San Francisco officials announced that the state of California had granted San Francisco $4.5 million to help expand the Cannabis Equity Grant Program. The funds, which are through the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, “will help build on the original purpose of eliminating disparities within the cannabis industry by the creation of businesses that are equity-based,” according to a statement issued by the city on Friday.
With the help of the governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, San Francisco and many other California communities, including Los Angeles and Oakland, created the local Cannabis Equity Grant Programs last year.
Since that time since then, OOC has since announced that the Office of Cannabis (OOC) located in San Francisco has “given nearly $5.5 million in grants for more than 50 equity-based businesses and grants that range between $50,000 and $150,000,” as per the report from the city.
In the announcement, Nikesh Patel, director of the San Francisco Office of Cannabis, stated that “From the perspective of history from a historical perspective, this Equity Grant Program reflects government proactively addressing the prohibitions against drugs which have harmed the communities we live in.” “We receive feedback from applicants who are socially disadvantaged that these grants are beneficial to their businesses. We’re proud to develop an initiative that takes into account feedback from the community, addresses the needs of applicants and in the end, lowers barriers to entering the cannabis industry.”
The grantees “may apply for grant reimbursements and/or grant advancements in 13 of the cost categories that are eligible for reimbursement including the accounting and accounting service, capital improvement as well as legal assistance, compliance with regulatory requirements, and rent, for example,” and they “may additionally benefit from technical assistance that is free to aid them with these processes.”