Infusion is elementary for pot entrepreneurs

By L ori StabiLE

Special to The Republican

Two Paper City natives are rolling into the cannabis market with their brand of cannabis-infused food products.

Isaias

Element, are literally “home grown,” having met through Entrepreneurship for All, also known as EforAll. The program for entrepreneurs launched four years through the SPARK Holyoke effort under the auspices of Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce.

Rosario, the company’s CEO, came up with the business idea at the end of 2020, and the duo graduated from the entrepreneurship program in winter 2021. The nonprofit EforAll’s mission is to help under-represented individuals start and grow a business through intensive training, mentorship and an extensive professional support network.

Ezra R. Bleau, seated, and Isaias A. Rosario are co-founders of Infused Element, a business that will produce cannabis-infused baked goods and beverages. Both are seen in a future event space at the facility they are developing at 1 Cabot St. in Holyoke.

“I knew that cannabis was legal in Massachusetts, and I wanted to get into the space.

I came up with the company name and started the process of the application,” Rosario,

38, said recently.

Rosario said he recognized the need for a specific product in the market — baked goods and beverages infused with rosin as opposed to distillate. Rosin cannabis extract is solventless, meaning it is made without chemicals.

They explained that the company’s manufacturing processes eliminate harsh and caustic solvents to make a healthier and better-tasting product for consumers.

Infused Element recently received its provisional license from the state Cannabis Control Commission. The provisional license allows Infused Element to start testing products while the commission considers its application for a final license. They say the process is highly regulated by the commission.

“Securing our provisional license allows us to start testing some of the recipes Isaias and I have been brainstorming about since we decided to combine our respective talents to form Infused Element during our tenure at

EforAll Holyoke,” explained Bleau, 32, chief operating officer. “Health, innovation and quality of product will be the baseline for everything we plan to create, and we will work towards becoming a household name in the cannabis industry for the years to come.”

They plan to make infused artisanal beverages, soda cocktails, pastry-shop-quality edibles and baked goods such as macaroons and brownies, along with rosin cartridges, at their 5,600-square-foot space at 1 Cabot St. “We’re trying to come up with different products to attract a different crowd,” Rosario said.

Infused Element also will be one of the first fully operational Cannabis Control Commission Social Equity Program members to produce food and beverage items. Participants in this program receive free technical assistance and training. According to the Cannabis Control Commission’s website, the program “creates sustainable pathways into the cannabis industry for individuals most impacted but the war on drugs, marijuana prohibition, disproportionate arrest and incarceration.”

Both men have been personally affected by previous marijuana laws, seeing friends and family arrested for possession.

Bleau said his brother was arrested and incarcerated on marijuana charges, and “it changed his life definitely.” His brother’s experience working in the illegal “gray market” was Bleau’s inspiration for working in the legal cannabis market.

“The worst part is these older people now try it and say (marijuana) has these great benefits,” Bleau said, adding SEE INFUSED, PAGE J18

Starting a business is never easy, but given my experience in cannabis thus far, it is safe to say that being in this industry has led me to spaces and places that I could have never imagined.

Since Massachusetts legalized in 2016, the industry has experienced a pandemic, civil unrest, and most recently prices continuing to plummet in the Massachusetts market. Add in the closing of The Source in Northampton, after only being open eight months and it is enough to make anyone pause and wonder how anyone survives and thrives in this industry.

6 Brick’s was always a dream of mine, acknowledging that there are many things an individual can’t change about themselves, including their hometown, which means I will always be Payton Shubrick, of Springfield, Massachusetts. What I did not realize is that 6 Brick’s would become a calling card to showcase a locally owned dispensary and an opportunity to highlight diversity in an industry that desperately needs it, with the bonus of being led by a Black woman. This venture took three years to create, as 6 Brick’s opened doors in September 2022, and, while it should be celebrated, it did create a moment of pause and reflection.

Adult-use marijuana establishments in Massachusetts have surpassed $4 billion in gross sales since the advent of recreational sales in 2018, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission announced on Feb. 1. However, women and people of color at all levels in this industry are still severely underrepresented facing the challenges of access to capital, legal and accounting guidance, networks, and the reality of a market that is now saturated in parts of the state.

However, I still clearly recall the talks of social equity and opportunities in communities deemed “disproportionately impacted” as a method to right the wrongs seen when cannabis was illegal. And yet, we have not seen this take shape holistically, although most recently, we have had the moments of joy with companies like the Heritage Club in Charlestown or Apex Noire in Boston, both independently owned operations opened by people of color in the communities they care about.

But how do we survive and thrive in this industry, when multistate operators are compressing the market maxing out on their allotment of three retail licenses in the state and lowering overhead to squeeze dollars and cents out of communities.

For owners like myself grouped in the non-white and non-big corporation categories, it is simple, we stay focused on what we can control which is our menu, customer service, and how we show up for our community every day.

Cannabis is still in its infancy with customers having questions about products. Our tagline of “People. Plant. Purpose” makes it simple for customers to understand what we are about. With more options in the market the golden rule of “treat others how you would want to be treated” stays at the forefront of my mind. The market maturing means that you can no longer rest on the build it and they will come model, and that is what provides an avenue for independent operators.

Small retailers can’t compete with the budgets of large corporations, it is simple mathematics, add up the cost of billboards, digital ads, etc. and it quickly totals the same amount of money needed for payroll. However, with each Google review that outlines top tier customer service, negotiating to have the best products on my shelves, and a few dollars devoted to marketing it is my hope that customers will notice 6 Brick’s enough to venture inside and see for themselves why having a local dispensary is not only needed but preferred. I can’t guarantee it will work but I can’t control the market either.

As the saying goes tough times don’t last but tough people do, so I will take the wins as they come big and small. So, for the customers that finally find the right edibles to help them sleep, to the woman who buys her first pre-roll only to come back to 6 Brick’s to buy another I thrive in knowing that my and many other independent operators’ existence resist the notion of what you should look like to participate in this industry.

It is my ask of everyone reading this that you consider who you are supporting when buying your legal cannabis because no one thrives alone.

Payton Shubrick is the CEO and founder of 6 Brick’s, a cannabis dispensary at 1860 Main St., Springfield. She is also chief of staff for The Block, a collective of business professionals, focused on creating a fair and equitable industry to support the overall success of Black- and brownowned cannabis businesses. She was the first Black woman to own a marijuana business in Western Massachusetts and only the third to do so statewide.

Editor’s note: 6 Brick’s is located on the same property as The Republican.

M.L. Schmitt: century old, keeping current

By C ORI U RBAN Special to The Republican

The success of electrical contractors and engineers M.L.

Schmitt Inc. relies on many factors, including the state of the economy.

“In its 100-year history, M.L. Schmitt has been mostly successful. Our employees are resilient and creative, and M.L. Schmitt continues to find ways to always give customers high-quality installation and service no matter what,” said Peter L. Coppez, owner and president. “Some years have been harder than others, but in the good times and bad we’ve found ways to persevere.”

M.L. Schmitt’s services include commercial and industrial construction and renovations, fire alarm systems, heating-ventilation-air-conditioning power and control wiring, electrical

Manufacturing

testing, aerial truck services, electrical maintenance and infrared testing.

The business, founded by M.L. Schmitt, opened in 1923. Coppez and Jean Pierre Crevier, owner and vice president, purchased the business from Thomas A. Schmitt on March 31, 2020, when the world was shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Jean and I were nervous to sign on the dotted line,” said Coppez, a graduate of Springfield Technical Community College and the Local 7 Apprenticeship Program who earned a bachelor’s degree in project management from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2020. “We knew becoming new business owners was a big responsibility, but it was especially hard to know what was in our near future at the height of the pandemic.”

Soon after they became owners, Massachusetts issued its shelter-in-place order.

“But the pandemic didn’t stop us. Our office employees worked from home for a few weeks before return-