BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management and Empire State Development launched a new program on March 18. Eligible applicants can receive up to $30,000 through the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) Grant Program.
Sheldon Anderson is the co-owner of Public Flower, a licensed dispensary on Allen Street. Anderson applied for the grant program to help cover startup costs.
“We’re just excited for the opportunity to actually utilize the funds and become more efficient and help grow the business,” Anderson said.
Attorney Aleece Burgio is an expert in cannabis business law. She said this grant funding will help eligible dispensary business owners get started.
“What they’re applying for really is to get paid back on expenses that they already paid for so what they’ll have to do to get this grant is you would use receipts and things that you’ve already paid for like security, you’re point of sales systems if you were doing renovations on your leased location.”
Anderson said he believes investments in licensed dispensaries can benefit communities because of the New York State Cannabis Revenue Fund.
“In the Western New York, there’s been over $1 million of tax revenue that’s been generated so that goes to schools, that goes to education, and other things like that,” Anderson said.
Anderson added he believes the Office of Cannabis Management is doing their part to support businesses like his.
“We were effectively impacted by the war on drugs in New York State and so it’s important to fix the wrongs of the past and try to provide us not only with the license in order to sell legally, but also provide us with tools and resources to kind of help us grow and have a really successful business,” Anderson said.
