How to Present Your Cannabis Business Vision to Your City

Many States require local city approval prior to issuing a State cannabis license. Over the last 10 years, Sapphire Risk has been involved in over 200 municipality meetings where we presented our client’s cannabis security plan to city officials. Most of these clients received city resolution approval letters but there were a few that were denied for various reasons.

Below are some suggestions on how to present to your town/city officials for approval:

Do your research

Know who are the city officials prior to the meeting and what they are looking for from your presentation. Every group is different in what they are looking for from you.

Tell them the WHY

Your presentation should explain why you should get approval. Tell them your story.

Keep it short

Present your case but don’t give so many details that it is confusing to the officials. You will know when it is time to stop or move onto another subject when the officials stop listening. Look for those signs.

Be professional

Dress accordingly and try not to argue with the people who will decide if you get an approval or not. Don’t present your plan as if you are on trial and never let them see you sweat. And never, never lie to them. If you don’t know, tell them that and that you will get back to them. This has been the kiss of death on several applicants we have observed.

Seek support

Make an attempt to have the local chief of police/fire review your security plan for suggestions. We can’t tell you how many approvals our clients have received nationwide when the police/fire support you prior to the meeting.

Experts

If you have an expert testifying on your behalf, make sure they can present your vision clearly to the officials. Not all experts are able to speak to a group about what they do and it has hurt several applicants.

Know when to quit

If you can see that the officials are agreeing with you and want to award you the approval, try to finish up and not say something that will change their mind. Don’t over play your hand.

These are just a few suggestions to help you with your license process and you can learn more of them by attending several city meetings prior to your presentation date.

We hope these suggestions help and feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions on how to present to a city council, zoning board or cannabis control board.

Author

Tony Gallo is the Managing Partner for Sapphire Risk. Since 2013, Tony has developed cannabis security strategies for businesses and has worked with over 600 clients in 35 States.

Tony has spoken at over 100 conferences nationwide on cannabis security from application to operation. Tony received his degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University in Jersey City, NJ, and is a published author.

How Can Sapphire Risk Help?

Tony Gallo and the team of experts and consultants at Sapphire Risk Advisory Group have worked to secure medical marijuana and recreational cannabis businesses in 37 states. Follow us on social media to stay up to date with more security best practices and cannabis industry updates!