The Michigan law legalizing cannabis for adult use allows local municipalities to opt out of allowing marijuana-based businesses within their boundaries. “For us to introduce ourselves to the industry, it was ‘let’s do it with the professionals, the best of the best,’ and then let the future bring what it will bring.” Leveraging sovereignty It’s just that the more you look at the industry, the more you see it’s a big money, big player industry,” Schultz said. There’s nothing that says this is the only thing we do. “We would have loved to see a tribal member be the one impacting the industry, and we still will look for opportunities to do that. “It’s a politically charged topic.”Īdditionally, some tribal members were upset that Sault Tribe Economic Development brought in a non-tribal company instead of working with a tribal member to launch a marijuana business. “It’s something that I’d love to get all excited about and say it’s all great, but I know depending on who’s walking up to me, some want to punch me in the face, some want to say ‘way to go,’” he said. While the collaboration with Lume is structured in a way that gives the tribe a safe way to participate in the nascent cannabis industry, Schultz acknowledged that the industry itself is a “tough topic” within the tribe. “And it provided us with pretty good revenue on land that we didn’t necessarily have other options for at that point.”
“There are some impressive, capable people within that organization that could assure us they were going to do it in a professional, classy manner and that we were going to be safe and we were going to provide our people and the community with a responsible, quality product,” Schultz said. He added that the tribe is working with Lume on leases for five additional dispensaries throughout its seven-county service area, which spans a significant swath of the central and eastern Upper Peninsula. The Sault Tribe will benefit financially from the long-term lease Lume signed for the store, which will be built on a formerly vacant piece of land, Schultz said. “We were able to say, ‘If we can open on tribal land, then we’d be happy to open a store,’” Hellyar said, adding the company typically invests about $1 million into each retail location and hires 15 to 20 employees. The talks soon focused on finding ways for the tribes to participate in the industry. “This is what we’ve started with and think is the best entry into the market, and we’re going to see where it takes us.”įor Lume, the conversations with the tribes started more than a year ago after an introduction from a common acquaintance, said company President and COO Doug Hellyar. “We tried to professionally and responsibly look at what we could do to best earn revenue and make sure our area and people were served,” he said.
Schultz estimates that after Michigan voted to legalize the adult use of marijuana in 2018, he has met with 25 companies or individuals regarding proposals involving cannabis operations.
“The challenge was, it’s a complicated industry.” “When legalization was taking place - and our tribe decided to legalize as well - they tasked me with saying, ‘What out there? How can we make money in this? What can we do?’” Schultz said. Joel Schultz, executive director of Sault Tribe Economic Development, said the deal gives the tribe a “safe” way to get involved with the cannabis industry as a landlord. The project follows the opening this month of retail stores near Petoskey and in Mackinaw City on trust lands for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
Marie, Mich., a small city in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Sault Ste. announced last week that it had received state licensing for a retail dispensary on land held in trust for the Sault Ste. A cannabis company is working with two Michigan-based tribes and is involved in active discussions with others to open marijuana dispensaries on trust lands throughout the state.
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