Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | September 26, 2022 45 FOCUS: MANUFACTURING Hercules hopes to open 60,000-sq.-ft. cannabis grow facility in Greater Hartford By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com A s one of the first in the state to get a provisional cannabis license, Tiana Hercules is looking for a large facility in Greater Hartford to open her prospective cultivation facility. Hercules, founder and CEO of social equity micro-culti- vator Connecticut Cultivation Solutions, said she's looking for a 60,000-square-foot facility in Hartford or a surrounding munici- pality to open her marijuana grow operation. Earlier this month she was issued a 14-month provisional license, which allows her to proceed with efforts to get her business off the ground, including finding an industrial/manufacturing building. Hercules said she's been looking at a few different properties in Hart- ford County and hopes to close on a location soon. "Once we have a site located, we'll be looking at local zoning to get those approvals and then begin to build out and retrofit the building," Hercules said during the Hartford Business Journal's Sept. 14 cannabis expo. "We will hopefully be one of the first to market." Hercules is pursuing a dispropor- tionately impacted area cultivator license, which allows for a large-scale operation of more than 15,000 square feet of grow space. That's different from a micro-cultivator license that allows for grow space between 2,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet. Hercules said there is a good amount of available industrial real estate inventory in the Hartford area, but remediation costs to outfit an existing building that has sat vacant can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Finding a balance between a viable location and the construction costs needed to get it ready to grow cannabis is key, she said. "In Hartford specifically, there just isn't a lot of vacant land where nothing exists currently on it, so you'd be knocking something down," Hercules said. Tiana Hercules (shown left), founder and CEO of micro-cultivator Connecticut Cultivation Solutions, is looking for a large facility in Greater Hartford to open her prospective cannabis grow facility. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Head start To open her grow facility, Hercules has established an equity joint venture with Florida-based multistate cannabis operator Ayr Wellness, which will be new to the Connecticut market. Under state law, Hercules must own and control at least 50% of the company. An equity joint venture also allows her to potentially open additional busi- nesses, including a dispensary, which she originally hoped to pursue. While Hercules is one of 16 potential new growers that has been granted social equity status, she and others are unlikely to be up and running before the end of the year, based on all the work that must be done to retrofit a facility and start the planting process. When asked whether medical growers and their converted dispen- saries will be the first, and potentially only, adult-use businesses to open by the end of the year, Social Equity Council Chair Andrea Comer said the state's recreational cannabis law lends itself to that reality. "Given the fact that the medical producers already have a facility, already have operations and have already started planting seeds for growth and production, they're going to have a head start," Comer said. No medical marijuana producers have officially received approval to convert their facilities to hybrid operations, but state officials are still "hopeful" there will be recreational cannabis sales before the end of 2022, Comer said. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS! Nomination deadline: OCTOBER 7, 2022 The CT Health Care Heroes Awards identifies outstanding leaders in the healthcare industry who are the epitome of a "hero." Whether they are doctors, nurses, specialists or managers. Submit a nomination today to help us recognize those individuals who embody the word "hero" and prove their excellence in helping others! PRESENTING SPONSORS MAJOR SPONSORS SUPPORTING SPONSOR VISIT: www.hartfordbusiness.com/hbj-events/connecticuts-health-care-heroes-awards-2022

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