HOLYOKE -- A medical marijuana company operating at 28 Appleton St. received a favorable recommendation Tuesday in its bid for permission to add cultivation of plants for recreational marijuana sales.

The City Council Ordinance Committee voted 5-0 to recommend that the full City Council Aug. 7 amend the special permit of GTI Massachusetts NP Corp. -- now called RISE Holdings Inc. --- to allow for the addition on the premises of recreational marijuana cultivation.

Read Cannabis Dispensary's feature on RISE Holdings's business strategies.

The Ordinance Committee also is scheduled to consider issues related to four other proposed marijuana facilities: Canna Provisions, which would be at 380R Dwight St.; East Coast Pharms, which would be at 630 Beaulieu St.; Holyoke Gardens LLC, which would be at 5 Appleton St.; and Hothouse Holyoke, which would be at 5B Appleton St.

The RISE proposal is for growing recreational product on the site for sale at dispensaries at other locations, not for selling it there. 

Read more

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

Molson Coors Brewing Co. is betting on pot by starting a joint venture with Hydropothecary Corp. to develop non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages for the Canadian market.

The partnership between Molson Coors Canada and Quebec-based cannabis producer Hydropothecary will be structured as a standalone company with its own board and management team. A chief executive officer will be named in the coming weeks.

“We decided entering the cannabis space would provide us with a real growth opportunity,” Frederic Landtmeters, CEO of Molson Coors Canada, said in a phone interview. After talking with several potential partners, Molson Coors chose Hydropothecary because of its research and development capabilities, its loyal customer base and its strong brand, he said.

Read more

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

This article originally appeared in the August 2018 print issue of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.

Entrepreneur. Cybersecurity expert. Product developer. Operations expert. Musician. Guitar tech. Cannabis and hemp pioneer. David Bonvillain’s resume is the paragon of hard work.

He brings that work ethic to everything he does, including his ownership of Elite Botanicals, a CBD-hemp cultivation, extraction/processing and product development business with operations in Loveland, Colo., and partner farms in Byers, Greeley and Yoder. He is also the owner of The Bonvillain Group, a consultancy currently advising clients in Missouri, California, Colorado and Connecticut; is a co-owner of Elite California, a licensed THC-focused division with operations in the San Luis Obispo County area of California; and he produces a line of CBD products for pets that he distributes through Mary’s Nutritionals under the Whole Pet brand.

Bonvillain might not yet be a household name in cannabis, but most CBD consumers in Colorado and many across the United States have used at least one of Bonvillain’s products, even if they didn’t know it. That’s because Bonvillain partnered with super-brands like Mary’s Medicinals, Cheeba Chews and IncrEdibles to provide them with all the CBD oil they need in their edible and topical product lines, as well as develop new products targeted to each brand’s consumers.

Between Elite Botanicals, Elite California, the Bonvillain Group and managing relationships with partner organizations, Bonvillain works 12-hour days with no time for breaks—until this year, when he took his first “vacation” in more than 15 years and toured with his all-time favorite band: Slayer.

What was supposed to be a two-week hiatus turned into a two-month escapade as Bonvillain unexpectedly became one of the band member’s official guitar techs. Out of all the jobs he’s held, touring with Slayer is by far the toughest, he says. “The crew starts working at 7:30 in the morning and keeps going until 2 a.m. and then does it again the next day. The day that I would get off, I slept all day because I’m f---ing 45 and shouldn’t be on the road with a rock band.”

Despite his prolonged absence, Elite Botanicals was able to continue business as usual. That’s because instead of building a company that depended on him, Bonvillain built a business that was made to survive without him.

To read the full article in Cannabis Business Times' August 2018 issue, click here.

Top photo by Brian Kraft

Representing more than 1,600 cannabis businesses across the state of California, two leading trade organizations are coming together to leverage institutional knowledge and bold political voices to advance the interest of those constituents. The Southern California Coalition and the California Growers Association have found common ground at a time when the state’s cannabis industry is still struggling to get out of the gate. 

“We have crossed many thresholds over the last two decades, but we have yet to figure out a way to stop the infighting or create a statewide unified political voice that represents everyone who is licensed or is seeking a fair pathway to being licensed in the industry,” Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, said in a public statement. “Regardless of cultural differences with the industry, our members work in an ecosystem that requires us to come together, so we are able to amplify our voice and raise red flags when regulations are harmful to patients, consumers, businesses or lack common sense. This collaboration will help ensure our voice is heard no matter if decision makers are at the state, county or local level.” 

The two groups represent a broad swath of the state’s licensed industry: cultivators, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Brian Blatz, founder of Verdant Distribution and a board member of the Southern California Coalition, told Cannabis Business Times that the primary goal of this collaboration is to keep the focus on local and state licensing—and to ensure that all interested businesses have a shot at competing in the largest cannabis marketplace in the world.

“Really, the idea behind it was to try to combine two of the larger organizations in the cannabis space to kind of be on the same message and on the same path, talking to both local and state governments,” Blatz said. “Locally, obviously, there are a lot of folks that are still not licensed, and [we’re] trying to find them a path to licensing. That's one of the major goals. On the state level, [we’re] just trying to get the state to understand our immediate needs as an industry. Obviously, the state is kind of brand new to understanding what this industry requires and what the hot buttons are. [Our goals involve] getting the state educated and understanding where the snafus are and finding ways to … streamline this industry and really bring it into the light.”The collaboration between the Southern California Coalition and the California Growers Association is vital on a regulatory and political level, of course, but it’s also a move that will contract the state’s geography a bit. Humboldt County is a 12-hour drive from Los Angeles—with no simple flight alternatives—and yet it’s the northern part of the state that’s seeing the bulk of the cannabis cultivation licenses.

The city of Los Angeles had planned to begin licensing growers on Aug. 1, but it’s unlikely that any of those businesses will be participating in the local supply chain for months. Blatz pointed out that retail operations in LA are being served by licensed businesses trekking down I-5 from the northern part of the state. 

“You're seeing a lot of inroads being made by a lot of the northern California businesses that are already licensed—coming in and being able to take advantage of a lot less competition locally,” Blatz said. “The folks down here are struggling to get licensed, so they can get into the game that, frankly, they were already in for a long time. It's really kind of hampered a lot of the local businesses.”

That sort of institutional and political leverage is what’s needed, he said. As licensing agencies confront mounting stacks of business applications—each one describing a company that itself is confronting changing industry regulations—groups like the Southern California Coalition and the California Growers Association can help light the way to a more functioning and properly competitive playing field.

“We'll be able to influence legislators—both locally and at the state level— more effectively than in the past,” Blatz said. “This is a new industry. It's coming out of the dark ages, and a lot of these folks have had to fend for themselves for a long time. … A lot this is brand new. It takes time for everybody to figure it out and to realize that a rising tide lifts all boats.”

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock