Page 19 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021

Jeff Hayden says cannabis has created fertile ground for hundreds of new jobs in Holyoke — and an impressive diversity of them.
“
really just another attempt on our part to find jobs that people can
get into at the entry level, or get a better job. It’s imperative that we find people who are unemployed, underemployed, those with limited education, limited work history, and get them into employment and on a career track.”
though that’s not legal here yet.”
Yee noted that the sheer number of cannabis
businesses in Massachusetts — almost 190 and counting, not just in retail, but in cultivation, manufacturing, and wholesaling — is making it easier for all players to succeed, because of the cross-pollination. It’s why Enlite has adopted the model of many area dispensaries of partnering with boutique makers of cannabis products.
“Early on, it was difficult because [product] availability was so low, you had to be vertically integrated to supply yourself,” he noted. “But Western Mass. has been really kind to small-scale producers, and we’re really happy to showcase them here at this location.”
Our getting into cannabis was
that this would be a new investment in the com- munity and a new source of jobs and revenue, and another reason to come to Northampton. I think we took a pretty forward-looking approach to this.”
Today, Northampton is home to eight retail dispensaries for adult-use cannabis, seven man- ufacturers, four cultivation facilities, and a test- ing lab. Those numbers grow seemingly by the month.
Meanwhile, three years of excise taxes on adult-use cannabis have brought in more than $4.3 million. “That helps us continue funding schools, police, fire, DPW, all the services we pro- vide as a city.”
Mark Cutting and Matt Yee certainly saw potential, not only in the state’s legalization of cannabis, but Northampton’s embrace of it. Just last week, they opened the city’s eighth adult-use dispensary, Enlite, just off the Coolidge Bridge rotary — and they have a long-term vision for
it based on the idea that this is a still-evolving industry.
“We thought that, with our background in business and the Yee family’s background in res- taurants and entertainment, there may be poten- tial beyond even the retail space,” Cutting said. “There may be opportunities to have some type of dining or some type of entertainment along with cannabis partaking at some point in time —
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