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Happy weekend, everyone!
We’ve had a busy couple of weeks covering legislative, regulatory and business stories in New York’s cannabis industry. Let’s take a look at what we wrote about.
NY Cannabis Insider Editor/Publisher Brad Racino broke a story about two people in chief positions at the Office of Cannabis Management being let go from their jobs last week as part of an ongoing shakeup at the beleaguered regulatory agency.
The OCM’s chief diversity officer and manager of executive operations, Mary Adelaja, left on June 13, as did the OCM’s chief of staff and counsel, Nicole Triplett – who had only been with the office since March.
Reporter Wes Parnell took a look at the Cannabis NYC Loan Fund – which was supposed to disburse money by the first quarter of this year – finalizing its banking, and planning to begin disbursing funds this summer.
An inter-agency task force composed of the NYC Economic Development Corporation and the department of Small Business Services selected Tuatara Capital, a cannabis-oriented private equity fund, to manage a pool of cash that will support social equity businesses within the five boroughs, Parnell wrote.
We checked in with the owner of Midtown East dispensary Urban Leaf, a shop licensed under the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program, and officially opened its doors two days before 4/20.
In its first month of business, the store has been attracting a customer base mostly consisting of office workers over the age of 30 who commute to the city, said owner Joseph Abramov. In a Q&A with NY Cannabis Insider, Abramov answered questions about what customers are buying, operating in Manhattan and challenges in New York’s legal weed industry.
In another proximity protection-related controversy, a prospective dispensary owner is suing New York cannabis regulators after they allegedly rejected his application because it was too close to another weed shop, but allowed another store to open in the same area.
The lawsuit is one of several filed against the Office of Cannabis Management over the agency’s handling of “proximity protection,” a policy that some retailers praise as a necessary backstop against market saturation, and others criticize as convoluted and unreasonably broad.
Colin Decker, owner and founder of adult-use brand 7 SEAZ – and owner of Hudson Valley-based Sensei Growth Consulting – contributed a column, in which he advises dispensary owners on best practices in creating a store menu.
“Helping store owners succeed helps all of us in the market, and making the menu is definitely one of the key, make-it-or-break-it aspects of running a successful dispensary, not just here in NY but anywhere cannabis is sold,” Decker wrote.
We covered a Cannabis Control Board meeting, at which board members granted 105 new cannabis licenses, approved final home grow regulations and introduced a new interim director for the OCM – Felicia A. B. Reid, who Hochul appointed as Chris Alexander’s successor.
Reid’s introduction to New York’s cannabis industry came a day after Hochul announced her appointment as the OCM’s executive deputy director and acting executive director. Reid has over a decade of experience in state government and spent the last six years at the Office of Children and Family Services, overseeing statewide juvenile justice operations as deputy commissioner, Hochul’s office said.
Lastly, we added a new entry to our “People to know in NY cannabis” series: Lexi Antoniou, a laboratory technician at testing lab Biotrax.
Have a great weekend everyone, we’ll be back with plenty more next week.