While Peake ReLeaf was founded in 2015, it was really formed in 2014 when 3 friends of over 15 years decided to follow their passion to pursue a license to dispense medical cannabis in Maryland.
Peake ReLeaf was not built by national consultants or businesses, but by friends with a dream to return home and create a better dispensary. Recently, CashColorCannabis had the chance to go BTS with the Peake ReLeaf team to learn more about the team behind Maryland’s best-kept secret.
From how Peake ReLeaf came to be to how they use cannabis. Get to know the Peake ReLeaf team. Read a snippet of our profile on Peake below.
When did the idea for Peake ReLeaf come about? & The process of going from idea to reality is a lot, especially for cannabis companies. From getting the license to opening the store, can you walk us through that process? How difficult was it to obtain a license? How hard was it to find a location?
The idea of running a dispensary began as a dream of mine and two like-minded friends of many years who share a passion for cannabis which sprouted from an upbringing entrenched in exploring self-medication and advocacy. When the State of Maryland began the application process in 2015 I realized that the other founding members of Peake ReLeaf and myself had the unique skill set and expertise to effectively run a business in the cannabis industry and more importantly do so how we felt one should be ran.
The application process which closed by the end of October in 2015 was quite arduous and time consuming. We began having meetings to form Peake ReLeaf in late 2014 and early 2015 to put together the right team to pursue the license and secure investment since banks will not service the cannabis industry. After searching for the additional talent necessary through colleagues and friends in the industry and securing the necessary investment we began to work on laying the foundation to build the application that would end with our award of a dispensary license in one of the most contested districts in Maryland. After the application process ended in October of 2015 the licenses were not awarded until December of 2016.
Once the license was awarded the real work began with first finding a location while simultaneously searching for the architects, engineers, contractors and attorney’s necessary to traverse the zoning requirements for the cannabis industry which change depending on the county and municipality.
Many large national and regional commercial real estate management companies won’t deal with cannabis companies in fear of repercussions from the federal government. In a successful commercial business climate in the metropolitan area most of the commercial real estate is owned by national and regional companies making the search for a location even more challenging. We managed to find a location in January of 2017 and were negotiating the lease when then Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the statement that he was going to withdraw the Cole memo and wouldn’t take prosecuting legal medical cannabis markets off the table when discussing marijuana related prosecutions. This statement resulted in the dissolution of our lease all together – making us start from scratch in our pursuit for a desirable location. Through a lot of work, dedication and negotiations we managed to secure a location and then began the work of traversing the task of permitting.
It took many meetings with our local planning committee to traverse the zoning regulations previously proposed for pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid even though we don’t sell food, toiletries, or any variety of additional merchandise. It was only by working through creative solutions that we were able to traverse get through the permitting issues surrounding a new industry with little regulations purposed for it specifically. I am now working with our local municipality to try and develop solutions for this industry’s current zoning dilemmas. Once we were awarded our permits we proceeded in completing our buildout, hiring and training our staff, and were at last able to open our doors.”
- Warren Lemley, President and Founding Member of Peake ReLeaf/Executive Vice President and Founding Member of Peake ReLeaf Consulting
And what about working with the community. How has that been and how important is it for Peake ReLeaf to have a real connection with the community?
Before we ever opened our doors we believed in the power of our community, the need for advocacy for patient rights, and the importance of growing the presence of the minority ownership in this industry. Here we seek to address many of the primary barriers to care through patient advocacy and education, like physicians not approving patients access to treatment – creating a harmful barrier or bottleneck to care.
While we work to make sure that we continue to be worthy of the trust of our community , we are mindful of the prejudices that still exist within the cannabis industry that work against minority ownership (whether in an emerging market like Maryland or elsewhere) and seek to empower others through consulting services. For years, black and brown communities have been disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis and its use – and part of what we believe is our obligation to the community is creating opportunities for a greater diversity presence.
Additionally, we participate in as many community events as we can – to show support and solidarity with causes that our community champions. This has included working with and providing financial support to community organizations (Shootout For Soldiers, Equipment Connections for Children, Center for Black Equity, The DC Center for the LGBT Community), leading workshops about ownership and employment in the cannabis industry for educational institutions (Howard University), attending conferences to better learn how to serve our patient community (Cannabis Science Conference, Cannabis & Women’s Health for Black Maternal Health Week), and even co-hosting an Alternative Healing Workshop!
We believe cannabis to be an important and therapeutic plant that must be readily accessible for the community we seek to serve – while also advocating for including the communities that have been affected by unjust laws in the past, and who face huge hurdles in trying to enter the industry now.”
- Kevin Johnson, Jr., Director of Creative Marketing
Looking back on the journey to launch Peake, what moment would you say is your most proud of?
Our grand opening was personally my proudest moment in our Peake ReLeaf story. If anyone asked me 11 years ago when I moved to Colorado if I thought a medical marijuana program would ever exist in Maryland, I would have responded “Not in my lifetime!”
To be able to have the opportunity to bring access to medicine to patients in my home state is an overwhelming experience, and I am proud that our community has come this far.”
- Nate Miller, Executive Vice President/Founding Member of Peake ReLeaf & Peake ReLeaf Consulting
Knowing what you know now about how to launch a successful cannabis business, what would you do different now if you were trying to open a retail shop?
When you become a cannabis business owner, there are so many kinds of vendors that compete for your attention. There are endless decisions to make. What inventory tracking system will you use? What platforms will you advertise on? How will you bank? Will you use a third party for payroll? Will you obtain an ATM, cashless ATM or debit solution? Will you use compliance software in addition to state requirements? How will you accomplish staff training?
Knowing what I know now, I would ask harder questions of vendors during initial phone calls or in person meetings. There have been so many times a sales representative has told me their company is allowed to work with the cannabis industry, spending many hours, days or even weeks moving forward with that company, only to then be told that actually that company is unable to work with the cannabis industry.
So, one of the first questions I now ask is have you worked with clients in cannabis industry before? This will help you and the vendor to set expectations. If you know from the beginning that you are a vendor’s first client in the cannabis industry, it can help you be better prepared for the road ahead.”
- Tracey Lancaster Miller
Read the full story soon inside CashColorCannabis Magazine.