Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 M AY 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 F O C U S L O C A L LY G ROW N One-man operation Upward Organics is a one-man operation with occa- sional help from friends and family. "We have a group of retirees come during harvest and we have them bring their campers and they just post up and let us harvest," says Burdick. "We feed them and entertain them and they just donate time. It's amazing and so much fun." When it comes time to harvest the plants 50% will go to flower "so we will take 50% and put them on hangers in the drying room and trim it as a final prod- uct and wholesale it to the stores we work with. en the other 50% will get flash frozen and put in the freez- ers out back and then we will make a hash with it." In the off season Burdick can be found outdoors in "maintenance mode" with his two dogs Goose and Nemo "I just walk around and whatever needs to be done. Some days there are projects but most of the time I don't know what I'm doing today," says Burdick while petting his dogs. Burdick drives his product out to the stores he works with. Last year he was only working with one dispensary and now he is working with 10. A l e x i s W e l l s , M a i n e b i z s t a f f w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t a w e l l s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z Ware-Butler Industrial will supply prod- ucts to earthwork and concrete jobs, roads/bridges/construction jobs, grow businesses, storage units, livestock farms, health centers and commercial buildings of all types, infrastructure projects such as sand-salt sheds and municipal buildings, etc. WAREBUTLER.COM CONTACT US for your non-residential and commercial construction needs across Maine. Put our statewide buying power and experienced sales team to work for you! industrial@warebutler.com Fabric / Pipe / Culverts / Styrofoam insulation / Construction lumber Sheet goods / Millwork / Metal roofing and siding products PRODUCTS OFFERED: CUSTOM WORK AVAILABLE King backs bill to give cannabis firms access to banking services I n recent weeks, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, has cosponsored bipartisan, bicameral legis- lation that would ensure Maine's legal cannabis businesses could access the same banking ser- vices used by other businesses. The SAFE Banking Act would resolve a key logis- tical and public safety problem for states that have legalized medicinal or recreational cannabis. "A business that follows all state laws should be able to access the banking system — that's pretty common sense," says King. "As Maine's cannabis industry has grown in recent years, it has been forced to oper- ate on a cash-only basis. This presents a number of safety, logistical, and legal concerns. The SAFE Banking Act addresses this unnecessary challenge and ensures that all our legal Maine businesses can access the banking system. It'll bring more customers to local banks, improve public safety, and support the success of Maine's many small business entrepreneurs." Burdick said that his company has no debt due to him not being able to get finance through a bank and he had to take money out of pocket to start the company. "It's great because we won't have to pay $100 a month to have a bank account which is what- ever," says Burdick. "At the same time it's proba- bly going to create a different level of competition because people are going to be able to access funds that they weren't able to access before."

• Cover