"Moving into a building that played such an important role in the development of our community is a perfect fit. We're looking forward to revitalizing a real gem of a building and bring back jobs."

The company spent three years getting government approval to grow medicinal marijuana, and harvested its first crop of aeroponically-grown cannabis last spring. It will have to seek similar approval to produce more medical marijuana at the Lear plant.

Right now, JWC is a 30-person operation producing about 20 kilograms a week of medicinal-strength marijuana out of its other location, a 15,000-square-foot building in Kitchener. It's been financed by private investors so far.

The company has some work to do to turn the Lear plant into an industrial-scale growing site. But apart from a new security fence and surveillance cameras, Woodworth said it will be a low-profile operation that won't attract a lot of attention.

Neighbours won't smell much coming from the plant, either, because the company will use start-of-the-art ventilating systems, he said. JWC wants to be up front with people about what it's doing, because medical marijuana is still a misunderstood industry, Woodworth said.

"Cannabis is a product that's at a strange transition point in Canada right now, and it's not always well understood," he said.

"It's important to us to be transparent and communicate with people what we do, so there's no reason people need to fear having that kind of production facility nearby."

While there are still many questions around how producing and supplying the recreational marijuana market will work, companies like JWC are moving ahead with aggressive plans to tap a customer base believed to be worth billions.

Woodworth is betting big that a factory that once produced auto parts used coast-to-coast will become known for a new brand name that's even more recognizable to Canadians.

"There's a great need for Canadians who use cannabis recreationally to have access to a safe, high-quality and consistent product," he said.

"We believe it's important for us to bring our products to the general, recreational market. And we will be a major player in that market."

gmercer@therecord.com , Twitter: @MercerRecord