Cannabis conference coming up

CLOVIS — A transplanted New Yorker seeking to grow marijuana in Curry County and an Albuquerque-based financial consultant know they are not alone in seeing great business potential for legalized recreational cannabis in eastern New Mexico.

The pair are sponsoring a “business-to-business” conference scheduled for Tuesday in Clovis to help prospective eastern New Mexico cannabis entrepreneurs, accountants, lawyers and government officials learn from experts and specialists about business, financial, licensing and legal aspects of the new industry as it advances toward its scheduled launch in April.

Speakers and workshop leaders are expected to include accountants, bankers, and lawyers, as well as current producers and retailers, according to a news release announcing the conference.

No cannabis products will be sold at the conference, the news release stated.

The one-day Curry County Cannabis Conference, including panel discussions, group workshops and speakers, will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Clovis Civic Center.

Details on cost, registration and the agenda are available at http://www.newmexicograss.com.

Conference sponsor Brian Rogers, whose executive communications training business is based in New York City, is making his home in Clovis while he licenses and establishes an indoor marijuana growing facility near Texico under the business name Llano Sativa, he said.

Rogers’ co-sponsor is Elevar Business Advisors, based in Albuquerque, whose owner Erin Gandara says she has learned much in recent months about the unique accounting and financing aspects of the recreational marijuana business. She also has experience working with medical marijuana business clients, she said.

In eastern New Mexico, Gandara estimated annual revenues of $20 million to $30 million from legalized cannabis businesses. Rogers was far more optimistic, projecting the cannabis business in eastern New Mexico could bring in up to $200 million a year in revenue.

Statewide, Rogers said, he expects the cannabis business to generate up to $1 billion a year.

The New Mexico Legislature estimated legalized cannabis to bring in $325 million a year by its fourth year.

Most of the cannabis revenue in eastern New Mexico, Rogers said, is likely to come from growing marijuana for retailers.

Profit margins for growers, he said, are likely to be equal to those for retailers, at least while supply of marijuana products is expected to lag behind the demands of retailers.

That margin is likely to be greater than profit margins for growers of other crops, Rogers and Gandara agreed.

Clovis, Rogers noted, is located at convenient distances from both Las Cruces and Albuquerque to serve the legal marijuana markets centered on both cities, which will be the state’s largest.

In addition, he said, Curry and Roosevelt counties have an abundance of inexpensive land and good weather conditions for growing marijuana.

For retailers, he said, there is also a lot of profit potential in serving Texas populations, given Clovis is about a 90-minute drive from both Lubbock and Amarillo.

Including the towns and cities between Clovis and the large Texas cities, Rogers said, the total population is about 550,000. Between 10% and 20% are likely to be cannabis users, he said.

Conservatively, he said, that’s about 55,000 people who potentially could travel to eastern New Mexico for recreational marijuana supplies.

Medical marijuana users average about $100 per month in purchases, Rogers said, and assuming that recreational users would spend the same amount, the Texas market could bring in about $5.5 million a month, or about $66 million a year. That would mean “450 to 500 pounds of product would have to be available at any given time,” he said.

“Supply is not likely to keep up with demand” at first, he said, which will increase profit margins for growers.

Rogers also said there is likely to a market for “Air BnB-type” establishments that will allow cannabis to be consumed on the premises.

The retail market in Curry and Roosevelt counties is not likely to be as lucrative, Rogers said, given the total population of around 45,000.

Gandara said accounting and banking for cannabis-based businesses is “unique and complex.”

Since cannabis sales and purchases still violate federal law, she said, “national banks are unwilling to take marijuana business accounts.”

At the conference, she said, participants will learn about the unique financial aspects of the cannabis business from representatives of companies that specialize in cannabis accounting and organizations like the National Association of Cannabis Accountants and Tax Professionals.