Marijuana Business Magazine May-June 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | May-June 2020 46 “I thought this industry was hard when I got into it. There were a lot of rules and regs (and) not a lot of advice on how to implement and interpret them,” Rosenfeld said. “But this, where we are now, not only are the rules and regs being passed fast and furious, they don’t even know how to interpret them … and they don’t make sense.” Rosenfeld pointed to rules allowing curbside pickup but prohibiting cash from being exchanged outside, which means bringing a debit-card reader outside and either leaving a door open for the power cord or buying a generator so the cord doesn’t interfere with the door. “For everything (regulators) do, we need to figure it out,” Rosenfeld said. Meanwhile, local governments have been helpful, Rosenfeld said. When she emailed the town administrator for Medway, the location of CommCan’s grow, seeking more time to make the company’s Host Community Agreement payment due April 1, an extension to June 15 was quickly granted. “I don’t know how many places are going to come back from this. I’m going to be one of them, there’s no question. But it gets harder and harder with every week,” Rosenfeld said. “I’m trying to keep my employees employed, so my payroll has not really dipped that much. I can’t close my cul- tivation facility right now, just because I’m stockpiling. I have to be ready. My expenses are the same, (and) my income has been cut by 90%. So what do I do all day? I try to figure out how to come up with 90 more percent.” ➤ Takeaways Technology Talent: It’s easy to forget about the importance of IT teams operating behind the scenes, but their unique skills keep store systems running. So make sure your tech team is top-notch. Find New Revenue Streams: When CommCan’s recreational MJ revenue was taken away, the company quickly channeled efforts to convert rec customers into medical card holders. The Power of Sales: Try to sustain revenue by offering deeper-than- usual discounts to encourage medical customers to make bigger purchases and convert rec shoppers into medical card holders. Flexible Hours: A desire to keep employees can conflict with a need to cut costs. That conflict can be reconciled with flexible staffing that tailors schedules to employee circumstances, such as reducing hours for those who want or can afford to work reduced hours while maintaining hours for those who need to sustain their work schedules. Ready for a Return to Normalcy: Maintain production and stockpile products to be ready when recreational MJ sales resume. CALLING IN REINFORCEMENTS Jeff Yapp, CEO, Chalice Farms, Portland, Oregon Chalice Farms, a vertically inte- grated cannabis company with six dispensaries in the Portland metro area, had been building its delivery effort for several months with the intention to roll it out in April to commemorate the unofficial marijuana holiday 4/20. The arrival of the coronavi- rus accelerated those efforts. “The plans were in place, and we knew what we were going to do and how we were going to do it,” CEO Jeff Yapp said regarding Chalice’s plans to roll out cannabis delivery in April. “When this (virus) hit, it got moved up.” Already having plans in place made it easier for Chalice to launch its delivery services in response to the coronavirus crisis, but the company was nevertheless caught off guard by the surge in delivery orders. Chalice already had strong sales in early March, Yapp said, but the spike in demand broke sales records when cannabis consumers feared marijuana retailers would have to close because of the epidemic. Those strong sales continued after the surge in purchases, Yapp said. The original Chalice delivery plan called for an average of two or three drivers per store who would rotate among the locations in shifts. Yapp said that turned out to be too few. He’s hired a few more drivers since but is watching delivery demand to see how many drivers he’ll ultimately need. “We didn’t expect the volume of delivery out of the box. We felt that it was going to take longer for the word to spread,” Yapp said. “It just picked up faster than we expected because of the increased demand.” Meanwhile, Chalice began reinforcing existing policy that employees who felt sick should stay home, while those who expressed concern about being exposed to the coronavirus at work could take time off. Pandemic Pivot Chalice Farms hired temporary staffers to help cover for other employees. Courtesy Photo