Two more Worcester cannabis shops to open Saturday, including 2nd economic empowerment applicant
Photo/SLOANE M. PERRON
Ulysses Youngblood, owner of Worcester cannabis business Major Bloom
Two adult-use Worcester cannabis shops will celebrate their grand openings on Saturday; economic empowerment applicant Major Bloom at 76 Millbury St., and Trulieve Cannabis, a multistate operator based in Florida, 97th shops throughout the nation and two in Massachusetts.
Trulieve is located at 1420-A Southbridge St., near Polar Park.
Both companies, which represent the 11th and 12th cannabis shops to operate within Worcester, plan to celebrate their respective openings with grand opening celebrations.
Major Bloom will be the second economic empowerment applicant cannabis shop to open in Central Massachusetts and only the fifth awarded a final license in the state. The first economic empowerment cannabis shop to open in Central Mass. was New Dia, which opened on March 1.
When Massachusetts voters approved adult-use cannabis at the ballot in 2016, the law said the new industry should benefit and prioritize supporting businesses that come out of communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. However, so far, the legalized cannabis program has fallen short on this mission.
The economic empowerment applications from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission are designed to help cannabis businesses from disadvantaged communities receive licenses, providing them with priority license review. However, since the roll out, many of those applicants have languished amid a sea of red-tape, capital-accrual and facility build-outs while many larger, deep-pocketed and often multi-state operators have pushed their way into the market.
The state also runs a social equity program, different from the economic empowerment applicant status. The SEP program is a training program which includes expedited license application review as well as a series of fee waivers for those looking to open their own company, but also provides participants with technical assistance and training related to entering the cannabis business as either a business owner or employee.
Cannabis dispensaries operating in Worcester as of Saturday will include:
- Major Bloom (adult-use)
- Good Chemistry (medical and adult-use)
- Diem Cannabis (adult-use)
- Mission (medical and adult-use)
- Bud’s Goods (adult-use)
- Resinate (medical and adult-use)
- Clear Sky (adult-use)
- The Botanist (medical and adult-use)
- Mayflower (adult-use)
- Cultivate (adult-use)
- Trulieve (adult-use)
- New Dia (adult-use)
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