2024 Power 100: Caroline Frankel
Photo | Courtesy of Caroline's Cannabis
Caroline Frankel, president of Caroline's Cannabis
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Caroline Frankel has been breaking down barriers in the legal Massachusetts cannabis industry since its beginning, and her latest breakthrough will make it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to find a foothold in an industry dominated by large, multistate operators.
Industries across America are male-dominated, and the nascent cannabis industry is no exception: Only 39% of cannabis executives were female in 2023, according to a report by industry trade publication MJBizDaily. Frankel represents one of more visible women leaders in the marijuana space as the name, face, and brains behind Caroline’s Cannabis, with dispensaries in Uxbridge and Hopedale.
In 2024, the business celebrated five years of operation. This is no small feat for any small business, but it is particularly noteworthy in the cannabis space, where intense competition and tight regulations have already sunk a number of businesses.
Frankel made waves in January, when her company settled a lawsuit against the Town of Uxbridge over the government’s community impact fees, a provision of Mass. law allowing municipalities to collect a percentage of revenue from cannabis firms to cover costs imposed on the municipality. The settlement returned $1.7 million to Caroline’s, with Frankel and other leaders in the industry immediately calling on all municipalities to abandon these fees, which they have long argued are onerous and don’t reflect the actual impact of cannabis businesses on communities.
Frankel has upgraded her business, too, as Caroline’s now possesses a manufacturing license from the state, allowing the company to produce pre-rolled joints.
Her business has even attracted cannabis royalty, as the rapper and famous fan of marijuana Snoop Dogg visited the store in 2020, which attracted hundreds of people to Uxbridge.
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