Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 8, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 11 it was a sign the end of the world was near. But it made Ortiz the biggest celeb- rity name to get into the cannabis game in Massachusetts, further legitimizing an industry still dealing with stigma. Ortiz made personal appearances at multiple dispensaries to promote the products. While Papi Cannabis was available across the state, it didn't end up being a home run. By the time Madoff was in- stalled as receiver, the brand wasn't being manufactured anymore. "Nobody was buying it," Madoff said. "It wasn't very popular." Madoff signed an agreement which saw Ortiz take back control of the brand- ing in exchange for any financial claims he had against Rev Clinics. "I didn't want it. I didn't think it had value," Madoff said. "So as a courtesy, we gave it back to him." David Ortiz's representation did not respond to requests for comment. Papi Cannabis products still appear on dis- pensary menus in Maine, where they are produced by a different manufacturer. Fitchburg facility Most of the company's assets have been auctioned off or offloaded, but the receivership process is ongoing. Composed of four floors, the 140-year- old former shoe factory which served as Rev Clinics' grow and manufacturing facility in Fitchburg is listed for lease by omas Bodden and Drew Higgins of Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates in Worcester. Rev Clinics retains ownership of a small part of the building containing storage and offices, said Madoff. Madoff 's status report said production at the facility, once employing upward of 150 workers, ceased operations in July. By the end of that month, all facility employees were laid off. e company is owed between $3 mil- lion and $4 million by other firms, with Madoff noting in his filing Rev Clinic's closure may make collections more diffi- cult, and debtors who owe money to the company may be in financial trouble. With the financial state of many com- panies in the industry, fights over unpaid bills are a common sight on court dock- ets. Rev Clinics is involved in lawsuits seeking funds owed, as well as lawsuits targeting the company for unpaid debt. Rev Clinic's Leominster dispensary at 130 Pioneer Drive is still open, but the rent to NewLake from June to December 2024, according to a March filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Already facing a lawsuit from its Cambridge dispensary's landlord and the tumbling price of cannabis, the final blow to Rev Clinics came in December, when its primary noteholder filed a lawsuit de- manding payment of $10 million and for a receiver be in charge of the company. e lawsuit was filed by OPCIV LLC, an entity affiliated with Austin-based Ocho Capital. e private investment firm's portfolio includes Liquid Death Mountain Water and rocket firm SpaceX. A tricky wind-down At the time of receivership, Rev Clinics had 40 grow rooms and about 40,000 plants in various stages of growth at its leased Fitchburg facility, according to a status report filed on July 9 in Suffolk County Superior Court by David Madoff of Madoff & Khoury LLP in Foxborough, the court-appointed receiver. But just like starting a cannabis business, unwinding one is no simple task. With the drug still being a Schedule 1 illegal substance at the federal level, bankruptcy is not an option. Everything Madoff has done had to comply with state regulations, he told WBJ. Equipment could be sold to out- of-state buyers, but cannabis products couldn't. He couldn't utilize notices of abandonment, a tactic used by bankrupt- cy trustees when selling an asset would cost more money than its worth. "We couldn't just walk away from plants in the ground," Madoff said. "ere were times when I would have wanted to just abandon something, when I really couldn't, in good faith or legally. So it ended up costing more than a typi- cal liquidation or restructuring would." Madoff estimated Rev Clinics' debt exceeds $20 million. He said that figure could be substantially higher; with no hope of funds being available, he didn't go through a claims process with all of the company's creditors. No one other than the company's senior creditor will be getting any money back, and those creditors will not be paid in full, he said. Madoff said the main culprit for Rev Clinics' failure was the its inability to absorb the collapsing price of cannabis. Big Papi strikes out Rev Clinics' receivership marked the end of its relationship with Red Sox legend David Ortiz, a partnership which saw him launch a brand of cannabis products named Papi Cannabis in July 2022. Announced just days aer he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the launch seemed to mark his transition from ballplayer to business mogul. Big Papi's launch of a line of canna- bis-infused chocolates, vape cartridges, and pre-rolled cannabis blunts created controversy in his socially-conservative homeland of the Dominican Republic, with one Dominican sports writer joking facility is part of a purchase agreement worth $500,000 subject to price adjust- ment, according to Madoff 's report. State licensing requirements will result in a delay of several months in the transfer. While that awaits approval from the state, the parties have entered into a management agreement, which sees the buyer take over operations. For now, the dispensary continues to operate under Rev Clinic's branding, the last public remnants of the company. Rev Clinics' Somerville dispensary has seen little interest from potential buyers due to its high cost of rent, Madoff wrote in his court filing. He has entered into an agreement to sell the license of the facility for $350,000. Madoff wrote the company was hop- ing to receive a $1.5-million Employee Retention Tax Credit, which it had applied for prior to his taking control. However, since filing for the credit, the company has been alerted by the Internal Revenue Service its 2021 tax return is under audit. He noted possible tax liabilities from the audit could offset the potential tax credit. With Rev Clinics' demise, Sanctuary Medicinals, a company with a cultivation and production facility in Littleton and a dispensary in Graon, is now Central Massachusetts' largest cannabis firm with 200 employees, according to the WBJ Research Department. Industry woes Rev Clinics is hardly the only cannabis company with a Central Massachusetts presence facing financial failure. Miami-based Ayr Wellness has closed its 217,800-square-foot cultivation facil- ity in Milford, laying off 157 workers in the process. Ayr's stock has plummeted, going from $36.54 per share in February 2021 to being worth just two cents as of Aug. 28 in over-the-counter trading. 4Front Ventures, the Phoenix-based operator of Mission Worcester cannabis dispensary, filed for receivership in May, according to a press release from 4Front. e company's Worcester dispensary has remained open. Its receivership filing in Suffolk County Superior Court said the company has debts of $59 million. Despite difficulties caused by over- saturation of product and a decline in cannabis prices, new businesses are still opening in Central Massachusetts, as the state passed the $8-billion mark in total adult sales in July.Since 2020, Worcester County has seen $1.2 billion in adult-use sales, while Middlesex County has seen $903.5 million, according to CCC data. Madoff 's advice for cannabis business owners to survive is to take every step possible to avoid debt service. "It seems like the people that can with- stand saturation are the people who have really deep pockets," he said. "It does not seem like there's room for mom and pops, at least at the manufacturing level. I hope that changes." W Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz (right) tours the Rev Clinics facility that would develop his product. Falling cannabis prices An ounce of cannabis in Massachusetts is selling for just 30% of what it did in 2020, creating challenges for business like Rev Clinics. 0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 Jan. 2020 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2022 Jan. 2023 Jan. 2024 Jan. 2025 Monthly average cost (per 1 ounce of adult-use cannabis) Source: Cannabis Control Commission Rev Clinics officials at the opening of its now-closed Cambridge facility.

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