Myrna Gillis, CEO of Aqualitas. The cannabis producer, based in Brooklyn, has been sold to a British firm. (Aqualitas photo)

Queens County cannabis producer Aqualitas has been sold to a British company.

The Brooklyn-based firm has been bought by the London-based Cannaray Limited. Aqualitas will become part of Cannaray’s medical cannabis division, Therismos, which operates in Germany and the UK.

Co-founder and CEO Myrna Gillis said Thursday the deal started being hashed out three years ago. She said jobs are safe at the plant in Brooklyn.

“It’s a great thing for the plant here in Brooklyn,” she said in an interview.

“We have expansion plans that had been on the books for a while, because we effectively had more demand than we had supply or capacity to meet. And we have funds that are earmarked now under this agreement for expansion, so we’re going to have expansion in the Liverpool facility. It enhances our position in relation to jobs and we don’t have any expectation of any layoffs. We expect to be in a position of expansion and growth because of it.”

Gillis would not disclose the value of the deal. But she said the two companies combined for sales last year of $75 million.

Gillis was a lawyer in Bedford when she co-founded Aqualitas in 2014. The company set up its grow-op shop in the Port Mersey Commercial Park, at the site of the former Bowater Mersey pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn in 2017. It employs between 75 and 85 people.

It quickly became recognized around the world for its environmentally friendly aquaponic growing system that uses the nutrient-dense waste of more than 3,000 koi carp fish as fertilizer.

Its products can be found around the world, in the U.S., Australia, Israel, Germany, Portugal and Poland.

The privately held company is certified organic and has won numerous awards and certifications since it was founded. It has also been on the forefront of research into PTSD, insomnia and pain.

“When I look back at that and I think of everything that we’ve accomplished, it’s an incredible story,” Gillis says. “So I’m really proud of what we’ve done, I’m really proud of what I was able to contribute to the team.”

Gillis said the time was right for the marijuana merger. Prices domestically have been going down, while export markets are still paying top dollar for their product. And Germany is set to legalize marijuana on April 1, opening up the international market even more.

“When we got into this industry we were licence No. 87. Now there are more than 950 licences with Health Canada. We had too many companies, too much supply in the domestic market, too many people doing the exact same thing.

“I always had the vision that I wanted to do an exit with a global company because you need to be globally competitive to guarantee your growth and access to markets.”

Gillis will continue as chairwoman of Aqualitas and she will be a member of Cannaray’s board.

Chief operating officer Josh Adler will take over the daily operation of Aqualitas and the current management team will stay in place, Gillis says.

“I think this is good for the community, it’s good for Aqualitas and it’s good for the industry.”

As for Gillis herself, she says she will still be busy with the company she founded with friends almost 10 years ago.

“I have a third act, I’m sure. But right now, there’s a lot happening here during my tenure. But there’s a third act for sure.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Abigail Smith with her coach Jason Scott at the Elite National Championships in Edmonton on Jan. 13 and 14. (Abigail Smith photo)

Another Queens County athlete is getting ready to represent Canada on the world stage.

Last Friday, Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn won her first international gold medal in the shot put when she beat the rest of the field at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

Now, 16-year-old judo athlete Abigail Smith of Brooklyn is training hard for the International Thuringia Cup in Germany on March 23. 

Smith trains four days a week after school at Nova United Martial Arts, her judo club in Halifax. And she’s getting ready for a sold-out fundraiser this Saturday at Route 3 Cellar Bar and Grill. It’s an ‘80s-themed bowling tournament at 3 p.m.

Smith has had a busy year already nationally and internationally.

She finished third at the Danish Open in early February. She captured two bronze medals in her class at a national judo meet in Edmonton in January. And in November, she captured silver and bronze at the Pan American Cup in Montreal, her first international competition. 

She is ranked in the Judo Canada Top 10 in the U-18 division. Sport Nova Scotia has chosen her to be one of 12 Nova Scotia True Sport Athlete Ambassadors for 2024. 

And she is one of only two members of her club representing Canada at separate events in Germany.

Smith told QCCR in January that she’s lucky to have such great family, community and team support.

“People think judo is an individual sport and it is an individual sport, but it’s a huge team sport because you can’t get anywhere without your team, your training partners,” she says. “And having a good team you can rely on in sport and outside of sport is really important and that’s what’s helped me get so far in judo.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen below to the QCCR news update for Tuesday

Abigail Smith, 16, of Brooklyn, stands with her coach Jason Scott, displaying one of the two bronze medals she won at the Elite National Championships in Edmonton on Jan. 13 and 14. (Photo via Abigail Smith)

By Rick Conrad

Abigail Smith credits a lot of people for her success so far and so young in national and international judo meets. 

Her parents, her coaches, her teammates, her teachers. 

But what really gets her into a competitive frame of mind is some good ol’ country music. 

“A lot of people like to listen to pump-up music before a fight, but I like to listen to my country music to keep my calm and not thinking about judo before I do judo. That helps me to not think about what I have to do and then do it.”

So far, listening to the likes of Sam Barber and Luke Combs has helped keep the 16-year-old Brooklyn resident on the straight and narrow.

She won two bronze medals at a national judo meet in Edmonton last weekend, just before her 16th birthday. And in November, she captured silver and bronze at the Pan American Cup in Montreal, her first international competition. 

The medals at the Elite National Judo Championships in Edmonton were especially sweet, she says, because it featured the top judo athletes from across the country. 

“This is the biggest event in Canada. It’s a lot of work to get selected. So this year this was my favourite medal. Of course, I’m never happy with a bronze medal but this medal meant something to me so I was very happy with that. It means a lot.”

In Edmonton, she had her sights set on beating a rival judoka she hadn’t defeated yet. When they met in the U-18 division on Saturday, Smith lost to her. But on Sunday, in the senior division, Smith came back with a vengeance.

“She was my first fight and I had a very hard fight but I beat her, so winning that bronze medal meant a lot to me because I had been training specifically to beat that one person. So it was a big moment, we’d been working a while for that, me and my coach.”

Smith has been working at judo for 11 years. Based at Nova United Martial Arts in Halifax, she trains three to four days a week for up to two hours each session. That’s in addition to regular cardio and strength workouts. 

She said her father Troy Smith first got her interested in the sport.

“My first coach worked with my dad and my dad was like, ‘I have a crazy daughter at home that needs to get some energy out,’ and he brought me to judo with his co-workers.”

Smith, who is in Grade 10 at Liverpool Regional High School, hasn’t looked back. She is ranked in the Judo Canada Top 10 in the U-18 division. Sport Nova Scotia has chosen her to be one of 12 Nova Scotia True Sport Athlete Ambassadors for 2024. True Sport emphasizes fair, inclusive and safe play. 

She’ll be travelling to Denmark in early February to compete in the Danish Open.

And she just found out that she was selected to be part of Team Canada at the International Thuringia Cup Judo in Germany on March 23.

Competing nationally and internationally does cut into her school work, Smith says, but her teachers have been very supportive.

“I’m able to do what I’m doing, missing a lot of school because the teachers are very understanding and help me with my work to help me catch back up. So it’s nice to have teachers supporting me.”

She also credits the community support she’s received from the Region of Queens, Folk Law, Main and Mersey, Best Western Plus Liverpool and Sport Nova Scotia, as well as her coach Jason Scott and her teammates.

“People think judo is an individual sport and it is an individual sport, but it’s a huge team sport because you can’t get anywhere without your team, your training partners,” she says. “And having a good team you can rely on in sport and outside of sport is really important and that’s what’s helped me get so far in judo.”

She says she’s learned a lot of valuable lessons from the sport.

“That what you put in comes out. Whatever you want, it can happen. But you just have to put in that work and that extra effort and if you don’t, you’re not going to see the results you want, but if you do, then you’ll see results. And to be patient.”

With that frame of mind, she says she’s on track for her next big goal.

“I always say that I will be competing at Olympics and representing Canada at worlds one day so what I want to happen, I always say is going to happen. So hopefully, it will happen one day, Team Canada and the Olympics hopefully. We’re on track for that now.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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