The new store, Zen Leaf Naugatuck, opened Friday morning at 585 S Main St. in Naugatuck. The store is Verano’s fifth in the state. The company also operates dispensaries in Meriden, Newington, Norwich and Waterbury. Verano also owns CTPharma, a 217,000-sqaure-foot cannabis cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill, Verano said in a news release.
“We’re thrilled to open Zen Leaf Naugatuck as we strengthen our roots and deepen our commitment to supporting local communities and the equitable growth of the cannabis industry across Connecticut,” George Archos, Verano founder and CEO, said in the release. “We’re grateful to deliver local contributions in the form of job creation, economic development, and social equity partnerships to drive positive change and counter failed anti-cannabis policies that have adversely affected countless communities across Connecticut, and the nation, for decades.”
Verano said the Naugatuck location will staff 20 locally hired team members and will offer both medical and adult-use sales. The Naugatuck store joins Zen Leaf Newington and Zen Leaf Norwich as the third of six promised equity joint venture dispensaries across Connecticut that Verano plans to open with its social equity partners.
“Opening Zen Leaf Naugatuck marks the culmination of collaborative efforts with many stakeholders, and I’d like to thank state officials, our team members, customers, patients and local social equity partners for their support in bringing Zen Leaf to the Naugatuck community,” Archo said.
In the Connecticut cannabis industry, equity joint ventures are businesses that partner with “licensed producer, DIA cultivator or dispensary facility, that is at least 50 percent owned and controlled by an individual or individuals who” had a household income less than 300 percent than the state median household income for the last three tax years and either “was a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for at least five of the past 10 years” or “was a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for at least nine years before the age of 18,” according the the State’s website.
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