US (AK): As industry grows, some growers 'shut their doors'

Alaska’s cannabis industry has spent the last few years getting off the ground, but a handful of cannabis cultivators have already shut their doors.

Cultivation facilities in Homer, Houston, Nome, Sitka, Soldotna, Wasilla and Willow surrendered their state licenses or let them lapse last year, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue.

“We are starting to see some cultivators with expired or surrendered licenses, going out of business,” Kelly Mazzei, a supervisor at the department’s excise tax group, said in an email.

The closures weren’t so much about supply or demand pressures, said Alaska Marijuana Industry Association executive director Cary Carrigan. Rather, he said, they are the result of attrition that would happen with any nascent sector.

“There wasn’t anything that was a market force issue that closed them down, like there were too many retailers or not enough product or the taxation structure was so bad that it drove them out of business,” Carrigan said. The cannabis industry also has unique challenges layered on top of what other businesses face, including a reliance on cash.