Fourteen prospective cannabis businesses had their social equity status approved by the state this week, including several food and beverage manufacturers.
The Social Equity Council met Tuesday to hear accounting firm CohnReznick’s recommendations for 25 cannabis businesses. In total, 14 applications had their social equity status approved and 11 were denied.
The breakdown for approved companies is as follows:
- Two equity joint venture micro-cultivators
- Seven equity joint venture retailers
- Three food and beverage manufacturers
- One transporter business
- One product manufacturer
The denials went as follows:
- One equity joint venture delivery service company
- Eight equity joint venture hybrid retailers
- One delivery service company
- One food and beverage manufacturer
The approved applications for the product manufacturers and transporters will now be sent to the Department of Consumer Protection for further processing. Those companies will need to submit more information for background checks and make payments before receiving provisional licenses.