Once a cannabis cultivation license is won, companies often scramble to meet what are usually tight state deadlines to get up and running.

Myriad obstacles can get in the way of a facility going online and on time, including design errors and construction delays, material shortages due to supply-chain headaches, hiring challenges, and not securing the financing needed to move forward with plans.

Access to capital is one of the greatest challenges in the state-legal cannabis industry, and just as this issue was going to press, the U.S. Senate once again stalled the SAFE Banking Act—passed six times by the U.S. House—crucial legislation to not only improve financing options for companies but also safety.

In the meantime, companies have had to be enterprising and innovative and come up with seemingly unusual solutions to get things done. The cannabis industry has been built on creative workarounds as companies continue to expand and regulations continue to evolve.

But great ideas are often borne in crunch time and crisis.

As detailed in this issue’s cover story written by longtime contributor Jolene Hansen, Ohio-based Standard Wellness, in its journey to become an MSO, was short on capital for its planned cultivation operations in Utah as it was trying to meet the deadline for the state’s sales launch. With the necessary funds still unavailable, the company came up with a creative solution in a pinch—to grow cannabis in 500-square-foot shipping-container grow pods.

That was more than a year ago. Those pods are still up-and-running today as the company finalizes construction on its official facilities, which are expected to launch at the end of this year or in Q1 2023. With outdoor cultivation supporting the pods, the company has been able to serve the state’s medical market and perfect its permanent operations.

And they’ve implemented the same grow pod strategy in Missouri as they build out cultivation operations to serve that market.

As Jared Maloof, CEO of Standard Wellness, notes in the cover story, “With all of these forces working against cannabis companies, those who can survive until we have normalization in our businesses are going to really thrive once we’re treated like everybody else in the world.”

Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More