Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 28, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 9 them in the difficult spot of having to give up at least some control. "A lot of people in the space, they just kind of network with high-wealth individuals. A lot of people are in a position to give up equity in business. For the most part, it's a lot of private deals," he said. Legally speaking, an individual isn't allowed to own or control more than three pot licenses of any type, Munnelly said. at means that even if someone doesn't outright own a pot business, if they're a decision maker with respect to operations or activities, they are deemed by the Massachusetts regulatory body Cannabis Control Commission as someone with a stake in the licensing. "When you have any type of change or control has to be approved by CCC, you have to file an application for it. On all the licenses you own or control, who's the management team? ey have to do a detailed analysis to figure out what the ownership implications are," he said. Funding reform e new cannabis reform bill signed into law over the summer created a pool of money specifically for disenfranchised business owners. But as things currently stand, a lot of barriers still exist. It looks good on paper to reserve the pot delivery-only business just for equity entrepreneurs, Youngblood said. But the reality is, many towns and cities don't want pot delivery, which keeps out huge slices of potential profit; and certain regulations, like the one that requires two delivery people to be in the car, prevent businesses from making a profit, he said. "Two drivers in a car doubles the cost. ey say it's a safety risk if there's less than one person in a car, but I have iPhones, Jordans, and earbuds that cost more than the weed we're delivering. It doesn't make sense," he said. Even with the existing obstacles, however, there's still a lot of interest in cannabis entrepreneurship. Holyoke Community College's Cannabis Education Center offers several educational tracks for the cannabis industry, including cultivation, culinary skills, extraction and infusion, and customer service. e college is in the process of developing an entrepreneurial track because of high interest from the surrounding area. "e hope was some of the training would enable people, who were arrested or charged with crimes, [to have] opportunity to get into this industry, and not be held back because of their record for use of marijuana," said Jeffrey Hayden, vice president of business and community services at the college's Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development. "On the entrepreneur side of that, people might think 'Here's a chance for me to start something I'm passionate about.'" ere's still a lot of room for new kinds of businesses in the industry, too. e new law paved the way for a cannabis cafe pilot program, essentially creating the pot equivalent of bars. For Holyoke, the pot industry has created important opportunities, Hayden said. "I'm a 63-year-old white male who didn't think training in cannabis would be something I'd be promoting, but frankly the fact that it's an opportunity for people in our community who have lacked access to employment, I'm all for it," he said. "It's not that I'm going in to buy it; it's just an opportunity for people to get a job, to get a better job, or learn how to do their job better, and that's really important to me." A Sound Tax Structure? We Help Anticipate The Curves. FletcherTilton.com WO RC E ST E R | F R A M I N G H A M | B OSTO N C A P E CO D | P ROV I D E N C E Tax planning. It's a building block of business strategy and the cornerstone for informed decision making. Our tax attorneys have highly specialized knowledge and employ sophisticated tools. They look beyond general tax planning concepts to implement complex goals for charitable giving, succession planning, and more. And a good plan makes a strong structure. BUSINESS FORMATIONS | BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS NONPROFIT & TAX-EXEMPT ENTITIES | INDIVIDUAL TAX PLANNING EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION | ESTATE & GIFT TAX PLANNING TAXPAYER RESOLUTION SERVICES Dennis Gorman, Esq., CPA, LLM 508.459.8037 Michael Duffy, Esq., CPA, LLM 508.459.8043 Massachusetts marijuana sales, by the numbers $56.4 million – Marijuana retailer sales between Oct. 24 and Nov. 6 $1.25 billion – Year-to-date adult-use marijuana retailer sales $132.4 million – Marijuana sales in July 2022, busiest month so far this year $3.73 billion – Gross sales total since adult-use retailers opened in 2018 Note: Data is as of Nov. 16. Source: Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission Ulysses Youngblood, founder and president of Major Bloom Stephen Mandile was the first Mass. buyer of legal adult- use cannabis when he purchased marijuana at Cultivate, right after it opened in Leicester in 2018. W

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