Hartford Business Journal

5 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 1, 2021 STARTUPS, INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY Hartford Mayor Bronin views cannabis industry as opportunity By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said he sees the forthcoming adult-use cannabis industry as an opportunity for local job creation and economic development. As planning and zoning boards in cities and towns across the state discuss whether they will allow marijuana sales within their borders, Bronin said cannabis dispensaries could help liven up Hartford's struggling retail spaces, many of which were vacant even before the pandemic. "Retail dispensaries contribute positively to the energy, activity and attractiveness to our retail quarter," Bronin said in an interview. "We are not going to try to prohibit a [building] use that is now legal and for many years has been decriminalized in our state." Bronin said some prospective cannabis retailers and manufacturers have already reached out to city officials about locating in Hartford, but he wouldn't disclose which companies. As far as cannabis retailers, the mayor's concerns lie more with making sure their buildings conform to the surrounding streetscape and zoning codes. To that end, Hartford's Planning and Zoning Commission created a draft zoning matrix that outlines where companies holding each of the nine possible cannabis business licenses can locate in the city. Currently, the draft says marijuana retailers can locate anywhere in the downtown and Main Street districts, part of the commercial-industrial district and part of the multi-use district. Hartford's mayor said marijuana retailers could contribute to revitalizing the city's moribund retail real estate sector, but he doubts it will be a significant part of that effort. He also pointed to the 3% municipal tax the city would collect from each retailer as an opportunity to reinvest in community programs — although there are currently no specific plans for how Hartford will use those funds. The city will also welcome cannabis producers looking to locate in Hartford, but Bronin said he wants them to be partners in some aspects of developing the city's economy. "To the extent that cultivation and processing [locate] here, we're going to have very strong feelings about local hiring," Bronin said. Kim Bushey Senior Vice President CT Commercial Market Head EQUAL HOUSING LENDER | NMLS#402947 | MEMBER FDIC Intimate knowledge of the local business community. "Putnam Bank… a division of Centreville Bank." Those words do more than describe a relationship between financial institutions. They give you confidence that our commercial lending team has the local experience and expertise to help your business succeed here in eastern Connecticut. Local knowledge is essential in developing the robust, flexible, and individualized banking partnership that will work best for your business. putnambank.com/commercialbanking | Kim Bushey at 860.753.8516 That's part of what it means to be a division of Centreville Bank. Centreville-38222 HBJ_Bushey_10x325_f.indd 1 Centreville-38222 HBJ_Bushey_10x325_f.indd 1 2/25/21 1:11 PM 2/25/21 1:11 PM By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com New Britain cannabis testing company AltaSci Laboratories has hired additional lab staff since Connecticut legalized recreational marijuana in anticipation of more business in the years ahead. AltaSci Lab Director Jose Zavaleta said he's hired two new lab technicians — bringing the total number to nine — since legislators passed recreational legalization in June. While he's unsure how much cannabis testing demand will increase when adult-use businesses come online, Zavaleta said AltaSci will likely grow to do higher volumes of testing. "With what we have now, we're set to be able to absorb at least the initial uptick in testing," Zavaleta said. "After that we'll reevaluate how much we need to expand." Established in 2013, AltaSci currently provides testing services for medical marijuana companies in the Constitution State. As required by state law, the lab tests everything from cannabinoid content (i.e. the amount of THC, CBD and other compounds found in cannabis), to levels of pesticides and heavy metals in a sample. New regulations established by the Department of Consumer Protection following recreational marijuana legalization increased the number of factors cannabis testing labs must analyze and set stricter limits, Zavaleta said. For example, under new regulations labs must test for a greater number of pesticides and analyze samples of water used to hydrate marijuana plants. "The cannabis that's being sold now [in Connecticut] is the most tested cannabis in the country," Zavaleta said. "With recreational [cannabis], Connecticut even took that up a notch." Although Zavaleta said he expects higher demand for testing, he doubts new labs will proliferate, at least at first. That's because testing labs generally require millions of dollars in equipment to operate at the commercial level, and Connecticut's state laws make it difficult to predict how much more business labs will see. Some states specify how much marijuana companies must test their product by weight. California, for example, requires a test per "lot size" of every 50 pounds of product. If such a rule existed in Connecticut, testing labs could predict how much more business there would be based on how much more cannabis businesses will likely produce, Zavaleta said. "The fact that the regulations don't have a lot size, it does make it difficult for new entities to want to invest in the lab," Zavaleta said. "They'd have to equip a facility with [about $2 million] of instruments when they don't know the output the instruments are going to test." New Britain marijuana testing company AltaSci Laboratories in wait-and-see growth mode A look inside AltaSci Laboratories' New Britain lab. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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