The state of Michigan has issued the very first recreational marijuana microbusiness license this month to a company in Presque Isla County’s Onaway.
Sticky Bush Farms owned by Benjamin Kolasa is the business to get the license according to state licensing records. The microbusiness will be allowed to grow up to 150 plants, the marijuana from which may then be processed into oil, edibles or other marijuana products, packaged and sold from a retail shop.
The kind of license Sticky Bush Farms has received is meant for small, self-contained businesses that are not allowed to interact with the rest of the licensed market. The business cannot acquire marijuana or marijuana products from outside growers, processors or retailers, and may not sell any products to other marijuana dispensaries or retailers.
The Marijuana Regulatory Agency, the licensing body for Michigan commercial marijuana market, has issued more than 300 licenses for recreational marijuana growers, processors, safety labs, retailers and transporters since December.
The license awarded to Sticky Bush Farms is the very first microbusiness license.
“This is a complex license type incorporating the functions of three other license types,” Marijuana Regulatory Agency spokesman David Harns said. “The license type also presents a challenge to municipalities as to zoning because of the diversity of function occurring in a single location.”
According to Onaway City Manager Kelli Stockwell, it was a long process to license the business. The owners first approached the city last year and City Council approved the request in October. Onaway officials decided to allow two microbusinesses but no other marijuana business types in their community.
No one has submitted a request for the second microbusiness slot, Stockwell said.
