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Date: 2/3/2020
HOLYOKE – Half a year after opening an adult-use marijuana dispensary in Lee, Canna Provisions owner Erik Williams is planning to open two more dispensaries in Western Massachusetts in the coming months.
Williams and his team officially opened the doors to Canna Provisions in Lee in July of 2019. The former political consultant told Reminder Publishing he worked around the country to “decriminalize possession” and “legalize medical [marijuana],” but it was always his plan to return to New England.
“I started consulting a lot more and wanted to focus on Massachusetts. I’m a New England boy, born and raised,” he said. “Returning home to Massachusetts was such a huge part of what I wanted to do, and my real first exposure with absurdity of cannabis laws.”
Williams said he found “there’s hundreds of people having their lives ruined” due to cannabis laws, and he felt he could use it for a multitude of good within communities including using it “to help right some of the wrongs of the drug war.
“We know from our experience over the past decade that this can be a great economic driver, a great social driver, can create jobs, and is a hub of lighted areas and security,” he said.
Now, Williams and his team plan to open dispensaries in both Holyoke and Easthampton in the coming months and expects to see the same benefits in the Western Massachusetts communities that he’s seen in Lee.
He said businesses in Lee have also seen benefits, and he is excited for that to happen in Holyoke and Easthampton.
“They’re saying ‘We’ve never been this busy,’” he said of the businesses in Lee. “We really can’t wait for this to be a big driver in this community.”
Williams said there were a variety of factors that drew them to Holyoke. One of those factors included “the raw beauty” of the factory buildings, which he described as “architecturally stunning.”
Another reason Williams said he was drawn to Holyoke was “the vision the mayor has” and the role they could play in helping with an economic revitalization in the city.
He noted, “To be a part of the true economic revitalization, especially under Mayor Morse, and his vision, to help turn a community around and to be part of a big economic driver, it’s a big deal.”
Williams added that while it was never his plan to be part of “day to day operations,” the Holyoke location changed that. “Holyoke drew us out of consulting and into a daily role,” he said.
Williams said the Holyoke location on 380 Dwight St. is going to receive a “final inspection very soon,” but the date for the inspection and opening is dependent upon “CCC [Cannabis Control Commission] timelines.”
In the meantime, he said, they’re making sure everything is done and finished before the final inspection. “The last thing we want is for us to be holding it up, so we’ve been going full steam ahead with our construction,” he stated. “We’re ready.”
On track to be the first dispensary to open within city limits, Williams said the team is excited. “The city of Holyoke deserves it. We want to be the leaders and set the bar as high as we can,” he said.
He also noted this is not the first time they’ve been the first dispensary to set up in a town, so they feel prepared. “We’ve been the first in a lot of towns, a lot of states. We just had our six-month update to the Board of Selectmen in Lee and we said, ‘These are our projections and we’ve blown past them,’” he explained.
He added that they hoped the facility would be open already, but it was “tough to work with” because “there are no clear guidelines or timelines,” but they’re “still within our goal period.”
While no opening date has officially been set for either location, Williams is hoping the Holyoke location will open before the end of March.
The Easthampton location, Williams noted, may end up opening before the Holyoke facility, but there are some things that need to take place first.
“What our company has done is bought 9.9 percent of that company, which is the max you can buy without CCC approval,” he explained. Williams said he is hoping the store, currently named The Verb is Herb, “opens within the next 60 days.” After that, he said Canna Provisions will need to await approval from the CCC for both a name change and a change in ownership.