Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 24, 2025 17 Those changes won't happen all at once, says McGee, who is targeting a three-year implementation period. Reorganizing the SEC's internal oper- ations and staffing up the effort has so far been one of his top priorities. "As you can imagine, you can't do this work without human beings," he said. From a headcount of five when McGee was appointed, the organi- zation now has 13 funded positions. He just hired a legal director, and is in the process of hiring a loan program manager. Both are key roles that will support cannabis entrepreneurs from marginalized communities, McGee said. "We're talking about individuals standing up companies for the first time ever, having backers and reading all of these really scary documents," he said. "We want to be of support." The SEC has a $50 million revolving loan fund that it can lend to startup businesses. McGee also wants to bring on board the entrepreneurs who the council was already supporting — many of whom had spoken to the comptroller's office about their difficulties with communication and vague expectations. "We're really quickly meeting with a lot of our current social equity entrepreneurs to help address their pain points," McGee said. Comer, too, has those nascent businesses top of mind. "This is a very expensive industry to be in," she said. "The legislation itself was not written in a way that would automatically benefit social equity applicants." According to Comer, some of the issues with the original legislation come from the fact it was written in consultation with large, multistate players already successful in the cannabis business, who set the expectations for scale. The council is discussing whether some funding for small entrepre- neurs could be converted into grants, because people who currently come to them often do not have the collat- eral to take out large loans. Next round of grants Beyond entrepreneurship, the council is also tackling the job of creating a cannabis industry work- force. McGee said they are in talks with the community college system to help stand up cannabis certifi- cate programs at two campuses by providing both expertise and funding. And then comes the community grants program, which is still in the process of being refocused before it's rolled out for a second round. During the pilot, the SEC partnered with community foundations and other grant-making bodies to identify recipients and manage funds. One of the biggest criticisms from legislators last year was that the council's approach seemed scatter- shot, with little hope of proving any positive outcomes. Through a new process, the council by the end of the current fiscal year will issue a request for proposals for grant managers. Once those managers are iden- tified, SEC staff will work with them to craft an application for community organizations. The council — which sits under the state Department of Economic and Community Development — has already adopted its own criteria for how the next round of grants might achieve a focused economic impact: workforce development, support for the formerly incarcerated, and youth programming. McGee said he hopes to have much more measurable outcomes this time, but he doesn't have any illusions about the scope of the problems in these areas. He says it would be a mistake to see the council as the solution "to every woe, every plight throughout the state of Connecticut." "We're very focused on the types of organizations who support our impact areas, helping us to meet the outcomes that we projected," he said. Marijuana plants growing in a Connecticut cultivation facility. HBJ FILE PHOTO 860.482.7613 | BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street, Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Since 1942, the Borghesi specialty has been creating "Building Ideas That Work". PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAN PAVEMENT SPECIALISTS Check out our new website! © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. Building Ideas That Work... Building Ideas That Work... Whether you are a contractor, manufacturer or in distribution, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will guide you to provide the best solution for your facility.

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