Fitchburg family growing marijuana advocated for decriminalization over three generations
Photo | Courtesy of Revolutionary Clinics
Ryan Ansin, co-founder, Revolutionary Clinics
Revolutionary Clinics Co-founder Ryan Ansin launched his cultivation facility in Fitchburg three years ago at the family’s 135-year-old factory. The 32-year-old entrepreneur talked with WBJ on Tuesday about the challenges facing the industry, what his grandfather thinks of growing pot in a factory where shoes were once manufactured, and how growers are trying to innovate in this budding industry.
Marijuana seems like a complicated product to produce, not to mention the high security required. Did you consider other manufacturing possibilities?
Absolutely. When I moved back from West Africa to the states full time, I worked with the city’s head of economic development to figure out what to do with the space. We looked at brand development and expansion like they were doing at a company called Shinola in Detriot, which originally made bikes and later created watches and leather goods. We also looked at bringing hospital outposts to the building, biotech and pharma. Later, we dug into how constrained many of the bio startups were in Boston and Cambridge and tried to bring them to less expensive real estate here. But it turned out to be too outside of the Route 495 belt for hiring and bringing the jobs here. We also considered vertical farming here in Fitchburg. But that requires 22-foot ceilings on a single floor adjacent to the highway. We did not fit that bill. In 2016, when medical marijuana took off in Massachusetts and we looked at it, and it made lots of sense.
The Fitchburg building has been in your family since the 1950s. Was anyone in your family hesitant about growing pot?
My grandfather, who is still with us, supported the decriminalization of cannabis in 2008. I’m following his footsteps. One mile away from the factory, I got suspended from the Applewild School for writing a paper in the fifth grade on the decriminalization of cannabis. When my parents heard why I was suspended, they turned me right around, and we went back to school. So there was real support for it. My great-grandfather, who first leased the space, would have been thrilled to find the opportunity to leverage local employees and wouldn’t have cared whether it was basil or cannabis.
The industry is getting more and more competitive. There are at least two other growers in Fitchburg with others in the pipeline, and more when you consider all of Central Massachusetts. Are you worried?
No, I’m not worried. But I worry for other entrepreneurs getting into the space because if you cut corners or if you look at the space as “If you grow it they will come,” you are drastically misinformed. It is far more difficult, rigorous and complex than I ever imagined. There are examples of companies who have tried to cut corners to save money on their initial investment, and they have a greater likelihood of making products that won't pass tests. They have had to start over.
What are cultivators most concerned about right now?
The local cultivators are focused on pricing. They are worried about when cannabis goes from $4,000 per pound wholesale to $2,000 a pound or less. Most cultivators are growing at about $1,200 per pound. But at Revolutionary, we believe in the positive nature of price normalization because it allows a greater likelihood of the black market diminishing. The product on the streets is less expensive because it is untested. Massachusetts does not allow pesticides, even ones legal and ubiquitous in other forms of agriculture. The other issue is regulatory. The state has been demanding low-kilowatt usage, but it has not been enforced yet. But when it is, 80% or more of growers will not be compliant.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Thomas Grillo.
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