MONTPELIER — As regulators and stakeholders dig into ways to prop up the social equity program in Vermont, some say a bigger or ongoing investment is needed.
"The Cannabis Retailers Association of Vermont supports any movement for more social equity within our industry and within our state," Colleen McQuade, owner of Juniper Lane in Bennington and chairwoman of the CRAV Board, told a working group of the Cannabis Control Board at its Sept. 23 meeting. "What I want to see here in Vermont is to have some sort of assistance program that's ongoing."
McQuade is one of several people and groups being asked to speak with the working group looking at what kind of investment should be made in the Cannabis Business Development Fund. Currently, there's a 14 percent excise tax on all cannabis sales, and different contributions have been made to the fund.
Social equity licensees can access the fund for job training and technical assistance. McQuade received technical support and the capped $5,000 payment as part of the social equity program.
Her other business, Juniper Lane NJ, recently received a $150,000 grant from the state of New Jersey to be used as seed money for starting the Atlantic City retail dispensary. She said the figure is small due to all the regulatory hurdles in the Garden State.
"I don't think we would have be able to open if we hadn't received it," she said. "My business partner in New Jersey also has a extensive cannabis arrest and incarceration history, and I don't think we could have done it."
McQuade suggested some money be set aside for social equity licensees in Vermont that want to expand their manufacturing, cultivation or retail operations.
"Over the next couple of years, it's going to be tougher industry in Vermont," she said. "And I think it's crucial to this industry that the social equity businesses survive in Vermont. This is super important."
Without diversity in the industry, McQuade said, "we're not as vibrant, we're not as good, as powerful as a whole."
McQuade described the grant program in New Jersey being very competitive. About 40 out of 400 social equity businesses in the state received the funds, she said.
Money came in as her business hit benchmarks. Receipts were shown then funds were disbursed, she said.
"So there definitely was some oversight," she said. "But it wasn't too overbearing."
CCB Chairman James Pepper said "the lowest hanging fruit" for Vermont would likely be to offer more hours with business consultants and provide more direct beneficiary payments.
"I think to sizably increase the payment would be a huge step," McQuade said.