Now
30°
Thu
42°
Fri
55°
by Claire O'Neil
The logo for the new Sunnyside dispensary is now up at 435 Main Street inside a former bank building.
BRIDGEPORT, Ohio — Proximity to state borders was a factor in location
A new marijuana dispensary is set to open within the next 60 to 90 days in Bridgeport, and it's expected to provide some economic help to the village.
The logo for the new Sunnyside dispensary is now up at 435 Main Street inside a former bank building.
The company is owned by Cresco Labs and, like a location in Wintersville, it will provide recreational and medicinal marijuana as well as local jobs.
"They plan to hire probably 12 to 15 full time people, and another 10 to 12 part-time people,” Bridgeport Solicitor Michael Shaheen said. “The assistant store managers will make $28-$29 an hour, (and) even part-time people will make $16 an hour. And, then there's different steps in between."
People that are full-time will also have options for health insurance and stock investments.
"Hundreds of people have already applied,” Shaheen said. “They've given me their word that they'll try to give some preferential treatment to the locals.
"When we all entered into this arrangement, we made clear on behalf of Bridgeport that we expected to look within our Ohio Valley for the construction piece and for workers and they will maintain and continue to do that."
So far, around $1 million in improvements to the location are planned – in and out.
Shaheen says the location in Ohio was key, now that both medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal.
"When the state formulated a plan or process to allocate where these would be located, they took into consideration within the state of Ohio, some of the border regions,” Shaheen said. “For instance, these folks also have a location out towards Dayton, which bumps into Indiana. Here, we can reach West Virginia and Pennsylvania within a half an hour."
It will look like an Apple store, with most items behind glass. There will also be a drive-thru option. Once people start to shop at the dispensary, a portion of that funding will come back to Bridgeport.
"Based upon the current laws, 10% of the gross goes to the government, the state gets 6.6%, and the locals get 3.4%,” Shaheen said. “But, on a few millions dollars of revenue, that can be significant for Bridgeport."
2026 Sinclair, Inc.