Green Thumb Industries Offers Assistance to Cannabis Startups with Illinois Social Equity Program

• Green Thumb’s home office is located in Illinois.
• Their social equity services have already been launched in Florida, Massachusetts, and Ohio, and they plan to soon launch in New York as well.

Nationwide legalization is getting closer to becoming a reality, rather than the work of fiction that it would’ve been a decade ago, and there are many companies hoping to get into the market while its young.

Establishing any new business can be difficult, but the cannabis industry needs these businesses to succeed in order to remain active. In order to move along this progress, companies like Green Thumb Industries are getting involved with equity programs, allowing them to assist new startups. The efforts of Green Thumb are primarily going into the launch of the Illinois Social Equity License Application Assistance Program.

This program provides a method of entry to companies that would be otherwise unable to enter the legal cannabis industry. Consultations will be available in Chicago via Green Thumb during office hours, allowing these individuals to seek out their assistance. The consultation, which are done as a pro bono service, will provide advice to the social equity applicants on:

• Getting a waiver for licensing fees
• Choosing a cultivation site
• Choosing a location for dispensaries
• Apply for loans with low interest

Green Thumb has substantial knowledge on acquiring licenses that will ultimately help the industry as a whole. SVP of Government and Regulatory Affairs Dina Rollman stated:

“We believe it is part of our corporate responsibility to reduce barriers to cannabis business ownership for minorities and others impacted by the war on drugs. Our program provides guidance to those looking to enter this highly competitive industry and we look forward to serving as a resource to applicants that qualify as Illinois Social Equity Applicants.”

Presently, any Illinois resident with a majority ownership of a cannabis business is eligible to participate in the social equity program. More specifically, the program is meant to help individuals with cannabis-related convictions, or who live in areas that are categorized as being “disproportionally impacted by prohibition,” according to news media website Grizzle.

Green Thumb hosts its home base in Illinois, but it has worked to expand services to other states over the last year, including Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York. In the last few months, multiple Rise-branded stores have opened in Florida, Massachusetts, and Ohio, bringing the total number of retail locations to 28.

In Ohio, after an appeal to the Department of Commerce, Green Thumb was awarded another cultivation license. Now that the company has closed their Fiorello Pharmaceuticals deal, it is preparing to launch services in New York as well.