Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 17, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 9 2018 Celebration of Excellence & Bob Kennedy's Retirement Dinner TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 MECHANICS HALL 321 Main Street, Worcester, MA M E C H A N I C S H A L L W O R C E S T E R , M A THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: J.J. Bafaro, AARP, AlphaGraphics, Atlas Distributing, Barry Video, Bay State Savings Bank, Country Bank, Fallon Health, Fletcher Tilton, Fidelity Bank, The Guru Tax & Financial Services, Interstate Speciality Products, Mirick O'Connell, Revelations Productions, Russell Morin Fine Catering, Sullivan Garrity Insurance, UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester Business Journal, WPI W e're Celebrating! Y ou ' re Invited! 5:00 p.m. Celebration of Excellence Begins Free and Open to the Public. Reservations Requested 175th Annual Meeting WCMA 6:00 p.m. Celebration Dinner $80 per person Master Mechanic Award Presentation to Bob Kennedy Followed by Dinner & Dancing Mechanics Hall Box Office www.mechanicshall.org 508-752-0888 Proceeds benefit The Bob Kennedy Legacy Fund for Endowment Sunday October 14, 2018 11 am - 2 pm Sunday November 4, 2018 11 am - 2 pm OR RSVP at worcesteracademy.today/OHWB Webster • Dudley • Oxford • Auburn • Worcester • Shrewsbury Providing the best service to his customers so they succeed. At Webster Five, your success is important to us. Whether you're a small start-up or a large corporation, we offer all the financial tools, resources and progressive services you need to succeed. Make an appointment and tell Keith what's important to you. Visit web5.com/Keith or call 508.438.4712. What's important to Keith? Keith Kirkland, VP, Business Lending Officer KHJ23479_WEB-374_BuisLender_4.3x5.5_Keith_Mech2.indd 1 3/31/17 11:37 AM charitable donations, not the town. Pointing to the mere existence of the 3-percent impact fee, Moses took issue with industry advocates and the law's writers who say there won't be any detri- mental effects of legalization. If there is no impact from legalization, advocates and lawmakers shouldn't have allowed the impact fee at all, he said. "To me, that's disingenuous," he said. Moses, serving on the fiscal policy committee of the Massachusetts Munic- ipal Association, is pushing to liberalize the use of funds from adult-use marijua- na companies. at included a letter to the Cannabis Control Commission, tak- ing issue with the agency's interpretation of the law limiting use of such funds. "You do your best to negotiate the best revenue stream coming in," Moses said. "at's what anyone in business or government does." at feeling is consistent among town officials attorney Smith has negotiated with. "Everything I've done in the last six months, the town starts off at 3 percent," he said. When a city or town asks for a flat fee instead, Smith does all he can to talk them down from that number, but the industry already held back by the CCC's slow rollout is eager to get started. "For the most part, they're signing it," Smith said of his clients. "Again, we have no leverage." The "clearly stated" law On the flipside, communities like Ux- bridge have heeded the CCC's guidance and have asked for less than 3 percent from the smallest marijuana businesses. Blackstone Valley Naturals is propos- ing to operate a microbusiness where it will grow and produce cannabis products and sell it to other companies, agreed to a community impact fee of 1.75 percent. Gibby's Garden, another Uxbridge mi- crobusiness proposing similar operations to Blackstone Valley Naturals, will pay only a 1.25 percent impact fee. Even a larger business like Xiphias Wellness wanting to operate an Uxbridge medical and adult-use grow facility and dispensary will pay a 3-percent impact fee from adult-use sales, "as long as the fee is reasonably related to the costs imposed upon the town" by the facility, the agreement reads. Likewise, proposed retail site Caro- line's Cannabis will pay Uxbridge a 3 percent fee and nothing more. Uxbridge Town Manager Angeline El- lison even said the town and companies will evaluate if projected costs are actual- ly even incurred by the municipality. "We need to make sure we can vali- date that," she said, citing language in the law requiring any financial demands from the town to be documented. For Uxbridge, staying within the scope of the law was simple. "It's very clearly stated," Ellison said. W

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