Nial DeMena presented the plan to the Community Development Board on Tuesday and received a site plan approval.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board approved its second medical marijuana application Tuesday night.
The Greeneway Wellness Foundation is looking to open a dispensary in the Downing Industrial Park. The dispensary would be located in the former Berkshire Beef Co. building.
The foundation is one of the applicants statewide to receive a permit for a Cambridge location.
During the next round of expedited permitting, the company hopes to receive state approval for the Berkshires location as well.
The organization has tapped one of the former heads of Manna Wellness, Nial DeMena, for the Berkshire's project. Manna Wellness had applied to open a dispensary in the city but was not accepted into the next round.
"They're mission is really closely aligned with ours," DeMena said on Tuesday.
Manna is still under reconsideration but DeMena is not currently working for that organization.
"He's [John Greeneway] been very interested in tailoring a dispensary to the Berkshires," DeMena said, and since DeMena has the experience of crafting a Berkshires project, he was hired.
The Downing Industrial Park location won't include any cultivation and will follow the strict security guidelines set by the state.
"It is really a golden set of regulations," DeMena said, adding that DPH "took the best" regulations from other states and disregarded the regulations that weren't working.
Julia Germaine, who too headed the Manna proposal, also voiced support of the project and called the location "non-invasive."
DeMena says eventually Greeneway would look to expand their services beyond just the medicinal marijuana. But that is far down the road after the company receives all of the permits and operates the business for a while.
"It is his intention to expand and offer complementary services," DeMena said.
Greeneway is only the second medical marijuana dispensary the Community Development Board has seen. The board previously approved the plan from Total Health and Wellness Inc. to open one on Dalton Avenue. However, they too were not selected for the next phase of the application process.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
click for more
Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.
click for more
Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
click for more
Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more