Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 13, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 13 entry points, ranging from ownership to employee and vendor, the CCC requires each cannabis company to set diversity hiring goals during its licensing application process, which the companies then provide updates on during the license renewal process. ese components of the application are called diversity plans, and the guidance for these plans was updated and expanded in August, in part because companies struggled with writing them. In tandem with concerns about equitable participation, the legal cannabis market has hardly stayed oriented around small and local businesses, with multistate operators comprising more than half of the current open dispensaries in the city of Worcester. One more dispensary, Cookies (formerly known as New Dia) is newly operating in partnership with an eponymous national company, based in California, creating a hybrid situation. Although these challenges receive regular media attention – locally and beyond – equity in the state's legal cannabis program remains a far-off goal, as CCC regulators tackle a backlog of applications and structural economic inequities push smaller, local, and minority-owned players out of the market. Boilerplate diversity plans In examining diversity in the cannabis market, ownership statistics only tell part of the story. As integral to following the CCC's legal mandate to institute regulations to help people impacted by the War on Drugs is each company's required diversity hiring plan, which is submitted with D I V E R S I T Y & I N C L U S I O N F O C U S licensing applications and reviewed by the commission. is piece of the application process is intended to further attract people from diverse backgrounds into the state's legal industry. In the CCC's August meeting, regulators approved expanded guidance for what should be included in these plans, which generally set internal hiring goals for minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. ey prohibited applicants from using boilerplate language lied either from the CCC or other licensing applications, aer two applicants were accused of using the same wording. e effort was led by Commissioners Nurys Camargo and the aforementioned Commissioner Stebbins, who were appointed to the CCC in December. e effort to update the guidance began aer Camargo and Stebbins made their way through the first round of licensing applications that came across their desks earlier this year. In reviewing the applications, Stebbins said, they noticed many were previously reopened for revision because of their diversity plans. With that in mind, the pair, in conjunction with a handful of CCC staff members, wanted to strengthen the guidance to help applicants understand what is expected of them with regard to writing their diversity plans, including an online resource page aimed at helping applicants put together diversity plans likely to meet their goals, Stebbins said. Bud's Goods & Provisions Adult-use Yes Clear Sky Cannabis Adult-use Yes Cultivate Adult-use No Diem Cannabis Adult-use No Good Chemistry Co-located No, but CEO's family is local to Worcester Major Bloom Adult-use Yes Mayflower Medicinals Adult-use Yes Mission Co-located No New Dia Adult-use Yes, but branded with California-based company Cookies Resinate, Inc. Co-located Yes The Botanist Co-located No Trulieve Adult-use No Headquartered Dispensary Adult/medical/co-located? in Mass.? Worcester cannabis dispensaries Source: Company websites Hosting Culture & Community for over 160 years Mechanics Hall Experts at hosting your concert or special event! Call to inquire! Mechanics Hall 321 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01608 508-752-5608 • events@mechanicshall.org Built in 1857 • National Register of Historic Places Continued on page 14

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