If the City Council were to increase the buffer distance between dispensaries to 1,500 feet, this would detrimentally impact the eight new equity dispensaries that are trying to start a successful cannabis business in Long Beach . This change would have little i mpact on the existing 32 cannabis dispensaries, who were able to find viable properties without regard for any additional zoning restrictions and would only be applicable if an existing dispensary decided to move their business to a new location.
Assuming the existing 32 cannabis dispensary businesses were to remain in the same locations they have today, and the eight equity dispensaries had a buffer of 1,500 feet around their business, the buffer area for all eight equity dispensaries would total 2.03 square miles, whereas, if the eight equity dispensaries had a buffer of 1,000 feet around their business, it would only collectively take up 0.9 square miles. Therefore, an additional 1.1 square miles would be taken up from the Green Zone with an incr ease of the buffer by 500 square feet.
Although there are variables that could affect this calculation, such as where the existing 32 dispensaries and each of the eight new dispensaries will end up locating , an increase to the buffer would further reduce the area where an equity business could locate.
In addition to reducing the land area on which equity dispensaries could locate, a 1,500 foot buffer also imposes a more restrictive condition on equity applicants tha n what was imposed on the initial 32 cannabis dispensaries, none of whom are owned by equity applicants. Most of the existing 32 cannabis dispensaries have been able to operate from ideal locations for years, while equity dispensaries are trying to find facilities that are compliant with all buffers and zoning, as well as finding locations where property owners agree to rent or lease their space at a fair market value, if at all.
Lastly, staff performed outreach to existing cannabis dispensary owners and equity applicants to understand if a 1,500 foot buffer would be beneficial in reducing overconcentration. Although it was acknowledged that it would increase the distance between dispensaries, m any of the business owners and equity applicants indicated that it would be in their best interest to find properties that are further than 1,500 feet away from each other to reduce competition ; therefore, they did not believe a more restrictive buffer was necessary. In conclusion, increasing the buffer between dispensaries would further perpetuate the existing barriers equity applicants face in finding viable properties and is not recommended at this time.
Grant Funding for Cannabis Staff
During staff’s presentation at the October 12, 2021 meeting, staff stated that two additional full- time employees (FTEs) would be needed, one in the Office of Cannabis Oversight (OCO) in the City Manager Department and one in the Business License Division in the Financial Management Department to implement the City Council’s cannabis initiatives, such as shared- use manufacturing, delivery, and equity dispensaries, as well as the ongoing programmatic updates needed in the cannabis program. At the time, the only funding source available for these resources would be an increase to the can nabis business tax on retailers. In response, the City Council requested that staff look to grant funding as a first option to support the Cannabis Equity Delivery and Dispensary Update
April 26, 2022
cannabis staffing request. Fortunately, staff was able to apply for and be awarded grant funds to bring on the necessary staff to support the cannabis program through March 2025.
At its meeting on January 18, 2022, the City Council approved the Local Jurisdiction Assistance Grant provided by the Department of Cannabis Control through March 2025. This grant will support 11 positions (existing and new) in multiple City departments, including City Manager, Development Services, Financial Management, Economic Development, Fire, and Health and Human Services.
In addition, at its meeting on March 8, 2022, the City Council approved a Cannabis Equity Grant (CEG) provided by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO Biz) to support a Community Program Specialist in the Economic Development Department through October 2023. This position will be responsible for supporting the Cannabis S ocial Equity Program, including but not limited to, developing and coordinating direct technical assistance activities, verifying equity applicants, and administering grants to equity applicants. It is anticipated that CEG grants will continue to be available on an annual basis for future years.
With the additional grant funding, staff is no longer requesting resources for additional staff to support the cannabis program at this time ; however, as the cannabis program continues to expand, there will likely be additional resources necessary to sustain the program in future years once these grant funds are exhausted.
Equity Dispensary RFP Criteria Community Engagement
At its meeting on October 12, 2021, the City Council authorized $50,000 to hire consultants to solicit input and feedback from the equity community on the eligibility and evaluation criteria for Request for Proposals (RFP) process to select the eight equity dispensary operators. However, due to the time it would take to competitively solicit a consultant, staff decided to conduct the community outreach in-house through in-person workshops and meetings, and an online survey.
On December 16, 2021, OCO staff hosted an in-person Equity Dispensary Request for Proposals (RFP) Criteria Workshop to gain valuable insights on questions related to the eligibility and evaluation criteria of the RFP. Topics of discussion included using a points system or full discretionary model to score applications, eligibility requirements that illustrate an equity applicant’s experience with the War on Drugs in Long Beach, business plan requirements to determine an equity applicant’s “fitness” to opera te a dispensary, and knowledge and understanding of the cannabis industry as well as local, state, and federal regulations. In addition to the interactive workshop, a short survey was distributed to verified equity applicants in the Cannabis Equity Program asking them to provide feedback on the topics that were discussed in the in -person workshop. A detailed summary of the survey responses can be found attached to this memorandum.
On March 17, 2022, OCO staff hosted an Equity Town Hall meeting to provide updates on the Equity Program and important information regarding the Equity Dispensary RFP process.
Cannabis Equity Delivery and Dispensary Update
April 26, 2022
Approximately 40 people attended the meeting, with the majority being equity applicants, who provided feedback on the RFP selection process and timing. Using the information provided by equity applicants through this community engagement, staff is developing eligibility and evaluation criteria for the RFP that is consistent with community’s priorities and ensures that the City is selecting eight equity applicants that have a high likelihood of success at opening and operating a cannabis dispensary in Long Beach.
Next Steps
Staff has been working diligently on preparing the ordinances for the equity delivery business type and the eight additional equity dispensaries. Staff will be presenting the equity dispensary ordinance to the City Council on May 10, 2022 prior to the equity delivery ordinance, which will be presented at a later date. The delivery business type requires new land use regulations; therefore, the proposed zoning regulations will be presented to the Planning Commission in June 2022 and the delivery business ordinance will be presented to the City Council shortly thereafter.
If you have any questions, please contact Emily Armstrong, Cannabis Program Manager, at (562) 570-6406 or [email protected].
ATTACHMENT – EQUITY DISPENSARY APPLICATION CRITERIA FEEDBACK SURVEY RESULTS
CC: CHARLES PARKIN, CITY ATTORNEY
DOUGLAS P. HAUBERT, CITY PROSECUTOR
LAURA L. DOUD, CITY AUDITOR
LINDA F. TATUM, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
TERESA CHANDLER, DEPUTY CITY MANAGER
APRIL WALKER, ADMINISTRATIVE DEPUTY CITY MANAGER
MONIQUE DE LA GARZA, CITY CLERK
DEPARTMENT HEADS
Equity Dispensary Application Criteria
Feedback Survey Results
General Questions
1. Should an equity applicant currently live in Long Beach to be eligible for a dispensary license?
Note: There are verified equity applicants in the program that are not current Long Beach residents.
Yes, 69%
No, 19%
Maybe,
12%
Yes No Maybe
2. Please briefly explain your response to Question #1.
1 Because Long Beach is the City that is attempting to increase equity participation, Long Beach residents should be given priority.
2 The goal of the social equity program should be to give back to the disadvantaged and biased regardless of their current demographics as long as they meet the criteria to be qualified
3 I believe the priority should be given to a social equity applicant that actually lives in the city of Long Beach because it shows pride and dedication to the city of Long Beach.
4 The applicant should be a Long Beach resident to benefit city 5 I do not believe the equity applicant should live in Long Beach because, many prior residents that love and lived in Long Beach for numerous year have had to move because of work or unfortunate circumstances like cost of living for example. 6 If they moved for financial hardship then should be considered 7 The purpose of the Equity program is to help minorities who have been treated unfairly or incarcerated or arrested due to the (marijuana) war on drugs, unemployed and live in the city of Long Beach CA.
8 I live in Long Beach however I know someone in program who was shot & effected by the war on crimes. This person chose to get out of Long Beach after they were affected so harshly in this city. Why should they be disqualified? The council and OCO should consider these things.
9 Residency, or the preference for residents, should be treated as a different topic. The War On Drugs had an impact on far too many people to limit this opportunity to just LB residents. Additionally, some of the best applicants in terms of job and revenue creation for the city, may not happen to be residents and the city will sacrifice results. 10 Equity applicants should be tridents who are familiar with the community Ave have long standing ties. It’s important that the city give opportunities to those who live and spend in the city of Long Beach and keep the taxes along with the economic impact (dollars) recirculating in Long Beach
11 I do not know the legal ramifications. No matter what, applicants are going to find someone.
12 Supports local community members
13 The Dispensary licensee will have direct interaction with the consumer and the community. As such, a person who resides in the community will probably have a greater stake in and better understanding of the communities needs and the positive impact that a retail store can have on the Long Beach community (e.g., job creation for local residents), The other licenses (e.g., manufacturing, cultivation, distribution) are not directly accessed by the community and my guess is that they operated in anonymity and without community interaction. Those equity applicants who live outside of Long Beach should apply for those licenses.
14 To be able to build the Community they reside in and have vested interest in the success of not only the location, but the community that surrounds the location. 15 They are verified applicants who may have been displaced due to Covid/Evictions etc. We have to be mindful it’s a pandemic. They should be in surrounding areas at lease Los Angeles County.
16 If you want to have equity and inclusion you should begin with the residents who “reside” within the city of Long Beach.
17 I worry that vulturous investors could come in if we expand the licenses to outside of Long Beach. There is enough demand from people who have already started the City's equity program that they should have first priority over the licenses. 18 This will help LB residents own business in their city which something that could benefit all because they’re already part of the community and probably want to see it thrive rather than coming in and mining it for resources and then leaving at the end of it.
19 The applicant should be a resident because we as equity applicants can’t go to any other city to open a business with this program and they are a lot of investors with money that can over power us and it would be nice to have a business in our city that some of us have lived our entire lives.
20 I believe the residents of Long Beach should only be able to participant in this process, because LA City and LA County had the opportunity to apply for these funds for their residents to participant in an Equity Program. I believe residents will support their own.
21 The equity program is about reinvestment in the community one lives. The city should be helping it's own residents who have ties to the community and truly care about the future of Long Beach.
22 This is the Long Beach Equity Program. Therefore the only equity applicants who are proven 3+ year city residents should have access to this city-specific program. I'm shocked that this is even a question and that the City is currently giving resources away to non-residents as equity program participants. That's ridiculous. 23 It’s was already hard for equity applicants to get the license but being pushed out by a an applicant that’s not apart of the community isn’t fair either 24 It’s the Long Beach equity program. I believe that bans alone expresses exclusivity to Long Beach residence. Also, there are already hundreds of Long Beach applicants who might be pushed to the side if others bombard and already saturated process. 25 Yes, applicants who live in Long Beach show their commitment by living in the city.
Through this commitment individuals who live in the city will recycle or reinvest the dollar back into the community. Recycling the dollar in the city is important for the local economy. For this reason and more it is important for the social equity applicant to not only have been raised in the community but for also the applicant to have remained productive members of the Long Beach community. For example, I went to elementary, middle school and high school in Long Beach. completed my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree and maintain my residence in the Long Beach. I have invested in the community for most of life; I need the community to reinvest back into me to create a preputial cycle. Also, applicants that have not live in the city will just come back to benefit without putting any of the work. 26 Yes, applicants who live in Long Beach show their commitment by living in the city.
Through this commitment individuals who live in the city will recycle or reinvest the dollar back into the community. Recycling the dollar in the city is important for the local economy. For this reason and more it is important for the social equity applicant to not only have been raised in the community but for also the applicant to have remained productive members of the Long Beach community. For example, I went to elementary, middle school and high school in Long Beach. completed my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree and maintain my residence in the Long Beach. I have invested in the community for most of life; I need the community to reinvest back into me to create a preputial cycle.
27 1) How are there qualified equity applicants not in the city? 2) How would the parameters be defined - Where do you draw the line? One of the purposes of the social equity plan is community reinvestment, rewarding those with ongoing ties to the neighborhoods they reside in.
28 They have ties to the city/neighborhood and that is a reason to reward them. They will give back to long beach
29 Social equity is about ties to the city and should be required to live there 30 If we have lived In Long beach is all that matters. As long as we can visit Long Beach when needed should be fine.
31 This is our community of course it should only be for Long Beach residents. Also the license should not have any corporations as partners. The license should be 100% equity owned with no chance to be bought out by corporations. 32 Equity candidates should be anyone who meets criteria geography of residence isn’t necessary. We want the best candidates
3. Should an applicant applying for a dispensary license have previous cannabis business experience?
Yes, 31%
No, 31%
Maybe,
38%
Yes No Maybe
4. Please briefly explain your answer to Question #3
below, including what types of cannabis experience
1 The ultimate goal is to have successful equity run businesses. There is no greater indicator of success in running a dispensary than having operated a dispensary. You cannot learn on the job.
2 It’s beneficial to all parties involved that the social equity applicants are valued and are able to contribute, best way to show this is to have a track record. 3 The applicant should have some knowledge and/or a team that has significant knowledge.
4 This will prevent individuals with extensive experience in outside industries with more than enough experience from doing business
5 I do not believe an applicant should have cannabis business experience when applying for a dispensary license because, a great business starts with trial and error and if the equity applicant can’t provide the proper work ethic in running the business grass roots and with help of the city then the applicant has to make the choice of continuing to work hard or pass the license to the next applicant. 6 A degree, buisness, or real estate lic shows discipline 7 What kind of experience ? Selling marijuana ? Making topicals and giving them to family and relatives. Legally growing 6 plants in my house or yard ? How do you prove this stuff. ? So my answer is no.
8 Cannabis Businesses are already hard enough to open. A dispensary requires the most capital & experience to open. Anyone interested in a dispensary would already have the ambition to be in the industry as a operator, owner or employee. To ensure success we should have require the applicant has previous cannabis experience. 9 Retail cannabis is far tough competitive and complicated to trust one of these permits to a group with no understanding as to what they are getting into. 10 I think cannabis experience should be preferred but not necessary. Not all social Equity applicants have had any opportunities to be a part of the cannabis community for various reasons including financial disadvantages shopping with criminal convictions which I’d the point of the social Equity program 11 Why would you punish people who obeyed the law.
12 Plenty of resources available to obtain compliance knowledge, open door for new SEP owners.
13 I think that basic knowledge of the industry should be demonstrated. That could take the form of cannabis classes, self-study, mentorship, etc. I do not think that the licensee necessarily has to have worked in a dispensary prior to ownership. 14 Having had licenses previously, or partook in the "black market" prior to the introduction of the licensing process.
15 Most applicants have street credits selling cannabis the applicants should have some business background. They should know the fundamentals of accounting. This is key to running a business and some management skills. Or at least enrolled in a program to advance themselves.
16 The applicant should have prior cannabis experience to include managing a cannabis facility.
17 Not necessarily, as the City seems to have a pretty good infrastructure to support applicants through the licensing/regulatory process. I would almost prefer people *not* have a lot of cannabis experience, as the whole point of the program is to give licenses to those who have been reaped of the opportunity to start their own cannabis business. However, I think this mostly applies to storefronts. People with experience in manufacturing or cultivation should be of higher preference, whether their experience was legal or not.
18 Allowing residents who are interested in getting started in the cannabis business opens it to all rather than a privileged few.
19 The applicant should not have to have cannabis experience because this is a hard industry to get into and not everyone is fortunate to have been in the industry due to having to survive in our normal life’s.
20 The individuals that first signed up for this program had to have an infraction with the City of Long Beach. I believe credit should be given for both cannabis and retail experience. If you know marketing, retail, inventory and hiring staff. This skills qualify to operate a retail business (dispensary)
21 I think the most important criteria is for the applicant to have a willingness to succeed and learn about the industry. It would be more helpful if the the applicant had general business knowledge or experience. Specific cannabis experience would be a bonus, but not vital to success. It can be learned on the job and through relationships, partners, staff and vendors.
22 These eight licenses will have significant value due to the high probability of reaching profitability more quickly than any other cannabis business. I think it's essential that the candidates have at least some knowledge of the industry and understand the requirements. I also think it's good to test applicants' understanding of the legal cannabis industry.
23 Historically low income POC business owners have been discriminated against maintaining such licenses. Making it a requirement with further damage and distance true equity applicants who weren’t able to secure those licenses in the past. 24 For this initial round it is important for the applicant to have a basic understanding of the cannabis industry. It has been about 5 years and ample opportunity to enter the cannabis industry as at least a worker. It is essential for an applicant to have previous cannabis business experience because it is imperative that the applicant shows proof of knowledge and ability to operate a successful cannabis business. Experience in cannabis allows for applicants who have already created contacts and meaningful relationships that can benefit the cannabis business and ensure greater likelihood of success. This knowledge can only be gained from prior experience in the cannabis industry. Experience an include receiving Metrc transfers, creating purchase orders, placing orders, understanding compliance?
25 For this initial round it is important for the applicant to have a basic understanding of the cannabis industry. It has been about 5 years and ample opportunity to enter the cannabis industry as at least a worker. It is essential for an applicant to have previous cannabis business experience because it is imperative that the applicant shows proof of knowledge and ability to operate a successful cannabis business. Experience in cannabis allows for applicants who have already created contacts and meaningful relationships that can benefit the cannabis business and ensure greater likelihood of success. This knowledge can only be gained from prior experience in the cannabis industry. Experience an include receiving Metrc transfers, creating purchase orders, placing orders, understanding compliance.
26 I think the most important criteria is a willingness to learn the correct way (legal way) to operate a business. Business experience is vital for success, not cannabis experience. Cannabis experience would be a bonus, but it can be gained through the partner/sponsor dispensary, hiring and continuing education through vendors and product research.
27 They need to understand the legal way to run a cannabis business. It's the only way they will succeed. A good partner is very important
28 They need to understand compliance to run a legal dispensary 29 Any type of cannabis experience should be suffice. Not many industries have that requirement to become an owner why initiate that on equity applicants. Doesn’t make any sense.
30 I think the applicants should have some cannabis knowledge. 31 This is the only way anyone in this business will be successful. Or a degree in botany and or business.
5. Is there any other professional experience an applicant should have to be eligible for a dispensary license?
1 Any applicant with advanced degrees or experience in operating a business should receive bonus points, again the point is to have success equity owned dispensaries. 2 Previous cannabis retail experience
3 Customer service should be sufficient.
4 Management experience
5 There is no really professional experience an applicant should have to be eligible for a dispensary license, other then having high integrity, honesty and a people person. 6 A degree or lic of some sort. Or own business that’s proven success. 7 They should have a successful self-employment history. They must have the personality and a business acumen to foresee the inevitable change and adapt. Not everyone is cut out for self-employment. Some will make great cannabis industry employees but may not necessarily be equipped to sustain themselves as a business owner.
8 Any type of business owner, Military, Law Enforcement, Security, Law, Accounting, & College Degrees.
9 Experience with regulated substances, including cannabis, alcohol, pharm, especially those which limit customers by age etc... High value retail is good to. 10 Yes an applicant should have some professional experience or identify someone on their team who has the experience and submit their resume 11 Hard to pinpoint given the person is not "really" going to participate. They are just winning the lottery.
12 Again, no - SEP owners need no further barriers to entry including "professional experience." Numerous online assets available to train and learn. 13 The applicant should be familiar with at least the basic of business (e.g., marketing, human resources, operations). This can be documented through education, work experience, mentorship, etc.
14 Customer service... to be able to serve the people, correctly. Customer service whether, "professional" or just an overall care for the people. 15 Leadership skills is important treating employees with respect goes along way.
Getting a certificate from LBCC in Cannabis business is a great start and it’s only $420. I’m attending in March and it’s online.
16 Business management as well as accounting principles should be a requirement. 17 I think what's most important is that they have a good grasp of the industry as a whole. What marketing they plan to have, familiarity with what's popular in the industry, best practices and so on. It should be a balance between how they've been impacted by (low income, War on Drugs, closed out of other opportunities) and how the City evaluates their potential for success.
18 A ton of skill sets are transferable so no? Their professional experience should make sense but also there may be folks from other industries who are trying to pivot to this one which is fine
19 No as long as he or she is a qualified equity applicant and has love for the industry. 20 Successful Completion of the Cannabis Entrepreneurship Academy 8 week program or any other completion of a Cannabis Business Owner certificate program. 21 General business experience is important such as dealing with customers, vendors and employees. Safety/security and inventory control are important. 22 Most equity applicants won't have professional experience, but that shouldn't limit their opportunity at these licenses. Whatever experience applicants can provide is great, but it shouldn't make or break them.
23 I believe the applicants should have some knowledge or experience within the cannabis industry either in retail/delivery(as management or employee), cultivation or distribution. If not experience in the industry then they should have some type of educational background related to cannabis whether that be science, biology or health.
24 Yes, I believe at minimum an undergraduate degree is essential to prove their commitment to a long-term goal. Additional degrees beyond an undergraduate should be considered as an additional asset. Also, non-profit experience. 25 Yes, I believe at minimum an undergraduate degree is essential to prove their commitment to a long-term goal. Additional degrees beyond an undergraduate should be considered as an additional asset.
26 General business experience is important such as inventory control, compliance, directing staff, customer service.
27 Business experience, ability to work with staff, inventory experience 28 Customer service, HR, inventory, business experience 29 No
30 No
31 Some familiarity experience with product and business. It is very difficult to know what to buy, quality of products etc and also the many policies and procedures.
6. What types of information or documents should the
City request from an applicant to demonstrate their plan for the business?
1 A viable business plan and/or model that shows 1) the applicant has experience in operating a dispensary, 2) economic and managerial resources necessary to operate a dispensary and 3) evidence the applicant is prepared to operate a dispensary. 2 Business plans that should include operating plans, staffing plans, community and neighborhood plans and security plans at minimum
3 A business plan and proposal.
4 Business plan Financial statement
5 The types of information or documents the city should request from the applicant to demonstrate their plan for the business is a rough sketch of the interior layout and rough estimate of gross yearly income.
6 None
7 A business plan, SOP's.
8 Previous Cannabis Experience, business plan, security plan, proof of funds. 9 Ignore product mix and how a dispensary is going to market itself, or educate consumers. That is all fluff. The City should want to see sales reports and bank deposits that support the claims of performance that the City should expect. You are picking a spouse, figure out who the candidate really is. 10 Business Plan, personal background, statement of how the war on drugs has impacted them etc
11 They are not going to do the business plan. All a business plan demonstrates is that they didn't start the application last minute.
12 Source and amount of capital intended for building department approvals and operations for first 180 days.
13 A solid business plan that includes addressing equity issues; not just for themselves and their family, but also how the license will be used to achieve equity for others impacted by the War on Drugs.
14 Their ideas in opening the Location, the purpose, and The Why. A thought out paragraph would suffice. Any mock up drawings as well as any ideas/plans to rebuild the community, service the community and help the community. 15 Business Plan, Resume, A letter stating why they believe they can run a dispensary.
Prior or current business ownership will help. Understanding your Profit and Loss Statements, Balance Sheet, Employees Taxes, Business and Franchise Taxes. 16 A business plan, risk assessment (physical security, employee background checks, etc).
17 What kind of products they plan to sell and why, what their marketing will look like, how they plan to engage with the community, general schematics of what they want the aesthetic of the store to look like (without costly renderings, but with at least an understanding of how much it will cost to furnish a store and hire people). Where they plan to source their products from (preference over people who plan to integrate locally grown or manufactured products).
18 Business plan: budget, business entity, website, branding, etc 19 Why he or she would like to open a dispensary, and a ordinance of how they will run their buisness.
20 1) General business plan similar to the to the original medical dispensary applicants 2) Real Location with owner consent that fits buffers and zoning criteria 3) Experienced dispensary partner/sponsor that is in good standing with the city and up-to-date with compliance and paying taxes 4) Other parts of a business plan like financial projections, operating plan, security plan, marketing plan, legal and compliance 21 I think the city should work with outside business professionals on putting together an incredibly detailed questionnaire that provokes well-thought-out answers on every aspect of what owning and operating a cannabis dispensary will require and how they intend to do it. I realize this is essentially a business plan, but creating a standard template will help remove any bias toward someone who knows how to format their plan correctly. Hopefully, this will also limit some predatory practices of expensive attorneys, and cannabis consultants who I'm sure are licking their chops over this portion of the process.
22 Business plan
23 If they have some sort of business plan documents, those should be submitted or they can briefly explain in a written entry their experience, why they qualify and what they envision for the business.
24 Business plan Community plan
25 Business plan
26 1) General business plan 2) Location 3) Strong and experienced dispensary partner/sponsor, which has good standing with the city and state. 4) Other sections found in a business plan, such as Financial Projections, Operating Plan, Security Plan, Marketing Plan, Legal and Compliance
27 A certified location, business plan, who their partner is, that they can demonstrate they know how to operate a business. We dont want this to turn out like Oakland or Los Angeles where social equity has failed
28 Provide a certified location, business plan, experienced partner 29 Business plan only!
30 A business plan, did they attend the cannabis entrepreneurship Academy to gain the knowledge of what you need to run a dispensary, proper verification that they are a Long Beach resident.
31 Some type of proof I.e letter of recommendation from employer, business license, degree cert, paystub from employer in the business of cannabis.
7. Should an applicant have a certain level of training to be eligible for a dispensary license? Why or why not?
1 Again, unless an applicant has operated a dispensary or managed a dispensary the likelihood of success of the endeavor is dramatically decreased. allowing an applicant with no experience whereas an applicant with experience is also available would simply increase the likelihood of failure.
2 Yes but there’s lack of standardization in this field to differentiate 3 The applicant should at minimum have completed some type of cannabis course just to understand the huge undertaking the business requires. 4 Yes, to allow successful outcomes
5 The applicant should do their part in educating them self on how to run a dispensary prior to apply. If the city provides “work shop” to help the applicants in training for a dispensary then that should also be part of the applicants duty to utilize the available resource.
6 Nono
7 Some certification would be helpful. You can't have people unequipped. 8 College degree should be an added ranking. Every dispensary applicant should be in a position to successfully open up. We want to set up people for success. 9 Absolutely. A lack of business acumen is fatal, not necessarily cannabis but retail is key. Just being rich enough to afford the start-up is not enough. A track record of hiring, training and customer service is paramount.
10 If you’re going to do retail you should have sone experience working in retail, the applicants shouldn’t need it but they need to have a team member who has that experience
11 Associates degree. This is supposed to help people who are trying to help themselves, so some evidence would be ideal
12 Again, no - SEP owners need no further barriers to entry. Numerous online assets available to train and learn.
13 Again, I think the applicant should have some basic business knowledge. The should also have a plan in place for how they will address their gaps in knowledge. For example, if operations is not their strength, who will be hired to fill in that gap. 14 No, they shouldn't, as some would not have had the opportunity to be able to receive said training due to being incarcerated on cannabis charges. We do not want to leave out those who cannot meet certain criteria, though they are still considered SOCIAL EQUITY.
15 Yes prior or current business ownership/ LBCC Cannabis course which covers the history, cultivation,distribution, testing, delivery all license type. It’s online due to Covid, it’s once a week on zoom. Education is the key to understanding this fast pace business.
16 Yes, they should have training for a dispensary license. They should have knowledge of their responsibilities.
17 They should be able to prove by their plans that they have a grasp of what starting the business entails. The plan should vouch for their potential for success.
Managerial experience or entrepreneurial experience to some degree would be good so they aren't going in completely blind.
18 Yes, if they’re interested in this business it should only make sense that they’ve already taken certain steps to demonstrate how serious they are. The only concern here is privilege. Those who have more resources will probably be further along than those who don’t and that’s concerning because then it’s not equitable. 19 No because we as equity applicants have not ran a dispensary before. An alternative would be to have a training at another location to see how the business is ran through out the day
20 See answers 4 & 5
21 I feel that the applicant should have general business experience and training, but a willingness to learn and ongoing education opportunities should be more important.
The applicant should have a good dispensary partner/sponsor that understand the business. Ongoing trainings in general accounting, business, inventory control, compliance, marketing, HR and products.
22 I think that the eight chosen applicants should be required to complete a training course that consists of one shift at each licensed Long Beach dispensary. This will allow them to experience all the different methods of operating a cannabis retail business.
23 A class or advisor on the laws of a dispensary
24 Yes, I believe that they should have some sort of background in cannabis businesses themselves or some sort of education related to the botany of the plant in order to be able to teach people what they should and should not buy. If you have never worked in the cannabis industry in any shape or form, I believe it will be very hard for you to build a cannabis business from scratch because you don’t know what the business should entail. You also won’t be able to combat the issues that the current cannabis industry faces because you will not be aware of them. 25 Yes, training, experience, and management in the cannabis industry. Also, experience managing a non cannabis business can help.
26 Yes, training, experience, and management in the cannabis industry. Also, experience managing a non cannabis business can help. Plus, education and non profit experience
27 1) What type of training 2) General accounting, business, inventory control, compliance, marketing, HR, METRC, Products The applicant should have a willingness to learn coupled with a good dispensary partner/sponsor. 28 Accounting, inventory, HR, compliance
29 Training in inventory, compliance, HR
30 Yes the incubation period is crucial in understanding the business and getting the experience for those whom never worked In This industry 31 Yes they should have completed the cannabis entrepreneurship academy classes to gain the knowledge learn how to build a team and to have the people in place to assist in running a cannabis business.
32 1 year experience in any cannabis business.
8. Should equity applicants who have been in the Equity Program longer receive additional points/higher ranking for their application? Why or why not?
1 It is hard to see how participating in the Equity Program means that candidate is more qualified than another equity candidate.
2 Yeah they should be given recognition for having the right coordination and preparation to accomplish that
3 I don't believe that is necessary if priority is given to applicants that live in the city of Long Beach.
4 Yes, these candidates have been waiting on this type of license prior to newer applicants
5 Applicants who have been in the program longer should receive the same attention as new applicants if the criteria is met. So that the process of selecting the right person is equal.
6 No but equity applicants who have a track record of attendance, involvement, and input should .
7 Actively waiting, yes !! Idly waiting, absolutely not. 8 If you completed the course you should receive higher ranking. The longer applicants should be considered higher ranking after passing qualifications. 9 Can't imagine why. In fact, the City should now defer to the State's definition of a Social Equity applicant.
10 Definitely not, they should not get extra points just because they’ve signed up and then proceeded to do nothing for the last few years, the points should be based on who can actually get the dispensary up and running not how long you sat on the sidelines, help comes to those who help themselves
11 No. Why would we give preference? You are just handing the licenses to the big companies.
12 No - SEP eligibility is the determining factor, not first come first served given the time and effort required to complete and application.
13 No, I do not think that applicants who have been in the program longer should receive additional points or higher ranking. That gives people an unfair advantage based solely on when they applied for the program and that is not as important as having a solid business plan, which includes business experience and addresses equity issues.
14 Yes. As this process should've started with The List, and Applicant number 1. Since we are not, those who were enrolled in the Program, should receive a higher rank, or greater points.
15 Yes especially the people who show up for the Town Hall to sitting for 3 hours to speak for 3 mins. The people who you know by name who is constantly fighting to push forward these people like me Jillian have passion and a mission to save the youths from tbd streets.
16 I don’t know what the requirements are to be in the equity program but I would highly consider everyone be treated fairly. Set the standards first and then apply ALL of the applicants to the set criteria.
17 To some extent yes, but I'm more concerned with the business's potential for success and a thorough business plan. (Ability to adapt to changing market factors, watching new regulations at the state level and contingency plans for if something goes awry.) There are plenty of people who didn't know the equity program didn't exist in the beginning, and they shouldn't be discounted if they seem promising. 18 Not sure tbh.
19 I believe we should have interviews in person to gain those points and higher rankings so they can hear some of our ideas not everyone is good at expressing them selfs in groups or paper.
20 Yes, because I have being searching for property and participating in all workshops and training provided by the City in order to advance my education and knowledge of operating a business.
21 No. The best applicant should be able to advance, regardless of when they signed up, as long as they meet the criteria. The process should be transparent and the timing of the application should not be treated as a qualitative factor. 22 The time spent in the program alone shouldn't impact points whatsoever.
Conversely, what each applicant has accomplished within their time in the program should be used in the scoring process.
23 No, longer doesn’t not mean more qualified
24 Yes. I believe the time when you became an applicant should matter because if you’ve been working at this for years, that time should be honored. New applicants should not be moved to the top of the pile or placed before previous years’ applicants, unless that previous applicant was contacted, offered the same opportunities or grants first and they declined.
25 Yes, length and also attempts within that time to enter the cannabis industry. It is not simply just about waiting around but also about having the discipline, perseverance and tenacity to try to enter the cannabis industry in one way or another. Using the limited resources made available to try to make “something out of nothing”. 26 Yes, length and also attempts within that time to enter the cannabis industry. It is not simply just about waiting around but also about having the discipline, perseverance and tenacity to try to enter the cannabis industry in one way or another. Using the limited resources made available to try to make “something out of nothing”. 27 This is a huge one… No, this should be a transparent & fair process with the BEST applicant being able to advance. In order for the program to be a success, the best applicants should move forward regardless of the place in line. 28 No, applicants should move forward based on how good their application is and how good their partner is.
29 no, this needs to be a transparent process. That seems biased 30 No! Maybe they found out about the program after others. Maybe they needed more time to gather the proper paperwork to apply.
31 Yes they should because they have been waiting for the license to become available for a long time and have also paid there dues.
32 No irrelevant to success - experience, education or alliance with partners that have experience
9. What types of questions should be asked in the
application to determine an applicant's fitness to operate a dispensary?
1 Have you operated a successful business previously, 2. Have you operated a dispensary, 3. have you managed a dispensary, 4. have you owned a dispensary, 5.
Have you worked in cannabis, 6. do you have resources within the cannabis industry who will provide insight/guidance.
2 Previous operating experience, future plans for operation and the community, safety and security plan
3 I'm not really sure but I believe a persons "why" they want to be in the business is an important question.
4 Professional experience Third parties that will be involved Financial viability Operational plan
5 A question for the applicant to help determine weather the applicant fitness is appropriate to operate a dispensary is the following. Has the applicant held a job for more than three years with one company? And show proof. 6 Why should we choose you - and let them tell you.
7 Do you have business experience? Do you have any life achievements? Do you have a college degree ?
8 Proof of owning and operating a dispensary is best, and only licensed ones for over a couple years really proves anything, but also owning and operating fast paced retail could be granted preference. It's nice to believe that anyone that tries hard or has money can be successful, but that's a fairy tale. There are hundreds of people who have earned the right to apply for CUPs and licenses, who have not yet and may never open their stores.
9 This should be based on the team they put together, the quality of the the people they have to help run this business and their experiences as well 10 Ask them about what percentage of the business do they think employee costs will be? What is cost of goods sold? What is gross margin? What is net margin? 11 Plan for type and use of consultants to include, book keeping, taxes and METRC reporting.
12 1. What is your LONG-TERM plan for this business? 2. How what your background in business? 3. How will you address 4. What support network have you created to assist in establishing and maintaining the business (e.g., business mentors, community support, etc.)?
13 Please see previous answers.
14 Have they established a LLC, Business Plan and have they ever been in business. 15 Management skills, customer service and accounting questions. 16 Do you have a contingency plan in case regulatory changes impact part of your business? What kind of things can prove you have a track record of success, or show your promise in running a dispensary? Do you have funding? Do you have enough funding to cushion you in the case of another pandemic (or disaster of any sort)? 17 What their business plan is? How they plan to support the community? Etc. 18 Why would they like to open a business in Long Beach. Why do they believe these business are good for the community What benefits do people have with having a dispensary in their neighborhood What are their plans once their business is running. 19 What my WHY?
20 1) Who is the partner? 2) Where is the Location? 3) How does your Business Plan look? 4) What is your Past Experience? 5) What is your Job Experience? 6) Are you committed to active daily and long term participation in the operation of the business?
21 This brings me back to a standardized, in-depth business plan questionnaire. There's no guarantee that any of these dispensaries will be a success. Still, if you stack the process with obstacles that will ultimately help the dispensary winners succeed in their business, that's the best you can do. To clarify, I mean making this application process a commitment and seeing who has the grit to get through it and shine. If this process is over the top thorough and thought-provoking, I think the cream will rise to the top.
22 Do you have experience in the cannabis industry? Are you able to decipher different strains and variations of cannabis? Are you familiar with the current city and county cannabis tax percentages? What are the current legal operating hours for a cannabis business in the city of Long Beach? Do you have experience in any form of retail business? Do you have any experience in management or any other forms of leadership?
23 What kind of cannabis experience do you have? How long have you lived in the city? What is your motivation to operate a cannabis business? Have you managed any business? How long have you lived in the city? Outside of ownership what is your experience in the cannabis industry? How much management experience do you have? Non cannabis related. Can you fill out your own state cannabis application? Or will you hire a cannabis consultant? Do you understand how the state tracks from seed to sale? What compliance issues are you worrying about encountering? What plans do you have to remain compliant and not lose your license? 24 What kind of cannabis experience do you have? How long have you lived in the city? What is your motivation to operate a cannabis business? Have you managed any business? How long have you lived in the city? Outside of ownership what is your experience in the cannabis industry? How much management experience do you have? Non cannabis related. Can you fill out your own state cannabis application? Or will you hire a cannabis consultant? Do you understand how the state tracks from seed to sale? What compliance issues are you worrying about encountering? What plans do you have to remain compliant and not lose your license? Compliance and METRC related questions.
25 1) Who the partner is 2) Location 3) Business Plan 4) Past Experience 5) Job Experience
26 Who the partner is, their business plan, the location, past experience 27 Who is the partner, location, past job experience
28 What’s your business plan? How sustainable is your business and have you been networking with people in the industry to understand the process? 29 Are you a Long Beach resident? Have you completed the entrepreneurship academy program? Are you involved in the community? Do you have any entrepreneurship experience? Do you have the hustle and drive and are you willing to go above and beyond to get the job done? Can you resource?
30 How many years Experience do you have in the legal cannabis business? What business experience education do you have?
31 1. Have you operated a successful business previously, 2. Have you operated a dispensary, 3. have you managed a dispensary, 4. have you owned a dispensary, 5.
Have you worked in cannabis, 6. do you have resources within the cannabis industry who will provide insight/guidance.
32 Previous operating experience, future plans for operation and the community, safety and security plan
Application Topics/Categories
The dispensary application will contain categories that cover an applicant's personal and professional experience as well as their plans for operating a dispensary.
10. Please rank the following categories for the
application in order of importance.
31.3%
25.0%
6.3%
18.7%
18.8%
25.0%
18.8%
31.3%
12.5%
12.5%
21.9%
15.6%
28.1%
18.8%
15.6%
12.5%
25.0%
15.6%
28.1%
18.8%
9.4%
15.6%
18.8%
21.9%
34.4%
1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice 4th Choice 5th Choice
Cannabis Experience
Training and Education
Community Reinvestment Plan/Ties to the Community
Personal Impact from the War on Drugs
Business Plan
11. Is there any other topic that should be covered in the application that is not included on this list?
• Personal Impact from the War on Drugs
• Cannabis Experience
• Other Professional Business Experience
• Training and Education
• Business Plan
• Community Reinvestment Plan/Ties to the Community
1 Have you succeeded in other ventures.
2 The listed topics seem to cover a broad range and the most important topics. 3 Legal risk reduction
4 No
5 Have you ever been self-employed ? This is not a 9 to 5pm. Are you cut out for this ? 6 College education should really be more emphasized here. The city should care if the applicant is educated & ready to operate a business. 7 Location and fit within the Community - Cities never value this but has the largest impact. The jobs, taxes and contributions are not possible if the city wastes a permit on a tiny shop with no parking. You need superstores with parking who are also not going to impact the community. You're better off turning a warehouse into a destination dispensary than many of the shops that you'll find people can afford. 8 nope
9 Verified source of capital
10 No.
11 Why do you want to own a dispensary in The City of Long Beach? 12 Understanding the fundamental principles of accounting 13 Why would they like to open a dispensary in Long Beach and why do they believe cannabis is a benefit to ones health and the community. 14 n/a
15 Where is your location? Who is your dispensary business partner/sponsor? 16 This industry is highly challenging, and participants need to have a solid and creative mindset to compete. Given this, I'd consider adding some outside-of-the- box critical thinking exercises to the equation. If there's anything, you can do to get more real answers from the applicants and not their attorneys, the better. Those attorneys won't be in the trenches with them during day-to-day operations. 17 No
18 Did the applicants attend the 1st entrepreneur cannabis academy in Long Beach? 19 Did the applicant attend the 1st cannabis entrepreneur academy in Long Beach? 20 Location and partner
21 Who is the business partner and location
22 Impact on those who are stalled in This program
23 No
a24 Make it simple
Application Scoring Method
Equity applicants will be submitting an application/proposal where they will be answering open ended questions and can also provide additional documentation/backup to show their fitness to become a cannabis business owner.
Questions on the application may include:
• What is your prior experience in the cannabis industry? • How were you personally impacted by the War on Drugs in Long Beach? • Why do you want to own a cannabis dispensary?
Please keep this information in mind as you answer the questions below.
12. Should applications be scored using a point system? A point system means that each question is allocated a certain number of points, the points are then totaled, and those applicants with the highest points are selected and/or eligible to move on in the application process.
Yes, 28%
No, 28%
Maybe,
44%
Yes No Maybe
13. Please explain your response to Question #12.
1 The issue is can you operate a dispensary successfully. The highest scoring applicants are more likely to succeed.
2 Point system is the best merit based system that measures quantitatively 3 Whatever system chosen to decide an applicants eligibility doesn't matter to me as long as it's fair. A point system may make it difficult because there could be a lot of applicants that score the same and that means there would need to be another system in place to determine a process of elimination. I honestly believe that the decision should be based on the goals the applicant has for their consumers and how it benefits the city of Long Beach using a voting system. 4 This will allow for awards to be somewhat impartial
5 In the case of the point system, if it is held to the standards of answering questions, some applicants might have trouble in answering questions but it is a good idea. 6 I'm really not sure. I honestly think you have to meet the individual and determine whether or not they are an entrepreneur.
7 Yes ! Within the program of verified social equity applicants you should rank them in order to award these permits fair & square! Rankings of importance include: Cannabis Experience Business Owner Experience College Education Life Awards & Achievements Letters of Recommendation
8 If it is not objective, yes or no, all you'll get are lawsuits and fraud. These questions are going to kill the process and get no one open. Needless to say, you won't find a source to grade them that is above reproach or at least the allegations of bribery.
Plenty of cities have learned this the hard way.
9 Should a person gain more points for going to jail and having a drug conviction over the person who went to college and did things the “right way” ? How do you place value over one person’s experience over another? Others might gain points for having professional experience that someone else didn’t have, which one is of more points value the person at disadvantage or the person who may be more qualified to succeed based on experience?
10 Points work if there is a lottery.
11 Lottery is the fairest method of awarding licenses. City must determine minimum requirements for the applicants.
12 This may be a fair option, if each category has equal weight and uses a rubric.
Perhaps 0 (Insufficient or Missing Answer) to 5 (Exceptional Answer). Again, this is why I do not think that length in the time in the program should be considered. How do you score or weigh that?
13 Depends on who is "grading" these papers, and if their opinion should be the deciding factor on someone else's answers.
14 It all depends I feel it should be on the applicants ability to run a business. Anyone can someone to answer those questions perfectly.
15 It depends on how many will be scoring the application. If it is a panel of 2-3 or more then yes this will be a good system. If it is only 1 person then I say a scoring system will not be good.
16 For the most part yes, but outliers with great promise should also be given a chance. (Give the underdogs a chance, but with cautious optimism. The second portion of the process will weed out anyone who's not suitable for a license.) 17 This scoring appears like it has potential to reduce bias 18 Because some people’s writings will be better than other because some have better ways of explaining them selfs that others and someone could have a better idea or proposals but not know how to express their thoughts.
19 What happens if you have more than 8 applications that scores high point in the process, what would be the next steps to decide who would get awarded the dispensary?
20 There needs to be an objective and systematic way to rank the applicants. A point system is inherently biased and subjective if left up to the reviewer. 21 I'm not necessarily opposed to point-scoring. However, the first round of more generic qualifiers should be a pass/fail format.
22 If the point system is fare, unbiased and does not necessarily exclude everyone but creates a range of points for people to fall under. Ex. Scoring anywhere between 85- 100 is acceptable rather than just only applicants that score a perfect 100. Because no one is perfect, but plenty are capable.
23 Yes, because it ensures the most qualified applicant based on set criteria. A point system brings value to the human experience and removes it from being a luck based decision. A point system allows each potential applicant to be evaluated and fairly compared based on criteria that ensures the greatest likelihood of success.
Also, the point system provides an actual guideline and what criteria need to be met 24 Yes, it ensures the most qualified applicant based on set criteria. A point system brings value to the human experience and removes it from being a luck based decision. A point system allows each potential applicant to be evaluated and fairly compared based on criteria that ensures the greatest likelihood of success. Also, the point system provides an actual guideline and what criteria need to be met 25 There needs to be a systematic way to rank the applicants to move through the process by removing subjectivity.
26 Dont leave it open to biased opinions. Needs to be mathematically earned 27 We need to remove subjectivity and biased opinions.
28 Just depends on the situation.
29 I don’t think you should be judged on your past or your experience in legal cannabis. I think you should be judged on your work ethic and how you are going to impact the industry and your community.
30 If they meet x they get the max points don’t make it difficult or subject to human guessing. If x they get the points keep it simple.
14. Should applications be scored using a pass/fail model? A pass/fail model means that the reviewer will read the entire application before determining if the applicant meets the criteria and should move forward in the application process.
Yes, 41%
No, 37%
Maybe,
22%
Yes No Maybe
15. Please explain your response to question #14.
1 If a candidate cannot put forth sufficient criterial to show minimal qualifications, allowing to move forward doesn't make sense.
2 It’s only qualitative hard to rank
3 I believe every applicants application should be reviewed and voted on by a committee.
4 This will eliminate businesses that may be fully capable of creating a profitable dispensary
5 Yes because it will make the process go smoothly.
6 Is it really pass or fail ? Or, is it you're not ready but we believe you will make a great employee. And, maybe put them on a priority list to be interviewed as an employee and put on a waiting list to be re-interviewed if any Equity Applicant business fails. 7 The ranking system will eliminate the lower qualified candidates either way. No need to “fail” anyone.
8 Only way, but make the bar low and objective.
9 Ultimately there has to be a subjective decision based on basic criteria this will be a case of have and have nots…
10 Pass fail is better than points.
11 Supports the lottery model.
12 Maybe, if this is used in "Round One" to weed out a poor quality application and/or one that has insufficient information or the applicant lives outside of the city. Then those applicants who "pass" would advance to "Round Two" which would be the scoring system method.
13 refer to answer prior, as well as some applications should automatically fail depending on WHY they want to have a dispensary, and if they have an investor tied to their application who would then want complete control. No more predatory practices or using of Applicants to acquire more cannabis businesses. 14 Reading the entire application is fair
15 It depends if there will be more than one reviewer scoring the application. 16 This would allow implicit bias by reviewer
17 Some reviewers might think different than another reviewer. To one person it could be good to another person it could be the worse in their mind 18 How will the pass/fail work would the determination be it sound good, looks good.
What would be the criteria for the the pass/fail this could be very bias. 19 The application process needs to be transparent and objective and not succumb to any biases of the reviewer. There should be no potential for outside influence. The applicants that meet the criteria should move forward and enter a lottery. 20 I think doing a pass/fail qualifying round will give more eligible candidates a fair opportunity to show their stuff during the more in-depth rounds of the process. 21 Criteria should definitely be provided before applications open 22 This would be traumatizing and ostracize an already underserved group. To present only one way to “pass” as a business owner is also false and misleading. It would be better presented to the applicants in a scoring range format rather than just a flat pass or fail.
23 Pass fail provided no guideline and will not provide a reason why. 24 Pass fail provided no guideline and will not provide a reason why. 25 The application process needs to be transparent and objective and not succumb to any biases of the reviewer. There should be no potential for outside influence. The applicants that meet the criteria should move forward and enter a lottery. Similar to the original selection
26 This needs to be transparent, no outside influence.
27 We need to remove outside influence, once the points are tallied then a lottery 28 No need to set up more obstacles
29 That method allows one person to dictate who they believe will be acceptable. 30 If they get all the points they qualify less lawsuits less corruption exists this way.
16. Is there a different method of application scoring that was not previously identified that the City should
consider? If so, please describe below.
1 No idea.
2 Voting by a committee on the applications that meet the standards the city of Long Beach has set.
3 No the method used by the city is a great method.
4 Ambition . Who shown it and has it
5 It will depend on the individual. PERIOD. Do they have the right team is place ? Have they secured a location ? Do they have a business plan ? SOP's ? Are they entrepreneur material ? Have you ever owned a business before ? You do not want to invest in someone irresponsible, ill-prepared and inadequate no matter how long they've been waiting. AND, a good question to ask is ..... what have you been doing while you've been waiting for the city of long beach to provide you with grant monies to begin your career in the world of cannabis ?
6 The city of Sacramento & Fresno did RFQ considering the following: Cannabis Experience Business Owner Experience College Education Life Awards & Achievements Letters of Recommendation
7 Yes, City of San Diego limits permits by district (36 total) and then people race to a CUP. Of course, money and expertise are key to achieving it but so is access to property which connects the local ownership. If you want to give Social Equity a chance, give them a head start on the application window and use the state standard to settle who's eligible. You probably can set a very high cap knowing that setbacks from residential or other retailers who were approved first is a practical cap. The scoring and broken hearts all comes from the euphoria / delusion of a chance that the application window creates.
8 Passing applications that are deemed qualified should be placed into the lottery system and then pull to see who gets chosen…?
9 Maybe exclude property from the equation. Create a simple process with a lottery so we don't all have to spend so much money and raise the prices on green zone properties. Allow us to enter the lottery and then we have 6 months to get property. 10 No, Support pass/fail
11 No.
12 having a conversation with the person, to see/hear their heart. not just words on paper.
13 I think it really should be the people who participate and show up. The people you know have been pushing for this program to work
14 I suggest having more than 1 person evaluating the applications. I would also hold in- person interviews of the candidates you are thinking of awarding the license to before making a final decision.
15 Not sure
16 No these methods are great but mybe and interview to get to know the person and who is going to be opening a business in their city.
17 It appeared that the original application process for the medical licenses a few years ago was fair and successful, where there was basically a pass/fail and lottery model.
It would make sense to replicate that process.
18 N/A
19 No scoring system at all. If the applicants meet all the basis criteria as a person of color, low income, who lives in the city of Long Beach. Their application should be accepted and then it would be up to them participating in the other applications that come along through the program to receive loans, grants, etc. They could simply be a verified applicant based off of meeting the basis criteria, not scoring. 20 n/a
21 n/a
22 It appeared the prior application process for the medical licenses was fair and successful, so go with that
23 I would score and award it the same way the current dispensary owners were judged. Seemed to work
24 Do it the same way the current medical dispensary had to do it 25 No
26 No
27 Make it ez, make it fair, more candidates that qualify the better. Let the ability to get a building, license, personnel etc be the deciding factor if they do all that they get a license that simple. Don’t have a cap let the availability of buildings and the market decide. Caps create monopolies, corruption etc. The more dispensaries you have the more illegal market product comes off the street.
Additional Information
17. Is there any other information you would like to provide?
1 This program has a chance to succeed and not being afraid to pick the most qualified candidates is important :)
2 N/A
3 No and thank you for the opportunity to answer the survey questions. 4 no
5 Yes ! The vendors have not been helpful !
6 Please be careful to not create a lawsuit factory while giving people a chance to be successful. Try not to give the landlords and lawyers a golden ticket at the expense of the applicants, especially the social equity applicants. 7 Yes, 8 additional licenses are not going to be enough! 8 Nope
9 Keep up the great work enrolling the local community for input. 10 No
11 Please do a GOOD job in selecting these next 8. a lot hangs on this. and PLEASE do not let anyone else who already has a dispensary in The City, or even out of The City, partake in this process whether directly, or indirectly. 12 Thank you for the opportunity to give my thoughts. As an applicant it has been a journey but nothing good comes easy. I definitely a story to tell I hope you all make a fair decision. Gratefulness Jillian L.Xavier
13 Community reinvestment should be a HIGH priority in choosing an applicant. Locally sourced products, donating a portion of their earnings, holding philanthropic events (beach cleanups, job fairs, expungement clinics, etc.)
14 No
15 The applicant's partner/sponsor should only be from a Long Beach licensed dispensary, and that licensed dispensary group should only be able to sponsor one social equity licensee.
16 Please keep the original 32 licensed dispensary owners out of this process the best you can. There's no doubt that they'll find ways to influence this process, but please think through some of what those points could be and try to eliminate them. For example, I think it's important to have the applicants currently or previously employed by Long Beach dispensaries disclose the dispensaries they are referencing.
17 No, thank you
18 There are some of us that have been waiting for this opportunity since 2018 and have truly made attempts to enter legal cannabis industry. Please recognize and rate our attempts and failures. Having attempts and failures are better than just sitting around and doing nothing waiting.
19 Please consider length and also passed fail attempts to enter the cannabis industry.
Having fail attempts shows effort and commitment. It is better than waiting around. 20 The applicant’s partner/sponsor should only be from a verified Long Beach dispensary licensee. The verified dispensary group should only be able to sponsor one social equity licensee.
21 I feel a partner needs to only be from the existing long beach dispensaries. Only they are tied to the community
22 Partner needs to be a current long beach dispensary owner and they can only partner once
23 Approve all of us! Thank you
24 Yes, I believe that big cannabis corporations should not be involved in the application process with an equity applicant or involved with the social equity program. Big cannabis corporations involvement is predatorial and ultimately causes equity applicants without corporate backing to lose opportunities to lease properties due to big corporations capital and status.
25 As a cultivator and business owner my experience is the good quality companies succeed and the bad ones go away - either way the city wins with better building, smart young people trying to succeed, jobs and it kills illegal market. Caps create the opposite.
CITY OF LONG BEACH
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (“RFP”) FOR CANNABIS RETAIL STOREFRONT (DISPENSARY) BUSINESS LICENSES FOR THE CANNABIS SOCIAL EQUITY
PROGRAM
The following RFP process is established pursuant to Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC) Section 5.90.060, which states that the City Manager shall issue the maximum number of cannabis retail storefront (dispensary) business licenses permitted by the City Council, and is authorized to make reasonable rules, policies, and procedures as may be necessary to administer and enforce the provisions of LBMC Chapter 5.90 and 5.92 and any other ordinances, regulations or laws relating to and affecting the permitting and operations of commercial cannabis businesses.
A. Definitions.
The following definitions apply to this process:
1. “Applicant” means an equity applicant or group of equity applicants in the Cannabis Social Equity Program (Equity Program) who submits a proposal in response to the City’s RFP for issuance of a retail storefront cannabis (dispensary) business license.
2. “Cannabis Retail Storefront Dispensary” has the same meaning as “Medical Marijuana Dispensary” and “Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensary” in LBMC Chapter
5.90 and 5.92.
3. “City Attorney” means the City Attorney or the City Attorney’s designee.
4. “City Manager” means the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee.
5. “Director of Economic Development” means the Director of Economic Development or the Director of Economic Development’s designee.
6. “Director of Financial Management” means the Director of Financial Management or the Director of Financial Management’s designee.
7. “Individual” means a sole, natural person.
8. “LBMC” means the Long Beach Municipal Code.
9. “OCO” means the Office of Cannabis Oversight.
10. “Permit” means a business license issued by the City to operate a cannabis retail storefront dispensary.
11. “Permit application process” means the City’s process for an applicant to obtain a business license in accordance with applicable state law and local ordinances. It includes, at a minimum, applicant information, owner information, property information, and details of business operation.
12. “Proposal”” means the written document submitted in response to an RFP.
13. “Request for Proposals” or “RFP” means a written request for the submission of qualifications to successfully apply for and operate a cannabis retail storefront dispensary.
14. “War on Drugs” means the effort to criminalize cannabis and its use in the United States from the period of 1976 to 2016 through increased penalties, enforcement, and incarceration.
B. Process.
1. Eligibility
a. The RFP will be open to individuals that meet the Equity Program eligibility requirements as of the date that the RFP is advertised, as well as any individuals previously verified as equity applicants by the Office of Cannabis Oversight (OCO) prior to the RFP being advertised.
b. Individuals that are not currently verified as equity applicants in the Equity Program are able to submit a proposal and will be verified by the OCO using the Equity Program eligibility requirements as of the date the RFP is advertised. If an individual meets the Equity Program eligibility requirements, they will become a verified equity applicant in the Equity Program.
2. Advertising. The RFP will be advertised for a period of 30 calendar days on the City’s procurement portal and the OCO will advertise the RFP for 14 calendar days on the City’s website and through other industry appropriate means.
3. RFP Requirements.
a. The RFP will be used solely to identify individuals in the Equity Program or individuals that meet the qualifications for the Equity Program with the highest scoring proposals to successfully apply for and operate a cannabis retail storefront dispensary.
b. Individuals awarded the opportunity to apply for the dispensary business license must obtain a business license within three years from the date they are notified of their eligibility to apply for the business license.
Individuals may request an extension of the three-year period by submitting a request in writing to the OCO detailing the extenuating circumstances preventing them from obtaining a license within the three- year period.
c. OCO will prepare the RFP. The RFP must be in the City’s standard RFP format.
4. RFP Evaluation Criteria.
a. The RFP shall utilize criteria that comply with the LBMC and all applicable City procurement policies and procedures; are reasonably necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; and evaluate the experience and training of applicants to determine which applicants will be the most successful at applying for and operating a cannabis retail storefront dispensary including but not limited to:
1. A description of the applicant’s background and impact from the War on Drugs.
2. A description of experience, training, and education completed to prepare the applicant for operating a successful cannabis business in the City of Long Beach.
3. A business plan that details a plan to achieve success and sustainability.
b. In developing the RFP criteria, OCO must consider input of individuals in the Equity Program.
c. The criteria for the RFP are subject to the approval of the City Manager, City Attorney, Director of Financial Management, and Director of Economic Development.
5. Proposals.
1. To respond to the RFP, individuals in the Equity Program or individuals that meet the qualifications of the Equity Program must submit a proposal in writing through the procurement portal by the due date indicated in the advertisement.
2. A proposal may be submitted by one equity applicant or a group of equity applicants in the Equity Program. No individual may be identified in any capacity in more than one proposal. Such a duplicate submission will result in the subject proposals being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from review.
3. A proposal may only be submitted by one equity applicant per household, as defined in LBMC Chapter 5.92.
6. Required Certifications in Proposals.
a. Applicants must certify in their proposals that for a period of 5 years from the issuance of the permit that:
i. A minimum of fifty-one percent (51%) ownership in the cannabis retail storefront dispensary will be held by one equity applicant or, if the cannabis retail storefront dispensary permit will be held by a group of applicants in the Equity Program, any one (1) of the equity applicants must hold majority ownership interest in the cannabis retail storefront dispensary.
b. The certification of ownership will be a condition on the permit.
7. Proposal Acceptance and Evaluation.
a. Proposals shall not be altered after opening.
b. No criteria may be used in evaluating a proposal that are not specified in the RFP or in the LBMC or other applicable laws or regulations. c. All responsive proposals shall be reviewed and scored by an unbiased and neutral review panel who possess the relevant knowledge or experience to evaluate the proposals. Members of the review panel may consist of individuals who:
i. Have some level of expertise in economic or business development;
ii. Have an active involvement in social equity matters; or iii. Are cannabis business regulators from another jurisdiction. d. Under no circumstances will a member of the review panel be an employee or a contractor of the City or affiliated in any way with the cannabis industry in the City of Long Beach.
e. No member of the review panel may discuss the proposal with applicants for any purpose other than administrative clarification after the submission of proposal, except during the interview phase, if any. f. Once OCO has received and calculated all the reviewing panels’ scores, the top scoring proposals shall be awarded the opportunity to interview with the reviewing panel. The interview panel shall then select the top eight (8) individuals via a forced ranking process.
g. The top scoring proposals shall be awarded the opportunity to apply for a cannabis retail storefront dispensary permit, until all available permits have been issued.
h. All applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals through award announcements on the City’s procurement portal and OCO will publish the scores for all proposals on its website as soon as reasonably possible.
8. Protest Procedures
a. Only an applicant who has actually submitted a Proposal is eligible to protest a license opportunity awarded through a Request for Proposals (RFP). An applicant may not rely on the protest submitted by another applicant but must pursue its own protest.
b. The City will post a notice of the intent to award a license opportunity at least ten (10) business days before an award is made. The notice will be available to all applicants who submitted a proposal via the City’s electronic bid notification system at http://www.longbeach.gov/purchasing. An applicant desiring to submit a protest for a proposal must do so within five (5) business days of the electronic notification of intent to award. The City Purchasing Agent must receive the protest by the close of business on the fifth (5th) business day following posting of notification of intent to award the contract. Applicants are responsible for registering with the City’s electronic bid notification system and maintaining an updated profile. The City is not responsible for Applicants’ failure to obtain notification for any reason, including but not limited to failure to maintain updated email addresses, failure to open/read electronic messages and failure of their own computer/technology equipment. The City’s RFP justification memo will be available for review by protestors once the notification of intent to award has been posted via the City’s electronic bid notification system. c. The protest must be in writing and signed by the individual who signed the proposal and addressed to the City Purchasing Agent. Protests must be submitted via email to the City Purchasing Agent. They must include a valid email address and phone number. Protests must set forth a complete and detailed statement of the grounds for the protest and include all relevant information to support the grounds stated, and must refer to specific portions of the RFP and attachments upon which the protest is based. Once the protest is received by the City Purchasing Agent, the City will not accept additional information on the protest unless the City requests it. d. The City Purchasing Agent or designee will respond with a decision regarding the protest within five (5) business days of receipt of protest to the email address provided in the protest. This decision shall be final. e. The procedure and time limits set forth herein are mandatory and are the applicant’s sole and exclusive remedy in the event of a protest. The applicant’s failure to comply with these procedures shall constitute a waiver of any right to further pursue a protest, including filing a Government Code Claim or initiation of legal proceedings.
9. Late and Nonresponsive Proposals.
a. A Proposal is late if it is received at the location designated in the RFP after the deadline specified in the RFP. A late Proposal shall be rejected and not considered, regardless of the reason for the lateness, including circumstances beyond the control of the individual or group that submits the Proposal. A late Proposal may only be opened for identification purposes. b. A Proposal is nonresponsive if it does not comply with requirements of the RFP or if it is submitted in accordance with section B.5.ii or B.5.iii. c. Late and nonresponsive Proposals will be rejected.
d. The City shall have the authority to reject proposals that are late or nonresponsive.
C. Public Disclosure. Proposals submitted in response to the RFP will be made available in response to a request for public records in accordance with the California Public Records Act once the protest period has concluded.
D. Timeframe for Opportunity to Apply for a Permit. It is imperative that permits are actually issued to businesses that will successfully operate within a reasonable period of time. Therefore, any opportunity to apply for a permit shall become void and of no effect if the awarded applicant surrenders the opportunity to apply for the permit or the storefront cannabis dispensary is not operating after a period of three years from the date of the applicant’s award announcement, unless an exception is granted by the City Manager pursuant to section 3(b).
E. Conditions on Permits. By responding to the RFP, applicants understand and agree that in addition to all other applicable permit conditions, the City will place the following conditions on their permit for 5 years starting from its issuance: A minimum of fifty-one percent (51%) ownership in the cannabis retail storefront dispensary will be held by one equity applicant or, if the cannabis retail storefront dispensary permit will be held by a group of applicants in the Equity Program, any one (1) of the equity applicants must hold majority ownership interest in the cannabis retail storefront dispensary.
Equity Dispensary
Request for Proposals (RFP) Procedures
Staff from the Office of Cannabis Oversight in the City Manager Department will be responsible for drafting the Equity Dispensary RFP and evaluation criteria. The procedures and timeline related to the RFP are as follows:
Step 1 - Stakeholder Meeting
The Office of Cannabis Oversight will host a stakeholder meeting prior to release of the RFP to provide an overview of the eligibility criteria and requirements to apply, submission format, important deadlines, and host a Q & A session. This meeting will likely be held virtually and will be open to the public. All information presented during the meeting will also be provided on the City’s website.
Step 2 - Proposal Submission Period
Interested applicants will be eligible to submit a proposal during the proposal submission period as outline d in the RFP guidelines . The RFP will be posted on the City’s new procurement portal: Long Beach Buys! for 30 calendar days. The RFP will also be advertised on the City’s website for at least 14 calendar days. Individuals that are not currently verified equity applicants may submit a proposal if they believe they meet the eligibility criteria for the Equity Program. During the submission period, there will also be a Q & A period where applicants can ask questions regarding the RFP, and answers will be made available in writing to all applicants on the procurement portal prior to the RFP closing.
Step 3 - Eligibility Criteria Verification
After the submission period is closed, the City will review the proposals to first determine if an individual meets the criteria to be considered an equity applicant.
Individuals who were previously verified as an equity applicant prior to the RFP being advertised and individuals who meet the Equity Program eligibility requirements as of the date that the RFP is advertised will be eligible to move forward in the RFP process. If an individual does not provide the documentation or requirements to be considered an equity applicant, they will be disqualified from the RFP process.
Step 4 – Proposal Redaction
After the submission period is closed, City staff will redact proposals for any identifying personal information and the demographic information collected in the RFP. Proposals will not be redacted for information presented in the proposal regarding an applicant’s race, gender, etc. as that may interfere with the applicant ’s narrative.
Attachment B
Step 5 - Evaluation Period
Individuals that meet the eligibility criteria will have their proposals reviewed and scored by an unbiased and neutral review panel who possess the relevant knowledge or experience to evaluate the proposals. There will be a minimum of three (3) members on the panel, which will be selected by the Business Development Officer in the Economic Development Department . Panelists will be participating in the process voluntarily and will not receive compensation. Proposals will be scored using the criteria established by the Office of Cannabis Oversight. The twenty (20) applicants with the highest scoring proposals will move forward in the RFP process.
Step 6 - Panel Interviews
Once the Office of Cannabis Oversight has received and calculated all the reviewing panels’ scores, the top scoring proposals will be awarded the opportunity to interview with the reviewing panel. Interview questions will be established by the Office of Cannabis Oversight. The interviews will likely be held virtually. The interview panel will collectively select the top eight (8) applicants via a forced ranking process.
Step 7 – Award Notification
After the eight (8) individuals have been identified, the City will post a notice of the intent to award a license opportunity at least ten (10) business days before an award is made. The notice of intent to award will be available to all applicants who submitted a proposal v ia the City’s electronic bid notification system at http://www.longbeach.gov/purchasing.
Step 8 – Protest Period
The City will have a protest period for applicants desiring to submit a protest for a proposal. Applicants must do so within five (5) business days of the electronic notification of intent to award. The City Purchasing Agent or designee will respond with a decision regarding the protest within five (5) business days of receipt of protest to the email address provided in the protest. This decision shall be final.
Step 9 – Business License Application Submission
Once the protest period has concluded, the eight (8) awarded applicants will be eligible to apply for a cannabis dispensary business license without a business location. The equity applicants moving forward will receive benefits and assistance to assist them with successfully finding viable cannabis properties for their dispensary business. Non-equity dispensary business owners will not be eligible to relocate their business until 180 days after the City begins accepting business license applications from Equity Dispensaries, or until all Equity Dispensaries have provided the complete, notarized Property Owner Authorization for the busi ness premises in the business license application, whichever occurs sooner.
Step 10 – Business License Process
The awarded applicants will need to obtain a business license within a three -year period from the date they are eligible to submit a business license application. To obtain a business license, the applicants will need to complete the following milestones in the licensing process:
• Application Submission
• Application Review
• Planning Review
• Application Fees
• Department Reviews
• Final Inspections
• Issuance of Business License
Additional information on the cannabis business licensing process can be found at www.longbeach.gov/cannabisbusiness.
Equity Program Eligibility Criteria Statistics
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
Residency, Conviction, & Unemployment - - 1 - 1
Residency & Conviction - 1 - 2 - 3
Residency & Unemployment 1 1 9 11 - 22
Conviction 1 4 1 1 1 8
Unemployment* 5 1 5 7 - 18
Residency - 40 11 40 13 104
Total 7 47 26 62 14 156
156
109
18 17
8 3
1 0 50 100 150 200
Total
Residency
Residency &
Unemployment
Unemployment
Conviction
Residency & Conviction
Residency, Conviction, &
Unemployment
2018 - Present
Detailed Summary
*As of August 16, 2021, “currently receiving unemployment benefits” was removed as a criterion for the Equity Program.
Attachment C