Four Sangamon and Logan County marijuana businesses received a total of nearly $2 million in direct forgivable loans last month from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as part of the Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program.
Two craft grow businesses received $750,000 each in forgivable loans – Lincoln Labs and Rt. 66 Rec. Lincoln Labs, owned by Justin Condor, is located in Springfield, while Rt. 66 Rec, owned by Jeff Fulgenzi, Gary Alexander and Wilbur Day II, is located in Lincoln after a failed attempt to get zoning approval in Springfield.
Mystic Greenz, a recreational dispensary owned by Tiffany Jackson and Krishna Balakrishnan, and one infuser, 1248 IP Holdings owned by Jacques Logan, received $245,000 each in forgivable loans. Both businesses are located in Lincoln but have owners from Bloomington and Chicago.
In order to qualify for the loan program, business applicants must be Illinois residents that meet one of the following criteria:
- an applicant with at least 51% ownership and control by one or more individuals who:
- have resided for at least five of the preceding 10 years in a disproportionately impacted area;
- have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for any offense that is eligible for expungement; or
- are members of an impacted family; or
- for applicants with a minimum of 10 full-time employees, an applicant with at least 51% of current employees who:
- currently reside in a disproportionately impacted area; or
- have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for any offense that is eligible for expungement or member of an impacted family.”
Most of Springfield is designated a disproportionately impacted area.
Critics of Illinois’ rollout of legalized marijuana derided the option to qualify for social equity status by having a workforce who mostly met eligibility requirements as a “slave master clause.”
State revenue from cannabis taxes, licensing costs and other fees goes into the Cannabis Regulation Fund, which is used to fund expungement of marijuana offenses, the general revenue fund and the R3 program, which looks to reinvest in communities impacted by prior cannabis policy. Last fiscal year, cannabis taxes brought in more than $280 million in revenue, almost $90 million of which went into the state’s general revenue fund.
Representatives for both Rt 66 Rec and Lincoln Labs declined on-the-record interviews for this story, citing a continued uncertainty around securing financing. Federal changes are happening, but the most immediate impact has only been for medical marijuana businesses filing taxes.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is holding a meeting on June 29 about the proposed rescheduling of marijuana.