Page 12 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021
P. 12

 Editorial
WA Welcome Boost to the Economy
hen Massachusetts residents passed that referen- that have gone dark.
dum question that essentially created a recreation- Perhaps the best example of this is in Holyoke, where hun- al cannabis industry five years ago, no one really dreds of thousands of square feet of old mill space has been
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 knew what to expect.
There were certainly questions and a great many doubts, but
also a healthy amount of optimism that this new sector of the economy would bring not only jobs, but opportunities for indi- viduals, communities, and many already-existing businesses and institutions.
To say this burgeoning industry has met or exceeded most, if not all, of these expectations would be an understatement. Adult-use cannabis has become a tremendous addition to the Massachusetts economy, surpassing $2 billion in sales earlier this month, and it would be fair to say that, in many ways, it’s just getting started.
As the stories starting on page 18 reveal, cannabis has become, in many ways, an equal-opportunity sector of the economy. While we would never say it’s easy to become a player in this sector — there are a number of considerable challenges, from capital needs to a host of regulations to that workforce cri- sis impacting every industry — it may be easier to break into this business than many others.
And we’re seeing that in communities across the region, with ventures large and small opening their doors, many of them cre- ated by first-time entrepreneurs.
But the impact of this industry goes well beyond those indi- viduals and corporations opening cultivating facilities, dispen- saries, retail outlets, and more. Indeed, cannabis has helped change the local landscape, quite literally, by absorbing formerly vacant spaces ranging from old mills to storefronts to restaurants
Editorial
UA Losing Proposition for UMass
repurposed for a wide array of cannabis businesses, especially cultivation facilities that require large amounts of space. But we’ve also seen spaces absorbed in Easthampton, Springfield, Westfield, Northampton, and other communities.
Beyond this profound impact on the commercial real-estate market, cannabis has also brought opportunities for a number of businesses across the region, from construction firms to the col- leges and universities that have added courses in this subject, to the law firms and accounting firms now advising those who have joined the industry or are looking to do so.
Add it all up, and the impact has been profound — much larger, we believe, than gaming, another recent addition to the landscape. While the casino in Springfield’s South End has cer- tainly impacted the City of Homes, created some jobs, and ben- efited several area businesses that provide goods and services, the cannabis industry has the potential to have a much more profound impact.
Flashing back five years, no one was really prepared to say
just how, and how profoundly, cannabis was going to change
life and business here in Western Mass. Only the real optimists
could have anticipated it having this far-reaching an impact. But
is has, and it would appear that, while there are limits as to just
how much growth can be expected, we’re not close to hitting that
ceiling. •••••
In short, cannabis has been a tremendous and very welcome addition to the local economy, and it will only become more of a force in the years to come. v
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  Mass is looking for a new head 51-7 loss to Pittsburgh, 53-3 to Coastal the stadium, or the lack of one befitting football coach. Again. Carolina, 59-3 to Florida State, and 62-17 a school at the top tier. It comes down to Yes, the Walt Bell era is over. to Liberty — and in recent years, the pro- the fact that it’s very, very difficult to suc-
Not quite three years in, and after a bad loss to the University of Rhode Island at home (and on homecoming weekend), Bell was fired earlier this month. This was a bad loss not because of the score (35-22), but because URI plays one divi- sion down from UMass. And such a set- back inevitably triggers discussion of why UMass is in that higher division to begin with.
Indeed, this loss, coupled with Bell’s firing, has brought out some new calls for UMass to end its experiment with big- time football and go back to where it was — playing schools like URI every week- end, and even beating some of them. Often, quite a few of them.
Those calls make sense. UMass has been trying to succeed in the Football Championship Subdivision for almost a decade now. It is not only not making any progress, it is going backward. The team has simply not been competitive on the field, as the scores would indicate — a
ceed at this level. It takes money, facili- ties, a passionate fan base, and a founda- tion on which to build.
gram has become nothing short of an embarrassment to the school.
If one were an optimist, one would
“
new calls for UMass to end its experiment with big-time football and go back to where it was — playing schools like URI every weekend, and even beating some of them.”
This loss, coupled with Bell’s firing, has brought out some
    point to the success of the school’s hock- ey team, which returned to Division 1
in 1993 and last spring won a national championship, as reason to stay with
this experiment and press on. But this situation calls for realism, not optimism. And realistically speaking, UMass is sim- ply not positioned to succeed with this experiment. It’s not the coach, and it’s not
UMass doesn’t have any of those things, really, and neither does another school that should give up the ghost when it comes to the Football Champion- ship Subdivision: UConn, the only school UMass has beaten this year.
Coach Walt Bell is gone, but the prob- lem remains. UMass is in over its head. And it’s time to come back to shore. v
 12 NOVEMBER 24, 2021
OPINION
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