By Kris Leonhardt

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The Central Wisconsin Hemp Expo will be held at the Marshfield Mall on Nov. 17.

“There has been so much interest in the event already that the location had to move to a larger venue,” said co-organizer Lyssa Blakeslee. “This event will have between 30 and 40 exhibitors and will have five speakers, speaking on a wide range of topics.”

Blakeslee and Anna Zachow of Aha Empowerment Wellness Center, Wisconsin Rapids, are co-hosts for the event, as well as exhibitors and opening speakers. The pair is working to educate people throughout Wisconsin on the health and wellness benefits of hemp, hemp oils, Cannabidiol (CBD), and CBD products.

“With that mission statement our goal always is to educate; we want people to come away from the event with knowledge that they needed or wanted to be part of the booming hemp industry in any aspect,” Blakeslee said. “With exhibitors and speakers about everything from the seed to the bottle sealed oil and everything in between, you will know more than you ever thought there was to know about hemp.

“The importance of events like this is again is to educate. As 2019 will be only the second year after a 50-year hiatus from growing hemp, the knowledge of how to grow has been lost through two generations, the equipment that harvested and processed hemp is all gone, and the new technologies are here, new uses for hemp, an alternative crop that has greater profitability, needs less pesticides and water are all good for the farmers.”

Blakeslee said that in the first year 350-500 jobs have been created through the industry.

“That number is going to grow exponentially,” she added. “We need events like this to show people a whole new industry.

Organizers are expecting that between 1000- 1500 entrepreneurs, farmers, and end-user consumers will attend the event.

The expo will take place at the Marshfield Mall in the previous site of JC Penney, on Nov. 17, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

For more information, visit www.centralwihempexpo.com or find the event on Facebook.