Pubdate: Fri, 15 May 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Ricardo Baca

POT CHAIN LAYS OFF 65 WORKERS

A Licensing Fight With the State's Marijuana Enforcement Division 
Causes Cuts to 45 Percent of the Workforce.

Complex licensing issues have led one of Colorado's largest pot shop 
chains to lay off 65 people, or about 45 percent of the company's 
workforce, owner Shawn Phillips said Thursday.

Phillips said about 80 percent of the employees worked full time in 
his cultivation facilities, which encompass about 100,000 square feet.

"We've been working on putting together this staff for the last four 
or five years," Phillips said, "and we had some really good people 
who are passionate about the business and who wanted to continue on. 
Hopefully these layoffs are temporary."

Phillips' company pays its state unemployment insurance premiums, so 
the laid-off workers will be eligible to file for unemployment 
benefits, the state Department of Labor and Employment confirmed.

"They would not be disallowed simply because marijuana has not been 
legalized nationally," spokesman Bill Thoennes said.

Phillips' nine pot shops - including The Haven, The Retreat and The 
Shelter in Denver, as well as others in Central City, Idaho Springs, 
Rifle and Wheat Ridge - remain open.

The layoffs are a result of complex licensing issues with the state's 
Marijuana Enforcement Division, Phillips said.

In looking to expand his cultivation operation by 40,000 square feet, 
Phillips applied for a new grow license for the not-yet-operational 
Nome Street cultivation. Based on Phillips' previous experience with 
the MED, he expected to have that license earlier this year.

When a couple of Phillips' new marijuana licenses were denied by the 
MED, including one for a proposed recreational shop in Pagosa 
Springs, the MED put Phillips' existing 39 licenses - including the 
license for the new grow facility - into a sort of pending status.

"It created a huge financial burden on the company and the loss of 
revenue that we can't put in the ground," he said.

A representative from MED declined to provide details, saying "this 
is an active and ongoing investigation."

Phillips said he's appealing the denials. Phillips' wife's cannabis 
business consulting company, Strainwise, is helping to place the 
laid-off employees elsewhere in the industry.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom