Illinois' craft cannabis scene had a high point recently with a rule change that allows growing operations to branch out – but it's not all smooth sailing for these budding businesses.
Facing financial obstacles and a stagnating market, local craft cannabis cultivators can now expand their flowering plant space from 5,000 to 14,000 square feet in an attempt to draw financing and increase their market reach, the Chicago Tribune reported. Scott Redman, president of the Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association, told the Tribune that although the expansion helps, it's just the minimum needed for survival.
The move is supposed to create consumer choice and help growers supply dispensaries with new strains statewide. Despite the increased canopy limit, Ambrose Jackson, CEO of the minority-owned 1937 Group, said the market they are entering is far from fair, the Block Club Chicago detailed. With just 10 operational craft growers out of 88 licensed, many businesses are unable to open due to a lack of funding partly due to cannabis still being federally illegal and also because of the arbitrary size limit put in place, which scares off lenders.
Despite all the buzz, craft growers are clambering for more than just a regulatory reprieve. They want a more resolute action, something along the lines of a new law that would firm up their ability to expand, rather than an administrative rule that could change with the whims of regulators. The Department of Agriculture can now grant expansions if 'market need' is demonstrated, but growers find this method unreliable and stressful, as reported by the Tribune.
Adding to their woes, the state Cannabis Business Development Fund, while providing loans to some, is still not enough to harvest success for many. Bobby Burns, founder of Herban Gardens, regrets focusing on the grow licenses rather than dispensary ones, claiming dispensaries ''are just so much easier to stand up,'' in a statement to the Block Club Chicago. Craft growers are excluded from the next round of state funding, leaving many to wonder where to turn.
