Justin Schultz first opened his CBD manufacturing business, Bison Botanics, in 2018 with the hopes of one day breaking into the recreational cannabis market in New York.
That day came Monday when Schultz learned he was among the first three Western New York businesses to receive a license from the state to process cannabis.
Chocolate Delivery Systems on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo and Empire Hemp Co. on Main Street in Batavia were the two other local businesses awarded licenses. Fifteen companies were given licenses from the state on Monday, according to the state Office of Cannabis Management.
“To be one of the first in the state to be able to do this is just an extraordinary opportunity that we’re so excited about and to be a part of,” Empire Hemp Co. CEO Chris VanDusen said.
People are also reading…
This license allows processors to take cannabis grown by New York farmers and turn it into consumer products, such as marijuana edibles, vape cartridges, topicals and smokable joints.
Todd Giolando – at Three Cord Ranch, his small family farm in Derby – is among the first 200 New York farmers growing recreational marijuana.
Those products will then be sold in New York’s first retail dispensaries. Dispensary licenses have not yet been awarded but will go to New Yorkers who have been impacted by marijuana-related criminal convictions.
The first processing licenses were awarded to those who already had experience processing hemp for CBD products. For Bison Botanics and Empire Hemp Co., they see the expansion into the recreational marijuana market as a huge growth opportunity for their businesses.
Schultz plans to double his staff to 25 employees at Bison Botanics, located on Military Road in Kenmore, by the end of the year. In a year from now, he expects to have 40 employees handling manufacturing, packaging, compliance and distribution, he said.
Similarly at Empire Hemp Co., co-founders VanDusen and Shelly Wolanske also are going to need more workers, shooting for around 30 employees by the end of the year. They plan to move their operations to a 45,000-square-foot facility at the beginning of September where they can manufacture products as well as offer trimming services and storage space for marijuana farmers.
Now that processors have their licenses, their next challenge is establishing relationships with hopeful dispensary license holders who will buy their products.
Hopeful cannabis retailers have a lot of ideas and a lot of questions, but they are short on answers when it comes to how things will work day-to-day.
The state has not opened the application process for dispensary licenses but expects that to happen sometime in August. Until then, processors don’t know exactly to whom they will sell their products.
In the meantime, Schultz, VanDusen and Wolanske are getting involved in industry groups and going to events to network and make connections with potential dispensary owners.
But for now, it’s a waiting game, Schultz said.
According to the state, New York’s first dispensaries will be up and running by the end of the year.
Another Western New York farm gets licensed
Also on Monday, the state Cannabis Control Board awarded a marijuana growing license to N&M Farms in Niagara County.
There are now more than 240 farms in the state licensed to grow marijuana and 25 of them are in Western New York.
The state awarded the first cultivator licenses to New York hemp growers in April and many will begin harvesting marijuana flowers in late August and early September.
Recent Comments