The stakes are especially high for Pennsylvania’s first two licenses to grow, process, and distribute marijuana for medical purposes, and some big names are helping weed out the flood of applicants.

Atop the list of what could be 25 or more bidders in the Philadelphia region are “an automotive-repair chain magnate, the daughter of the late Flyers owner Ed Snider, and a prominent Delaware County real estate family,” according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Maria Panaritis and Sam Wood.

Each, as well as The Limited heir David Z. Tuttleman, will need to roll $10,000 into a nonrefundable application fee, $200,000 into a deposit, and $2 million in capital into their proposal by March 20. Some are going ahead and making land purchases or obtaining zoning approvals.

“I’m sure there are people putting in 11- to 15-hour days, seven days a week. No doubt about it,” said AAMCO heir Keith Morgan, who plans to set up a West Pottsgrove medical marijuana operation if awarded a license.

The McKee Group is looking at Delaware County’s Aston Township.

“We are putting our heart and soul into it at this point,” said Jennifer McKee.

Lindy Snider is making plans for a Northeast Philadelphia operation.

“Private equity, pharma execs, out-of-state operators, entrepreneurs, pharmacists, farmers,” said permit seekers’ attorney Mark L. Alderman. “This is everything from agriculture to pharmacology to all of the above.”

Read more about the fierce competition for medical marijuana licenses in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.