Q&A: Fitchburg cannabis partners just wanted to jump in the industry
Photo | Courtesy of AMP
From left, chief operating officer Jeff Perkins, CEO Steve Perkins, vice president of retail Elizabeth Cieri
Atlantic Medicinal Partners opened its first recreational marijuana dispensary in Fitchburg on Friday. The dispensary is locally owned and vertically integrated, and, according to CEO Stephen Perkins, the company plans to commence medical sales shortly, once it checks the final boxes with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. Perkins spoke with WBJ about what prompted him and his business partners to jump into the cannabis industry, as well as about what it means to be a vertically integrated cannabis company serving both recreational and medical customers.
Can you explain a bit about where you’re from and how you found your way into the cannabis market?
My brother Jeff Perkins and I and our partner, Frank Cieri, we were all currently small business owners in other industries. My brother and I had known Frank for a million years, buying computers from him. And what do you know, one day we walked in his office and we said, “Hey, Frank, we think we're switching industries. We're thinking about cannabis.”
And Frank’s face lit up and he said, “I’ve been thinking about cannabis, too.” My brother and I were just two guys in the ticket industry, and Frank was and still is in the computer industry. And we just said, “Here we go, we're going into cannabis." It happened to be December of 2017, and the Massachusetts ballot initiative had passed for the legalization, or the planning of the legalization, of recreational adult-use cannabis and, what do you know, three guys who had loosely known each other just jumped into the pool.
What attracted you to doing business in Fitchburg?
Every business involves real estate to some extent, but with cannabis, the real estate availability and the zoning of the cannabis zones within the municipality is such a huge piece.
Fitchburg had gone through the zoning process already. The city officials were very early on and had kind of wide open arms welcoming to the industry, because you're talking about a city that had lost the plastic manufacturing in the mills. And, and they just said, “Come on in.”
Mayor Stephen DiNatale was extremely welcoming. At the same time, the real estate was attractive. We found a great building that happened to be one of the last LEGO manufacturers in the area. The building had just become a paper storage warehouse. So it was really a nice shell of a building for us to come in with a new industry.
What does your vertical integration mean for recreational customers?
Everybody wants to know where their product comes from. Everybody wants that kind of brewery experience. We’re in a day and age where anybody can go buy a six pack of beer at the liquor store, yet people drive to Vermont and wait in line and pick up beers made in limited quantities and drive home with their six-pack. It's just an experience to know what's coming out of this building.
On the back-end side, what the customers won't see about being vertically integrated in the same building is that the staff of different business units will be able to communicate and share information on the product between themselves. So, if a customer comes in on Tuesday evening and says, “Hey, I took this vape home, and you know, the thing really didn't it didn't pull right or it didn't hit right,” or, “You know, I had a great experience with this flower trying to go to bed,” those type of that customer comments at the sales counter can then be easily conveyed back to the other business departments. We’re looking to really leverage that kind of power -- having all the employees under one roof.
What made you decide to enter both medical and recreational markets at the same time?
We felt very strongly when entering the cannabis space we were going to provide for not just customers, but we were going to provide for patients. Myself and the other owners really believe there's obviously a medicinal benefit to cannabis and it can definitely be used in a lot of different applications.
Aside from the vertical integration, what sets you apart from other dispensaries in Central Mass.?
The reason I'm so proud of the retail side of the bill is it's really an experience. This store is one of the most beautiful stores out of all the retail stores in any industry in Central Massachusetts. From the commercial sound system up in the ceiling to the displays and the non-cannabis products and the fixtures, with the lighting and the screens and the logo on the wall illuminated, it's really an experience. The dispensary stands out from any dispensary anywhere in the country. I urge people to come out and just see what we've done with the place. They'll be impressed.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Monica Busch.
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