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BUSINESS Saturday 29 June 2019
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Millennial Money: How to join the cannabis business boom

By KELSEY SHEEHY business application. That
NerdWallet means business owners like
Associated Press Ivan and Anne Wood have
Marijuana is having a mo- to take extra precautions
ment. Experts recently to make sure they’re in
dubbed cannabis the compliance.
fastest-growing industry in The Woods run Mangia
the U.S. Legal weed gen- Ghanja , a cannabis-in-
erated $10.4 billion in the fused catering company
United States in 2018, and in San Diego. Under recre-
the number of “plant- ational use rules, they can
touching” jobs is expected cater private events but
to pass 500,000 by 2022 , they can’t charge custom-
according to New Frontier ers for cannabis-infused
Data, a cannabis market food unless the client pro-
research and data analysis vides them with the canna-
firm. Investors have taken bis, the Woods say.
note, pumping $10 billion There aren’t specific can-
into North American can- nabis rules for the culinary
nabis businesses last year industry in California, Anne
— a good sign for budding says, which makes it diffi-
entrepreneurs hoping to cult to find legal help to de-
cash in on the green rush. cipher regulations. “It’s so
But be warned, the can- In this June 20, 2019 photo a vendor with Talking Trees Farms a Northern Humboldt County new that we’re still blazing
nabis industry is not for the sustainable cannabis farm, offers a taste of their latest crop of crafted marijuana flower to an that trail to figure out how
faint of heart. Everything is attendee of WeedCon West 2019 in Los Angeles. to make it work.”
harder — from opening a Associated Press BEWARE THE GREEN TAX
bank account to finding smoke weed” kind of way. lenges. ing Hands Massage, a San “If you’re touching the
office space to hiring quali- “I have a different defini- DO WHAT YOU KNOW Diego-based mobile mas- plant, everything costs
fied employees — says tion of passionate now. You don’t want to jump sage company that uses twice as much,” says
Shane Schmitt, general Passionate to me is ‘What into a new venture with no oils infused with THC and Schmitt of Wy’East Oregon
manager of Wy’East Or- are you willing to take pain relevant experience. The CBD. Gardens. In reality, though,
egon Gardens, a cannabis for?’” Schmitt says. “There’s cannabis industry is no ex- While Smith had nearly two the markup can be more
cultivation and processing been a lot of pain.” ception. decades of experience as than double.
facility in Portland, Oregon. Doing your research from “People often want to run a massage therapist, he A regulatory license with
“It’s more difficult than start- the get-go can help you a dispensary or set up a had very little experience the city of Portland, for ex-
ing a business in any other stave off some of that pain. cultivation center and I ask, with making cannabis oils. ample, is $3,500 per year
area,” says Schmitt, 43, a Groups like the National “Well, have you ever done “I was making the oil myself for a cannabis business.
seasoned entrepreneur Cannabis Industry Associa- retail? Are you a farmer? at home. It was messy and That’s in addition to state
who previously worked in tion can help you connect Are you a botanist?” says I realized there was no way licensing fees, which can
finance and construction. with people working in the Morgan Fox, a spokesper- I could keep it uniform,” be as high $5,750 per year.
“There’s not a playbook for space, including in crucial son for the NCIA. Smith says. So he found a A traditional business might
an industry that people still areas like legal support, Instead, do what you guy with years of experi- pay a few hundred dollars
think should be illegal.” consulting and insurance. know — whether that’s ac- ence extracting THC and a year.
To succeed, you need And cannabis conferences counting, public relations making oils to handle that The so-called green tax ap-
more than a solid busi- — yes, those are a thing — or plumbing — and put a aspect. plies to actual taxes, too.
ness plan and ace team can help you network with cannabis spin on it. THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS Plant-touching cannabis
(though those are crucial, other “ganjapreneurs.” “The thing about cannabis The legal cannabis indus- businesses can’t deduct
too). You need to be truly These lessons from indus- is you can apply it to pretty try is heavily regulated, any business expenses on
passionate about canna- try vets can also help you much anything,” says Zac but those regulations often their taxes, so they pay the
bis, and not in the “I like to anticipate potential chal- Smith, 38, founder of Travel- don’t cover every possible full effective tax rate.q

Banks announce billions in share buybacks after Fed approval

By KEN SWEET dividends and buy back stock the next year and in-
Associated Press more shares this year and crease its dividend 13.3% to
NEW YORK (AP) — The na- still have enough capital 51 cents a share. The bank
tion’s largest banks are re- to survive a hypothetical remains under investigation
warding shareholders by deep recession in the next by state and federal au-
spending tens of billions year. Immediately after the thorities for abusive bank-
raising their dividends and Fed’s announcement, the ing practices. Citigroup
buying back stock after major banks started unveil- said it would buy back
getting the green light from ing their plans. JPMorgan, $17.1 billion in stock next
the Federal Reserve. the nation’s largest bank by year and also plans to in-
The Fed on Thursday said it assets, said it plans to buy crease its dividend to 13.3%
had approved the capital back $29.4 billion in shares to 51 cents a share. The
plans the nation’s 18 larg- this cycle. It would also in- Fed did ask one European
est banks submitted as part In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, the logo for Citigroup appears crease its dividend 12.5% bank, Credit Suisse, to fix a
of this year’s stress tests. above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock to 90 cents a share. Wells few issues in its capital plan
That means it determined Exchange. Fargo announced plans and will revisit the bank’s
the banks could raise their Associated Press to buy back $23.1 billion in plan in four months.q