Green Thumb Industries Cannabis Co. To Open LEAP, New Business Accelerator For Illinois Social Equity Licensees On August 1

Cannabis company Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTII GTBIF will start accepting applications to its LEAP New Business Accelerator on Sunday, August 1.

“We’re thrilled to see Green Thumb’s home state of Illinois take meaningful steps to pursue diversity and equity in the cannabis industry,” Dina Rollman, Green Thumb's senior vice president of government affairs, disclosed Thursday.

Headquartered in Chicago, the company launched the cannabis business incubator designed to help promote opportunity and success for new social equity entrepreneurs in Illinois.

“Since we first started working with Illinois social equity applicants in September 2019, we’ve learned a lot about the unique barriers that social equity applicants face and how we can use our resources to advance equitable ownership in the cannabis industry going forward," Rollman added.

The program, which will run through August 31, aims to help social equity licensees put their licenses into operation and provide mentorship and guidance from the Green Thumb team.

Illinois Craft Grower and Dispensary license-holders are eligible to apply to enter the incubator’s “Bake Off” – and present its business to Green Thumb’s leadership team during the ten minutes that each licensee is awarded. Winners will receive prizes from Green Thumb and six months of in-house mentorship.

Each applicant will be reviewed by the following criteria:

• Compatibility of licensee’s business plan with the company’s infrastructure and knowledge base.
• Availability to commit time to interact with Green Thumb’s LEAP team for mentorship.
• Financial acumen and willingness to commit to LEAP loan terms.
• Participation in the prior licensing education and application phase of LEAP.
• Authentic passion, heart, and the X-factor for promoting well-being through cannabis.

Photo: Courtesy of Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash