concerned about a dispensary
opening in their area.
That’s exactly what happened
to Ascend, the Brookline dispen-
sary. The city voted 60 percent
in favor of legalizing recreational
cannabis in 2016. As one local
resident explained it to report-
ers, “I’m a libertarian, and I
think if you want to smoke pot,
have a blast.” Yet when faced
with the prospect of a dispen-
sary opening in her backyard,
she hedged: “But not here.”
Ascend eventually gave up.
But dispensaries have opened
in hostile neighborhoods all
over the country, and continue
to do so—and their successes
offer a blueprint for anyone, in
any industry, who faces push-
back from skeptical neighbors.
Here’s what they’ve learned.1 / Become a neighbor.
Brendan McKee, co-owner
of Silver Therapeutics in
Williamstown, one of the
first stand-alone recreational
retailers in Massachusetts,
stresses the importance of
taking time—years, even—
getting to know an area’s con-
cerns and contours before you
begin. That doesn’t mean just
reading up on the place. It
means “boots on the ground,
spending time in the commu-
nity, introducing [yourself ] to
people,” explains McKee.The Ascend team, for exam-
ple, hosted community meet-
ings in Brookline, but that was
part of a licensing applica-
tion process. Doing only what’s
required of you won’t convince
most skeptics that you actu-
ally care about local concerns
and want to become a construc-
tive part of the neighborhood.
From the very conception of a
store, McKee suggests attend-
ing community board meet-
ings, town halls, and other local
public events, and introducing
yourself in front of the room.Stick around and meet people,
tell them about your business
plans, and gather candid feed-
back. Find out who the promi-
nent local activists, organizers,
and businesspeople are, and
reach out to them directly to
find times to talk shop.
When McKee launched his
store, he started on safe ground:
He and his associates all either
live or had once lived in the town
they were opening the store in.idea, he says, is to get neighbors
involved in the industry them-
selves, giving them skills to make
money in it, so they don’t feel as
though hostile invaders are creep-
ing into their orbit.3 / Don’t judge.
In Brookline, home of the
St. Mary’s protests, there is one
cannabis store that managed to
open: It’s called New England
Treatment Access. The key to how
it did that, says Amanda Rositano,
president of the dispensary chain,
is the philosophy of taking resi-
dents’ concerns seriously “even if
you might think that they’re a little
overblown.” Rather than immedi-
ately flashing studies in their faces
to show they’re wrong, she says,
let skeptics tell you what would
make them feel heard and secure.
From there, you can respond with
plans and expert testimony that
expressly answer their asks.
This process may not win over
everyone with doubts about a
controversial business coming to
town, says Rositano. And it can
be incredibly time-consuming,
acknowledges McKee. But when
done right, it will hopefully con-vince a critical mass of people
that you are responsive, compe-
tent, and genuine. And onetime
critics may even come to your
defense, McKee says. He can
recall several times when a local
stood up in a community meeting
to quell concerns raised by other
members—and did it better than
the Silver Therapeutics team ever
could have done alone. That’s
when you know you’re about to
become a neighbor.That gave some comfort to the
locals. But their future outpost,
in Boston, required even more
work. “We’ve already done two
community meetings with the
local neighbors’ association,” he
says—something that wasn’t
mandatory but that his team
thought would be helpful. They
found many skeptical residents,
who saw the dispensary as a com-
pany that wouldn’t respect their
needs or care about them. That,
McKee says, is why it’s so import-
ant to humanize your business.2 / Bring something to the table.
Many locals ideally want a new
business to enrich the neighbor-
hood, not just the proprietors.
Their reactions are personal—
which is why they aren’t moved
by basic statements of fact, like
an entrepreneur saying that the
business is technically, legally,
allowed to be there. This is why
some municipalities, including
many in Massachusetts that have
been debating new dispensaries,
will demand that a new business
somehow contribute to the com-
munity—say, by paying extra fees
or donating to a local charity.McKee suggests heading off
such demands by coming to the
table with your own solid plan
for how you’ll benefit the area. (If
you’ve listened well, you should
have some idea of what will make
residents happy.) He did that
with his upcoming Boston store,
by telling residents that Silver
Therapeutics will “build in a very
cool nonprofit component, where
we’ll teach local people how to
cultivate and sell cannabis.” TheONE LOCAL RESIDENT EXPLAINED, “I’M A LIBERTARIAN,
AND I THINK IF YOU WANT TO SMOKE POT, HAVE A
BLAST.” YET WHEN FACED WITH A DISPENSARY OPENING
IN HER BACKYARD, SHE HEDGED: “BUT NOT HERE.”Strategies
→ MASS APPEAL
Employees at New England
Treatment Access in
Brookline, Mass. , wait on
customers on the first day
of recreational marijuana
sales, March 23, 2019.54 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / March 2020