When Steve Cantwell heard his ticket number read during Wednesday’s Cannabis Control Board meeting, it was as if the Pahrump-based business owner had won the lottery.
And he did, kind of. The co-owner of Green Life Productions, one of the state’s cannabis cultivators, was awarded one of 10 licenses to open a cannabis lounge — a huge get for a company of about 40 people, he said.
Last week’s news was the silver lining of an otherwise crummy year, Cantwell said. Between inflation, rising costs, and stiff competition from all sides, this has been the worst year for his margins since the business was formed in 2014. “I think the industry has seen the worst profit loss to date, without a doubt,” Cantwell said. “But from what we’re seeing, it’s going back up.”
That was before the cannabis consumption lounge was thrown into the mix. The license itself costs $10,000, and finding capital to actually fund a new brick-and-mortar building will pose its own challenge, Cantwell said.
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