Medical marijuana's B2B network helps weed grow into new sectors of the economy

By Greg Campbell l Published: Sunday, April 18 2010 08:25
If you stumbled into the wrong meeting room at the Loews Denver Hotel last week, you could be forgiven for thinking you'd happened upon a "business after hours" function of the local chamber of commerce. There were lawyers, consultants, insurance agents and businessmen sipping drinks and picking at finger food. If you'd just ducked in and out, you'd have had no idea that the gathering had anything to do with marijuana.

In fact, it had everything to do with marijuana.

The Loews Denver Hotel is the site each month of the Medical Marijuana Business Alliance (MMBA), a group that grows each month with participants who have some connection to the hottest, fastest growing industry to hit Colorado in decades. Of course dispensary owners and cultivation experts are on hand, but so too are those whose services might at first have no connection whatsoever to medical marijuana.

That includes J.B. and Mary Woods, who own an insurance agency. They were among the first to offer policies to dispensaries and grow operations to insure against fire, theft and even crop failure.

"This is so new and so interesting to me," said J.B. Woods, who for 15 years has made a living selling bread-and-butter policies for cars and homes until a dispensary phoned his wife asking for loss coverage for marijuana. "We're actually insuring medical marijuana while it's in its various crop stages. These are brand new programs. Now we're really entering new territory."

MMBA was set up to help business owners navigate that new territory and to establish a voice for businesses in the industry to be heard by policymakers. Last night, the guest was state Sen. Chris Romer; next month it will be activist attorneys Rob and Jessica Corry.

"It's a collection of people who offer resources to the industry and everyone is working together to help each other," said Mary Woods. "There are so many more people entering into the industry. It's nice that a lot of dispensaries and growers have a lot of choices."

Indeed, although it may sound odd, for the first time, people who grow and sell marijuana have the need for a B2B networking organization. For example, marijuana dealers have never worried in the past about whether they could claim $1,000 metal halide lights as a business write off on their taxes, or given any thought to workman's comp and unemployment insurance for the people they hire -- but now that they do, they need CPAs and lawyers to help guide them. They never enjoyed the ability to choose from a variety of 420-friendly security companies, contractors and plumbers. And the idea of insuring their crop probably never entered their minds. But with medical marijuana being legal in Colorado and 13 other states, they find themselves in need of more typical businessman's services even if the industry they're in is anything but typical.

That the relationship is symbiotic is obvious. Regardless of how one feels about the widespread availability of medical marijuana, there's no denying that it has rejuvenated the opportunities for many more people than those who grow and sell it.

Plus, at least for insurance agents, it's provided a much-needed jolt of excitement and adventure in an industry that's not exactly known for being edgy.

"It's so fascinating and its multifaceted," said J.B. Woods. "If we have to go back to providing home and auto insurance to the public, I think I'm going to switch careers."

Medical Marijuana Business Alliance
Insurance for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

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