Las Vegas, NV, June 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP), a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers including the 85,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, a state of the art processing center in Medford, Oregon, and a 500-acre hemp growing Eco-Village in Golden Valley, Arizona, reports on key updates regarding the upcoming Great American Hempathon… the first ever grow contest in the modern day history of hemp.
“After talking to many growers and potential participants, we’ve reduced the entry fee to $10,000 from the original $50,000 cost previously reported and the revenue split will be 60% for the grower and 40% to Hemp, Inc. (originally a 50/50 split). This makes it easier for more people to participate. Our goal is to help the small family farms and those who don’t necessarily have a big budget. This takes away the barriers to entry,” says Hemp, Inc. CEO, Bruce Perlowin.
Hemp, Inc. joined its strategic growing partner Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc. to host “The Great American Hempathon” in Golden Valley, Arizona. The Hempathon is now tentatively scheduled for late June, 2019 (subject to Arizona state approvals). According to executives, the best days for planting in that area are now through August 15, 2019.
The Hempathon is situated on a 500-acre eco-village, with 300 acres designated for growing hemp. The land has been fenced and is being cleared in anticipation of planting hemp. According to the site Project Manager, water pipes have been laid to provide plenty of water for the plants and overnight RV sites are being prepared to allow people to stay on the land during the grow. Live streaming video cameras will allow the world to be able to watch “The Great American Hempathon” in real time.
Specifically, the Hempathon creates joint ventures with growers and provides each grower with a five-acre parcel, or up to 10 acres to plant on, security, tractors and heavy equipment, assistance in harvesting, assistance in the sale, and a customized video of their experience. Each team should have a master grower with the knowledge and experience to grow CBD quality hemp cannabis. Each team will be responsible for installing the irrigation systems, preparing the soil, and maintaining their 5-acre grow.
"The sixty-forty revenue split with Hemp, Inc. (with 40% of that going to the Hemp Veteran Village Kins Community) will not only generate a substantial revenue stream for Hemp, Inc. and its shareholders and the Veteran Village Kins Community, it will also generate a positive return on investment for The Great American Hempathon participants," said Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin. "Through this partnership, participants receive more than just a cash profit. This also provides them with an opportunity to learn from industry experts from all over America over a four to six month period."
Many of the top master growers from around the country are excited to participate in “The Great American Hempathon”. Hemp Inc. will document the process, showcasing each grower in a docuseries called "The Modern Day History of Hemp." This is a chance to actively be a part of history in the making while also helping non-profits such as The Twilight Brigade, Feed the Homeless, Wild Planet and more.
In addition to the docuseries, the first Arizona-based Hemp University will be held in a 60-foot geodesic dome that can seat up to 200 people. Along with the various Hemp University masterclasses, participants will be able to take field trips to the five-acre hemp grows just 100 yards away. Previous Hemp University workshops have taken place in North Carolina and more recently, Oregon.
A 44-foot geodesic dome will be set up as a vendor area selling a wide variety of products needed to grow industrial hemp. A 36-foot geodesic dome will be set up as a movie room to show documentaries and courses on various hemp farming topics.
Perlowin and/or another representative will host an informational meeting inside one of the domes on the property to answer any questions about the Hempathon. This informational meeting will be ongoing and will tentatively be every Saturday at 11:30am.
To get to the domes on the property, from Hoover Dam head southwest on Kingman Wash Access Road. Continue onto Hoover Dam Access Road. Turn left onto NV-172. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto the US-93 S ramp. Continue on US-93 S to Cottonwood Road (mile marker 45) then turn west in 2 1/2 miles onto Amana Street and go south exactly 5 miles and you will be at the property. (It's important to note that once you turn onto Cottonwood Road, you will be on well-maintained dirt roads.)
Learn more about The Great American Hempathon and the Veteran Village Kins Communities at https://www.kinscommunities.com/hemp-grow-off. Growers interested in pursuing a joint venture for a five-acre grow can contact the Project Managers at: grow@kinscommunities.com. Or, anyone interested in attending the 2-7-day hands-on hempcrete house building should contact Dwight Jory at ecogold22@gmail.com.
To see 1-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.'s current activities, go to Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page where he posts daily on all of Hemp, Inc.'s activities around the country.
WHAT IS HEMP, INC.?
What is Hemp, Inc.? With a deep-rooted social and environmental mission at its core, Hemp, Inc. seeks to build a business constituency for the American small farmer, the American veteran, and other groups experiencing the ever-increasing disparity between tapering income and soaring expenses. As a leader in the industrial hemp industry with ownership of the largest commercial multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North America, Hemp, Inc. believes there can be tangible benefits reaped from adhering to a corporate social responsibility plan.
HEMP, INC.’S TEN DIVISIONS
Hemp, Inc. has been helping to build the industrial hemp infrastructure that was basically non-existent in America. There are now ten divisions:
Division One – The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure
Division Two – The Hemp Farming Infrastructure
Division Three – The Hemp Extraction Infrastructure
Division Four – The Hemp Educational Infrastructure
Division Five – The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure
Division Six – Accessories, Products and Services
Division Seven – Research and Development
Division Eight – Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures
Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting
Division Ten – Entertainment
Division One – The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure
The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure (Division One) currently consists of two hemp processing facilities across the country, with two more under development, which will include an in-house third party testing laboratory. The largest of the two is its multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility and milling operation in Spring Hope, North Carolina. It’s the largest “industrial hemp processing center” in the western hemisphere and has grown to become one of the pre-eminent centers of the industrial hemp industry. The 85,000 square foot facility sits on a 9-acre campus. It is environmentally sustainable and was built from the ground up in hopes of “Making America Hemp Again." With a patent pending manufacturing process, the North Carolina facility is operating full time to process millions of pounds of our unique kenaf, hemp blend, to manufacture an all green natural loss circulation materials (LCMs) that are to be sold to the oil and gas drilling industry, along with an all green natural oil spill absorbent, a second industrial hemp/kenaf product called Spill-Be-Gone.
(To see a one-minute video of the millions of pounds of kenaf, go to Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page, September 7th, 11th, 13th, 20th and 22nd, 2018.)
In addition to the company’s industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, Hemp, Inc. also has one of the most sophisticated local processing centers (LPC) in Medford, Oregon which focuses on hemp harvesting, drying, curing, trimming, bagging, storing, and in some cases selling high CBD hemp for the local farmers and for our own hemp grows in that area, and post processing for the CBD industry.
Hemp, Inc. also has 4,500 acres of land in Golden Valley, Arizona. Out of the 4,500 acres of land, 500 acres have currently been designated for the Veteran Village Kins Community (VVKC). Hemp, Inc. is preparing 300 of those 500 acres for hemp cultivation. The company aims to boost the economies of these towns by offering affordable hemp processing services, which incentivizes local growers to add hemp to their crop rotation. The company is continuing to scout new locations for local processing centers in Florida, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and several other states.
Thus far, Hemp, Inc.’s Local Processing Center (LPC) in Oregon has created over 200 seasonal jobs as well as many year-round jobs.
Division Two – The Hemp Farming Infrastructure
The Hemp Farming Infrastructure (Division Two) consists of hundreds of acres of hemp and kenaf growing in multiple locations, farm equipment, cloning rooms, clones and seeds, grow rooms, greenhouses, hemp drying facilities and a huge amount of peripheral farming tools and equipment. (Some of this farming infrastructure can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's personal Facebook page in some of his older posts from Sept. 8th, Aug. 30th, 19th, 15th - 11th, 9th and 4th, July 31st, 29th, 21st - 16th, 2018.)
Hemp, Inc. also has a model “Small Family Farm” in North Carolina situated on 12 acres that consists of a cloning room, a greenhouse, and enough land to grow 2,000-3,000 high CBD hemp plants. (This model farm can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's Facebook page, in the Aug. 22nd - 26th, 2018 posts.) By showing farmers how to grow high CBD hemp plants, operate a greenhouse and turn a barn into a cloning room to earn $500,000 a year, the “Small Family Farm” can reappear on the American landscape. After all, the original small family farms in America were able to survive economically by growing hemp as their main cash crop and the first 5 presidents of the United States were all hemp farmers.
According to Perlowin, the company is preparing to grow on up to 500 acres of land in Oregon, 300 acres in Arizona (maybe more), hundreds of acres in NC (combination of hemp and kenaf), and an undetermined amount in Puerto Rico. He says collective sales from all these grows will be extremely significant in terms of pre-rolls, high CBD buds, distillate, isolate and biomass. “By 2020, we anticipate the main function of the company will be sales and marketing as we will have completed the infrastructure to support that sales and marketing. Right now, I believe we have the largest footprint with vertical integration in the hemp industry in America today. We are always looking for joint ventures where we have or can expand our footprint,” commented Perlowin.
Moreover, “A to Z” services for the farmers are available - from harvesting to drying, bagging, curing, storing, nitrogen sparging, machine trimming, hand trimming, and selling, creating a “one stop shop” for the small to large family farms. And with the soon-to-be addition of our third party, on-site testing labs from Digipath Labs, local farmers can do their testing, processing and selling in the same place. Digipath brings their proprietary ISO-17025:2017 accredited standard operating procedures and testing protocols, to establish, maintain, and operate each lab.
Digipath will bring state-of-the-art equipment, lab expertise, proprietary operating procedures and management to Hemp, Inc.’s rapidly growing locations to ensure the highest quality of goods before entering the marketplace. They will provide all necessary laboratory-expertise and related management services to develop and operate each Lab, including purchasing and maintenance of the laboratory instrumentation, as well as hiring and comprehensive training of lab personnel.
Without an in-house, third-party testing laboratory, products in need of testing would need to be transported off site, which could mean waiting days or even weeks for results. The addition of Digipath at Hemp, Inc.’s production centers will expedite testing processes and further support new business developments.
Part of Division Two is the Great American Hemp Grow-Off on the Veteran Village Kins Community in Golden Valley, Arizona. The description of the grow off can be found below.
Division Three – The Hemp Extraction Infrastructure
The Hemp CBD Oil Extraction Infrastructure (Division Three) originally consisted of a Supercritical C02 Extractor. After operating for over a year it has been determined that Hemp, Inc. will be upgrading to a much larger and advanced alcohol extraction process. These large-scale extractors are expected to be placed in all additional hemp processing arenas, thus completing this part of building the industrial hemp infrastructure. The CBD oil that we extracted from our 2018 hemp grows in North Carolina has been made into pure crystalline CBD isolate which we will add to our King of Hemp branded line of pre-rolls to bring to the marketplace and a pre-roll fortified with pure crystalline CBD isolate.
Division Four – The Hemp Educational Infrastructure
The Hemp Educational Infrastructure (Division Four) includes Hemp, Inc.'s Hemp University which focuses on educating and empowering Hemp farmers and entrepreneurs with knowledge, processing, infrastructure and support. The educational seminars, through the Hemp University, are held periodically and teach farmers and landowners how to create a profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue. Through this division, Hemp, Inc. has trained well over 500 farmers in its first two years by doing six Hemp University seminars in North Carolina.
In March 2019, Hemp, Inc. completed the first west coast Hemp University in Oregon, which helped educate attendees about the various opportunities that have become available for Southern Oregon residents and farmers. The all-day educational seminar brought like-minded people together to discuss and learn from experts in the trade.
With the exceptional response to the first west coast Hemp University, Hemp, Inc. held the second set of educational seminars in Oregon. This event was titled “Pre-Planting Support Workshop”, and was held May 4, 2019. This educational seminar was hosted prior to Oregon’s hemp planting season and was designed to educate attendees on planting, feminized seeds, clones, soil amendments, organic fertilizers and more. Vendors at this workshop had most of these items on sale just in time for the 2019 planting season.
The Hemp University seminars are intended to educate farmers, entrepreneurs or investors on how to grow a lucrative cash crop. For those interested in attending, presenting or showcasing at the next Hemp University, please contact Sophia Blanton at hempu@hempinc.com.
To see short videos of The Hemp University educational seminars, go to Bruce Perlowin’s Facebook page starting with the March 23, 2019 post and those following that date.
According to executives, there are also plans in the near future to expand The Hemp University to Puerto Rico through a variety of different formats and to Arizona. The eco-village in Arizona will serve as the venue for upcoming 2-day interactive and hands-on camping events which will focus on building with hemp-crete and other hemp construction materials, as well as growing hemp and the various aspects of organic gardening/farming.
“Since The Hemp University’s initial launch with the educational symposium, the number of attendees has grown tremendously and it has been an overwhelming success, each time. The interactive, hands-on learning approach is invaluable. By learning in an interactive cohort format, students gain the necessary skills they need to immediately implement them on their farm or in their organization. It’s the perfect mix of quality instruction, relevant educational content and a high level of commitment, to ensure the educational success of each attendee,” said Perlowin.
Thus far, The Hemp University has helped transform the livelihoods of North Carolina and Oregon farmers transitioning from tobacco to industrial hemp, in North Carolina and from medical and recreational marijuana to industrial hemp in Oregon by providing them with the tools and support needed to gain a foothold in this burgeoning industry.
As part of its educational infrastructure, Hemp, Inc. still continues to hold its monthly “First Friday Tour” at its North Carolina facility. These exclusive bonus tours take shareholders behind-the-scenes of North Carolina's burgeoning industrial hemp epicenter to see Hemp, Inc.'s processing equipment in full operation... from the cultivation of its hemp plants and kenaf to the processing and manufacturing of their quality CBD products. The tour showcases a section of the warehouse where a variety of hemp and hemp-based products are displayed. This is also an opportunity for shareholders to meet and interact with Hemp, Inc. executives who welcome any and all questions.
Division Five – The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure
While marketing is a critical facet of any business operation for increasing revenues, Hemp, Inc. believes there must be a keen focus on the infrastructure first. The demand for CBD and hemp products is massive; some even say the demand is insatiable. In order to supply that type of volume/demand, there has to be a strong foundation or infrastructure in place. While Hemp, Inc. is poised to grow a rock solid Hemp Marketing Infrastructure, CEO Perlowin reminds us that this infrastructure has to be able to support a meteoric industry growth. The hemp-derived CBD market is expected to hit $591 million early this year, and it may grow 40 times this size—to $22 billion by 2022, according to the Brightfield Group report. “This is why we focus on infrastructure, at the moment, more so than specific marketing activities,” says Perlowin. “Specific marketing activities isn’t the issue. The ability to grow, process and produce what the marketplace is demanding is the issue and hence the reason we are focusing on creating the infrastructure first.”
The company has also recently joint-ventured with retail store Hemp Healthcare, in Dolan Springs, Arizona, to sell high-end cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp-based products. Hemp Healthcare is home to an array of renowned CBD and hemp products, including Hemp, Inc.’s cosmetic and wellness line that includes shampoos, lotions, candles and more. The retail storefront is conveniently located off Highway 93 in Arizona, in a highly trafficked tourist area. Specifically located on Pierce Ferry Road, Hemp Healthcare is next to Dolan Station – a location that welcomes numerous tour buses daily with visitors from around the world that stop there on trips to the Grand Canyon.
Division Six – Accessories, Products and Services
Division Six focuses on the sale of hemp accessories such as the sale of extractors, harvesters, storage bags, containers, fertilizer, soil amendments, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, balers, greenhouses, and greenhouse equipment; the drying, trimming, curing, storing and brokering for other farmers harvesting hemp; and ultimately anything else a hemp farmer may need to be successful.
“What we found is that people are always looking for hundreds of items. New harvesting equipment and new extraction technologies,” said Perlowin.
Division Seven – Research and Development
While Research and Development has been an integral part of Hemp, Inc. since day one, a more formal research and development project is planned to begin in Puerto Rico in 2019. Hemp, Inc. met with many Puerto Rican officials to get an idea of what the regulations to grow hemp would be and start the process to gain permits to grow as soon as possible. The main focus in Puerto Rico is to first get a contract for land with an agriculture license to grow hemp. Several land opportunities have been identified and are in negotiations. The second focus is to find a building(s) suitable for drying facilities and extraction units. Because of the devastation from the last 2 hurricanes and the economic downfall in Puerto Rico, there are many buildings available. Many of the regions have buildings to offer at very affordable prices. Hemp Inc. has visited many properties and have several that would be suitable for hemp processing purposes.
In December 2018, Hemp Inc. was invited to participate in a study on hemp by the University of Mayaguez. Hemp, Inc. was chosen as one of the two private growers to participate in the study. The private study will include testing 3 different soil amendments, 4 different cultivars, various spacing scenarios, water usage and numerous other important growing data. The study will give Hemp, Inc. access to the database created by the study, which will contain important data on growing hemp in the Puerto Rican environments.
Many important connections have been made already, including meeting with the Department of Agriculture. Puerto Rico is ready for a game changer like hemp to help their economic struggles. As of February 12, 2019, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed a bill making hemp legal. This could really speed things up for Hemp, Inc. especially considering the fact that Puerto Rico has three growing seasons, as opposed to one in almost all the other states.
Division Eight – Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures
Hemp, Inc. recently established the eighth division (Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures). Since the passing of the hemp bill, Hemp, Inc. has been flooded with inquiries of people who want to invest in the hemp industry but don’t know where to start. As the Avant-guard of the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has put together numerous joint venture investment opportunities for the medium to large-scale investor. Those who are interested should email ir@hempinc.com. Multi-million dollar, and in some cases billionaires and billion dollar hedge funds, are aggressively trying to get into the hemp industry since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. Our joint venture agreements are that they put up the money and we put up the expertise in a 50/50 revenue share. This will save the large-scale hemp investor two years and dozens of mistakes that they will make without an expert in the hemp industry. This is where Hemp, Inc.’s vast network and resources in the industrial hemp industry come into play because this is something that can easily be provided.
Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting
Hemp, Inc.’s Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) was recently restructured as its ninth division and is now “Division Nine - Industrial Hemp Consulting”. With an influx of public companies wanting to expand into the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has been inundated with potential consulting agreements. To keep up, Hemp, Inc. revamped its consulting division to work hands-on with each company to provide its years of expertise. According to Perlowin, there is definitely a sense of a “Community of Companies” whereby a lot of companies are working together to pool their resources, marketing connections and strategies in order to grow simultaneously.
Typically, companies seeking in depth consulting services from Hemp, Inc. pay mostly in stock since cash flow is oftentimes tight during the developmental stage of start-up companies in this industry. Through Hemp, Inc.’s Division Nine – Industrial Hemp Consulting, a wide range of services are forged from the experiences of creating the first publicly trading company in the cannabis sector (Medical Marijuana, Inc.) and having well over a decade of experience in the cannabis industry’s public sector. Perlowin, Hemp, Inc.’s chief executive officer also has over five decades in the industry itself.
Division Ten - Entertainment
Hemp, Inc.’s newest division, Entertainment, will cover everything from investing in the movie The King of Pot and other historical movies representing our industry up to the docuseries on the Modern Day History of Hemp. Those interested investing in either one of these ventures should contact Project Manager Chris Tinney at 855-554-6834 or via email chris@christinney.com.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
http://www.facebook.com/hempinc (Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot (Bruce Perlowin’s Facebook Page)
https://www.hempincpresents.com (Hemp, Inc.’s YouTube Channel)
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. To clarify the issue of OTC placing a stop sign next to Hemp, Inc.’s stock trading symbol, that symbol indicates Hemp, Inc. does not report their financials. As a non-reporting pink sheet company, Hemp, Inc. is not required to report. The company does, however, choose to publicly report its quarterly and yearly financials on its website. According to the company’s CEO, the OTC stop sign is a misrepresentation of that reporting fact. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties.
Hemp, Inc.
855-436-7688
ir@hempinc.com