He will also support our sales and project management teams by leveraging his years of direct experience designing and commissioning high-performance CEA facilities to deliver smart, efficient solutions to our customers.“Jeff brings with him an incredible wealth of expertise about cultivation facilities, particularly when it comes to mechanical systems, fertigation, automation and operations,” said Mark Gemignani. “Given that he has commissioned more that 100 cultivation facilities – more than anyone else in North America – and has acquired the practical knowledge of what makes a growing facility operate at a high level, I can’t imagine anyone better suited to spearhead our design efforts and help us continue delivering best-in-class CEA facilities to our clients. We are thrilled to have him on our team.”

“Bringing Jeff’s expertise in-house is a game changer for DAG,” added Christopher Block, DAG’s Director of Corporate Development. “Combining his engineering acumen, plus his knowledge of the inner workings of the most advanced CEA facilities in the world, with DAG’s exceptional construction capabilities positions us to be the firm of first choice for growers and cultivators seeking certainty of outcomes when it comes to their facility development and operations.”

DAG is North America’s leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firm for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facilities in the food and Cannabis industries. DAG is a division of Dominion Builders, a South Florida general contractor with more than 40 years of experience managing complex construction projects on a national scale. For more information email us at info@dominion-ag.com

If you like feel-good stories this is one of them. CAMP Cannabis was founded by high school friends Susan Griffith and Jennifer McGuire. Both friends having a healthcare background with Susan selling pharmaceutical equipment and Jennifer a Registered Nurse. CAMP Cannabis was granted both a cannabis cultivation license and an infused product manufacturing license in Missouri and has assembled a dream team of industry professionals. They are currently developing phase one of their 100,000 square ft. cannabis cultivation and processing facility with Dominion AG at the helm of both Design & Construction. CAMP’s culture, business acumen, and attitude is inspiring. “It’s great to work with such wonderful, focused, and passionate people,” said Neil Hammack Executive Vice President of Dominion AG. Phase one of the Cannabis cultivation facility will be operational in December 2020. Check out their website at www.letsgo.camp.

Those of us in the industry have run into a lot of this. Cultivators have experience on a much smaller scale and aren’t always thinking in terms of enterprise solutions that set up your cultivation business for success. 

To build your facility and your business it’s important to think about scalability and creating efficiencies. Here are some things to keep in mind when building your facility.

Start with Team Building and Team Management

This is your most important step. Combining cultivators with engineers, architects, equipment manufacturers, product managers, construction managers, and CEOs into a cohesive unit when building a facility is no easy task. 

Find Team Players

You may find brilliant and experienced people, but if they aren’t team players, you are in for an uphill battle to get your business running. It’s possible to find talented people that are also willing to work well with others, listen, and clearly communicate their positions and suggestions without going into a tailspin. 

Create a Project Structure

Communications need to be run with structure, weekly calls, and updates with progress reports, deadlines, and coordination. Cannabis facilities are complex. Technologies are changing, legalities are changing and the industry, while exciting, is in a constant state of flux. It’s most important to be good at execution during this growth period in the industry. Proving you can excel under these circumstances shows strength and leadership which builds confidence in your business for investors, employees, and customers. Create your management structure and follow it to a tee.  

Masterplan

Plan your facility in phases. Understand what your yield needs to be from the onset and create a 5-year projection. Understand the proper ratio of mother, clone, veg, flower rooms, and processing rooms. The layout and design of your facility should be planned to add on square footage without any business interruption or complex future planning. Proportion your phases so that your original base of operations can remain and if demand rises for your product you are ready to respond rapidly since it’s already built into your original plan. 

Spend Wisely

Preserving capital is essential for growing your business. With thorough planning, creating the right team, and starting with a well-functioning facility, your business will produce good products and run efficiently from the beginning. With efficiencies in place, you can focus on sales, marketing, and refining your product and your cannabis business will be primed for success. 

Todd Friedman tfriedman@dominion-ag.com is the Director of Business Strategy for DAG. DAG builds Controlled Environment Agriculture Facilities for Cannabis.