Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO, Tweed Inc. and Canopy Growth, Smiths Falls PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

By MAGGIE M, Wedgee-in-Chief, Editor, theWedge.LIVE 💚 TO SHARE click icons at story’s end. TO SUBSCRIBE go to upper right column. TO COMMENT click text at upper right of story. TO TRANSLATE in your language go to upper right column.

“It’s at $9 billion,” Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO, Canopy Growth Corporation, replied to my question about the company’s valuation.

More commonly known by its mainstreet brand, Tweed, it is acknowledged as the world’s fastest growing cannabis corporation and its headquarters are in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Canada is the second nation to legalize cannabis (this October 17th) after Uruguay.

“Actually, it’s $10 billion today,” Mayor of Smiths Falls, Shawn Pankow, also a financial advisor, added on my sharing Linton’s valuation of Canopy.

As trading heats up on the stock exchanges, Canopy’s valuation climbs. The ceiling is inconceivable. At some point, the market will correct itself, but right now and likely for some time, it’s at fever pitch.

Smiths Falls Mayor, Shawn Pankow, at opening of Tweed Visitor Centre, Headquarters in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

Tweed has surprised us all. A year ago, Smiths Falls was still reeling emotionally from years of stasis, an environment of decline. Today, the town is the talk of municipalities in Canada. At the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) meeting in Ottawa days ago, the big topic was cannabis–and Canopy.

Smiths Falls’ psycholinguistics have flipped from “lack” to “fortune.” The town nears full employment, homes sell quickly and many businesses are beginning to thrive with customers that have money to spend.

The externalities of the miracle that is Tweed are still being measured and grasped by all. Although for one man, a step above all, the future seems clear.

Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO, Tweed Inc. and Canopy Growth, Smiths Falls PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

Linton is riding an ethereal wave. The man is visibly on “cloud nine” and the cogs are audibly whirling in his brain, shifting from plant production, to health matters, to chocolate and opening day on the New York Stock Exchange.

“They would not let me ring the bell,” Linton laments about his opening day at NYSE.

“Jeff Sessions must have taken it,” I returned. Bell or no bell, the stock is keeping investors happy on the world’s biggest trading floor.

Tweed Visitor Centre entrance, Smiths Falls Headquarters, Ontario, Canada PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

“GRAND” OPENING TWEED VISITOR CENTRE

Yesterday, media and dignitaries were invited for a preview of the Tweed Visitor Centre in Smiths Falls.  It was in Tweed’s words, “a private, invite-only sneak peek event for media and local officials.”

My group was toured by Linton himself. He guided us swiftly from room to room on two floors, each a piece of the cannabis puzzle–the art of, the culture, the science and the history. A whirlwind of data rolled off his lips at synaptic speed for the tightly-squeezed media scrum to absorb. All you could hear was camera shutters and Linton’s granular data from his “brainframe.” We were ostensibly his students on a school trip.

Cannabis is still a mystery to the masses and this location resolves it once and for all in visitors’ minds. The Centre’s interactive displays in beautifully appointed rooms was on par with a museum experience. The retinue of Tweed ambassadors seemed like a stay at a Mandarin Hotel where an attendant stands by for each visitor.

(L-R) Marc Provost, Senior Subject Matter Expert and Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO, tour first guests at Tweed Visitor Centre, Smiths Falls Headquarters, Ontario, Canada PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

“It’s all about education,” says Malcolm Morris, CAO, Smiths Falls. This incisive comment appears be the key to Linton’s success.

“I’m still high from this morning. I am so happy for Smiths Falls,” Lynne Houle, Owner of the trendy Davidson Courtyard, expressed to this writer later in the day. Indeed, the mood is high.

The Tweed Visitor Centre opens to the public this Saturday, August 25th, during its adjoined music festival, The 3rd Annual Tweed Shindig.

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New production space as seen from Visitor Centre gallery, Tweed, Smiths Falls headquarters, Ontario, Canada PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE

Smiths Falls Mayor Shawn Pankow speaks at opening of Tweed Visitor Centre. (L-R) Jordan Sinclair, Bruce Linton, Randy Hillier, MPP. PHOTO BY theWedge.LIVE