Nine recreational cannabis businesses will have the opportunity to negotiate host agreements with the city in a first step toward opening, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced Thursday.
The group includes what would be Springfield’s first cannabis cultivation and transportation businesses. Twenty-four proposals received in March were ranked by the city’s Internal Review Committee in the city’s second phase of cannabis operations. Sarno said he followed the recommendations of the review committee in making his second-phase selections.
Four retail cannabis companies were selected in the city’s first phase in 2019, and one has opened thus far on Boston Road. The other three are preparing to open, and there is also a medical cannabis business open on Cottage Street.
“I will now start negotiations with each of these entities on a Host Community Agreement to then be sent to our City Council for their review and approval,” Sarno said in a news release. “Again, as with our first phase this was a fair, efficient, open, and transparent process.”
If approved locally, the businesses will also need approval from the state Cannabis Control Commission. The selected business proposals include six retailers, a cultivation business, a transportation company, and a courier or delivery service, as follows:
Read the complete article at Mass Live (P. Goonan)