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20 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 8, 2024 (From left) Sol Santiago, Justin Frytz and Angie Frytz stand in front of their Ford Transit cargo van that they'll use for their cannabis transporter business, The White Oak Bridge. HBJ PHOTO | SKYLER FRAZER By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com C onnecticut's cannabis industry has experienced a number of firsts in recent years, with the launch of the adult-use market in 2023. Now, the state could soon see its first cannabis product transport company come online. East Hartford-based The White Oak Bridge has become the first company to earn final license approval for a product transport business, as it seeks to be a logistics expert for the state's legal marijuana industry. The company, owned by North Haven-based married couple Justin and Angerlyk (Angie) Frytz and New Haven resident Sol Santiago, has already purchased its first Ford Transit cargo van and is connecting with cannabis cultiva- tors and product manufacturers for business opportunities. White Oak also holds a cannabis product-packager license, which will allow it to offer a full suite of busi- ness-to-business logistics services that include warehousing and distri- bution. It's also working on a whole- sale license to distribute hemp and THC beverages to liquor stores. The company said it hopes to streamline the supply chain for cannabis cultivators, producers, manufacturers and retailers. Angie Frytz has been a key player in making sure the product-packager license is a viable business model in the state. She, along with other industry hopefuls, successfully lobbied the legislature earlier this year to expand a packager license's capabilities to include certain product manufacturing, such as cannabis extractions, chemical synthesis and other activities. "When you're launching a new industry, it takes time for everybody to learn — from legislators to regu- lators to business operators," Angie Frytz said. "We're all stakeholders on this issue, and we all have to be willing to listen to the other party because there are things that we're not going to be able to see from the legislative side, regulator side and vice versa, so it's not easy, it's a marathon." White Oak Bridge is unique in another way. It actually purchased its transporter license from another company, NMB BPT LLC, which originally won it via the general lottery in 2022. NMB's principals — Bridge- port resident Amir Isufi and New York residents Enkelejd Isufi and Agron Gjyriqi — didn't have interest in moving forward with the license, so they decided to put it up for sale, Justin Frytz said. White Oak declined to disclose the sales price, but its strategy is to hold several licenses so it can be vertically integrated and provide a full spectrum of logistics services, Justin Frytz said. Strategic licenses Angie Frytz, who is a licensed doctor and works in the clinical research industry, said pursuing a cultivation license was the group's original plan, but the $3 million entrance fee was a barrier to entry, so the partners shifted their focus. Her husband comes from the real estate industry with a previous retail-management background, while Santiago has a sales and marketing background and owns SOLÉI Beauty and Body Spa in Woodbridge. White Oak initially won its prod- uct-packager license via the social equity lottery in 2022, and is closing in on the purchase of an East Hart- ford warehouse, where it will base its operations. "The packaging license, in all honesty, was the one that didn't have that many applications, so I did some math, and we had better odds to get a packaging license than a number of other licenses," Angie Frytz said, adding that the group also applied unsuccessfully for food and beverage and manufacturer licenses. "We tried to be very strategic." Of the approximately 37,000 social equity or general lottery applications received for state cannabis industry licenses, only 489, or 1.3% were for a transporter license, according to data from the state Department of Consumer Protection. Only the prod- uct-packager license received fewer applications, at 462. There are currently eight license types available in the adult-use cannabis industry, and the state has conducted only one lottery round since the industry's launch. Angie Frytz said the packaging license was initially limited in its AT A GLANCE The White Oak Bridge Industry: Cannabis logistics Top Executive: Justin Frytz, CEO & Co-Owner HQ: East Hartford Employees: 3 Website: thewhiteoakbridge.com Contact: 203-626-2024 Product Movers First cannabis transport company earns final license approval; plans to be logistics 'hub' for industry newcomers and veterans