‘On Cloud nine’: Newly Licensed Marijuana Retailers Ecstatic Over Historic Opportunity
When the Cannabis Control Board approved conditional dispensary licenses for 36 marijuana businesses on Monday, Matt Robinson felt elated and in disbelief that he now holds one of New York’s first licenses to sell adult-use weed.
“I feel great, it’s like I’m on cloud nine,” said Robinson, who received a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license for the store he plans to open in Albany. “It’s sort of surreal.”
Now, all he has to do is fully form and launch one of the first legal cannabis retail businesses in New York’s history.
Scheril Murray Powell, the chief operating officer at the nonprofit JUSTÜS Foundation who assisted CAURD applicants – including Robinson – said her organization will now help licensees form their security and business plans.
Murray Powell said the two security companies that are partners of the JUSTÜS Foundation are setting up a call with new CAURD licensees to talk about the details businesses will need in their security plan. The nonprofit is also encouraging CAURD licensees to start reaching out to licensed growers and processors, and write letters of intent to establish their inventory sources. Additionally, JUSTÜS has resources to provide licensees with guidance on how to write standard operating procedures for every part of their business.
“We will work hand in hand with Matt on developing an operational plan that is compliant with the directions with OCM that we have yet to receive,” Murray Powell said.
Robinson wants his store – which he plans on calling Essential Flowers – to help uplift his Capital Region community. He doesn’t yet have specific hiring or community engagement plans, but wants his company to help people who were disadvantaged by over-policing associated with the War on Drugs.
“I envision it as opening doors,” Robinson said. “I see this as something that can help everybody.”
The 36-year-old owns and operates Bold Mold Eliminators, a mold remediation company that serves customers in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy region. He launched the business about three years ago, and said starting and running that company has prepared him for some aspects of starting a dispensary.
On Monday, Robinson said he has a lot of work ahead of him to get his shop up and running, but figuring out where the store will be located is at the top of the list.
“I think the next step would be to meet with DASNY, and figure out exactly where I’ll be positioned … we’ve got to get that organized,” Robinson said. “This is a learning situation – not just for me, but for everybody involved.”
However, OCM is allowing CAURD licensees who get all necessary approvals to start delivery service before DASNY establishes a brick-and-mortar location for their dispensaries.
LIFE Camp, one of the nonprofits that received a CAURD license on Monday, will very likely incorporate delivery into its business, said Erica Ford, who founded the nonviolence-focused organization in 2002. The group plans to open a physical store in NYC, Ford said, and the ability to offer delivery service will enable them to hire more people.
“This is going to give opportunity to those brothers and sisters who have been justice involved; to train these individuals and produce some of the best delivery folks, some of the best workers across the state” in this industry, Ford said.
But for now, Ford is enjoying a significant win.
“We’re still just celebrating the victory of attaining the license,” Ford said.
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