Marijuana prospects growing

Two guys from Albuquerque hope they've found greener grass than real estate along with their discovery of Clovis as a place to do business.

Earl Henson and Tom Schoneman are getting ready to launch Earl and Tom's, a small business that will grow and sell marijuana, located at the site of a former gun shop at 106 S. Main St., Clovis. They have even put their name over the front entrance.

Since they became the second cannabis business to receive a New Mexico recreational cannabis business license in either Curry or Roosevelt County, they have been trying to accelerate the growth of 180 cannabis plants, which they planted as seeds as soon as they got their license on Dec. 17, Schoneman said Friday.

The first licensee in Curry or Roosevelt counties was Vana, LLC, owned by Parin Kumar, another Albuquerque resident.

Schoneman said the plants should produce salable flowers, the product that customers will purchase most, by April 1, the state's target date for retail sales to begin.

The plants are growing in "nutrient rich water" instead of soil, Schoneman explained as he cycled buckets of water from one tray of plants to the other Friday under indoor lights bright enough to require sunglasses for comfort.

Schoneman said the number of plants will double as soon as equipment arrives that will automate the process of distributing fortified water to the plants.

"It will be super high-tech," Schoneman said, "state-of-the-art."

Henson and Schoneman are also hoping to obtain a retail license and already have taped lines on the floor where retail space will be set up.

When the business acquires the retail license, Schoneman said, "We're likely to have 10 to 15 employees."

The customer experience is "going to be like table service at a restaurant," Schoneman said.

Henson said Thursday that he, Schoneman and a third partner, Brian Stofac, of Albuquerque are hoping for a "vertical license" that would allow both the producer and retail sales functions.

"We're growing high-grade plants," Henson said.

Schoneman said they are growing "boutique-quality" marijuana.

Stofac, the third partner, brings product knowledge gained from a successful cannabis business in Colorado, where recreational cannabis has been legal since 2012, Schoneman said.

Efforts to reach Stofac on Friday were not successful.

Before Schoneman and Henson committed themselves to the legalized cannabis business, they had been in the residential real estate business together for many years.

"Earl proposed the idea to me" of entering the recreational marijuana business, Schoneman said, and Schoneman jumped in.

"I always wanted to get in on something at the ground floor," he said. "I've never worked so hard in my life, but I'm loving it."

Prospects for a strong local customer base and business from Texas are excellent, Schoneman said.

"Texans are likely to come here on their way to Taos" or other New Mexico destinations, he said.

Both are also attracted to Clovis after their many years in Albuquerque.

"We love Clovis," Henson said Wednesday as he was driving back to Albuquerque, where, he said, he was making arrangements to relocate in Clovis. "Everybody has been great here."

Schoneman, too, said on Friday he wants to move to Clovis, and he, too, marveled at the cooperation the city has offered to himself and Henson.

"There's more of a small-town feel here," he said. "It's awesome. I love it here."