A second company that wants to grow cannabis on the Iron Range in time for the beginning of retail sales in the spring of 2025 has requested financial help from the state agency charged with spurring economic development on the Iron Range.
M.N. Technology of Cohasset has submitted a pre-application for financing from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, and agency staff are working with the company to consider financial assistance, which usually includes below-market-interest loans, some that can be forgiven if a certain number of jobs are created and sustained.
One officer in M.N. Technology said it would ask the IRRR for a similar level of assistance it gave a Missouri-based company last month.
“We just want fair,” said Craig Maturi, vice president for operations for the Harris Township-based company. “We want a fair chance and a fair shot like we were supposed to get.”
The new application raises questions about whether the IRRR will take a stake in two different companies to build grow operations within three miles of each other. The comparison between M.N. Technology and the similar proposal that went before the IRRR also highlights one of the concerns raised by Gov. Tim Walz and others in the fledgling cannabis industry — that a goal of the new law was to spur small businesses from Minnesota.
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