Josh and Tara Joseph, veteran Chicago marketers, made history in 2020 when the company they founded in 2014, Grassroots Cannabis, sold it to Curaleaf for $850 million. They then moved to Nashville and created Big Plan Holdings to combine the family’s business ventures, but most commonly to help others, especially minorities and women, effectively get into the hash business.
The Josephs, whose businesses included real estate development, music and entertainment, branding and licensing, and philanthropy, added hashish some time after Illinois legalized medical marijuana in 2014. Then, in 2019, Illinois legalized recreational uses of the popular herb. Over time, “Grassroots” had expanded far beyond the state borders and the Josephs were in a position to undertake a new mission.
Upon moving to Nashville, they entered a state with much more replaced marijuana laws; even medical hashish is prohibited. Big Plan Holdings CEO Josh Joseph says his project now is to supply and deploy capital to inspire social equity, diversity and inclusion in various industries, adding hashish, and even in music and entertainment, at a very high point and its philanthropic activities.
“We looked to Big Plan Holdings (BPH),” Joseph said, “to advise marketers in all fields (including film), especially minorities and women, who lack opportunities to grow their investments. Therefore, we sought to create a safe area for investors and began looking for opportunities to help others create wealth.
Josephs’ delight in Illinois places BPH at the forefront of the hash industry nationwide. To date, 37 states have legalized marijuana for one or more medical purposes; recreational use of marijuana is diversely legal in 22 of them. Other peoples and states have decriminalized the herb; Hemp and CBD products are at least conditionally legal in the state.
Through the subsidiary BPH Legacy Holdings, the Josephs are involved in cannabis-related businesses in several states, serving on corporate boards, state advisory boards, and even franchise acquisition teams. The team works with plant-related industries (cultivation, processing, manufacturing) and non-plant touch activities, adding technology, recruitment agencies and label brands in the marketing, advertising and branding spaces.
“Our clients,” Joseph explained, “include several celebrities whose roles in branding and sponsoring hashish and CBD corporations will soon be made public. Ultimately, we are looking for other people who are in a position and can invest in one of the fastest developing markets in the United States. Since the sale of Grassroots Cannabis, we have replacement “free agents” for minorities and women in the industry.
There are many elements that the BPH team analyzes when looking for where they can add value; simply by creating application methods for a hash application. Team members monitor where and when more licenses will be available. Joseph sees that a large industry is forming, despite federal prohibitions on marijuana, largely because the federal government has left it to him when establishing how to treat hashish and hashish products.
This means that the state and many localities that allow the use of hashish have their own set of laws and regulations. This diversity and confusing processes related to licensing led the Josephs to wish to satisfy the desire for a more public forum, one to address nuances. and the barriers that could be faced by those seeking to enter or expand their involvement in hashish-related businesses.
Therefore, on June 8, BPH will host what it hopes will be the first of many “Cannabis Live Chats” in Nashville.
Joseph will be one of 3 panelists who will cover a wide variety of topics for a live, interactive audience. Especially in unfavorable Tennessee, Joseph believes he has a lot to offer to replace state legislation and create a more cannabis-friendly environment. .
David Belsky, founder and CEO of FlowerWire, the nation’s largest recruitment firm for the hash industry, will share his reports in percentages to create a pool of high-profile candidates, to fill positions such as lead HR officer, legal counsel, lead financial officer and others. jobs for the construction of a successful hashish business in the country’s regulated maximum expansion industry.
Former NFL athlete Jordan Reed, one of Joseph’s young minority traders, co-founded BPH’s subsidiary, “BPH Legacy Partners” with fellow Florida Gator (and NFL veteran) Dominique Easley. Reed will share his reports with hashish, first and foremost, as medicine to deal with the pain of football injuries (which shortened his NFL career). Reed will also participate in BPH’s project to attract women and minorities to the hashish sector.
The live chat will cover a wide variety of topics, with Joseph specific about what it takes to create and operate a successful hash business, in which the most difficult hurdle is getting a license to operate. the almost total ban. Legal hemp-based CBD is very popular in the Volunteer State, but mere possession of hashish-based CBD is a misdemeanor, punishable by fines of up to $2,500 and one year in prison.
“Some other people think the hash industry is a simple way to get cash quickly,” Joseph said, “but the truth is different. This is not a box for susceptible souls. “
Cannabis is the highest regulated industry in the country, even above gambling, tobacco and alcohol. That’s why, Joseph says, BPH is committed to offering guidance at all levels of the process.
Despite federal bans, each state creates its own set of laws and regulations to govern the point of legality that lawmakers will pass. These help determine whether the industry can function and grow across the state and in each locality. Products can be sold and where.
Typically, Joseph said, a governor will create a hash commission, whose members will spend a year or two learning and offering feedback on what could be a smart first step: regular medical marijuana. Then come the limitations of physical proximity (schools, places of sale). cult, etc. ) and opt-in or opt-out provisions that allow localities to participate or not to participate in such a “pilot”.
These restrictions, along with asset values, traffic, and other points assessed by top companies, narrow down the list of qualified locations that can conduct a medical hash program. This two-tier formula increases the already enormous amount of work you want to do before applying for a license, a procedure in itself highly competitive.
Those applying for a license will also need to maneuver through zoning processes and special use permits; convincing and teaching local security officials and personnel, firefighters, police and emergency response; and gain acceptance from neighboring businesses. Public and personal meetings are held with citizens and officials before a site is approved. In short: the “great race to green” requires a lot of time, concentration, dedication, field and above all capital. .
And, since there are regularly multiple applicants for a limited number of licenses, there is no guarantee that all this time, effort, and capital will pay off. Applications are graded and successful applicants will have to be successful in all grades. women, who typically lack a large portfolio or local connections, face even greater difficulties.
Even more capital is needed once a candidate (especially a DEI candidate) obtains a license at any level. Successful companies want to identify strong popular operating procedures for raising capital, especially since hashish companies do not have to apply for bank loans.
Poorly controlled or poorly devised, corporations can lose huge sums of money.
Overall, hashish has become a “big boy, big girl” business that favors giant firms that have done little or nothing genuine for public acceptance of the industry, Joseph said.
“Our BPH workplace exists to ensure that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DCI) applicants effectively enter the hashish industry. “
Duggan Flanakin is Policy Director of the Committee for a Constructive Future (CFACT). The views expressed are his own.