Media Contacts:
Jeannette Ward Horton
NuProject | Executive Director
jeannette@nuproject.org | 404-644-0319
Daniel McArdle-Jaimes
City of Portland | Office of Community & Civic Life
daniel.mcardle-jaimes@portlando… | 503-865-6661
Portland Begins Recovery Path for a Sustainable Cannabis Industry
$1.33M Cannabis Emergency Relief Fund Now Available
PORTLAND, Ore.— Despite Oregon’s cannabis market being valued at $1 billion in 2021, the industry’s growth has been hampered by the triple uppercut-punch of COVID-19 impacts, record wildfires, and a rise in burglaries, leaving 20,000 full-time cannabis workers and the businesses that employ them without a lifeline. Oregon’s cannabis businesses, primarily locally-owned small businesses, were ineligible to access federal relief funding for disasters or emergencies. Bank funding is also largely unavailable to cannabis businesses due to federal prohibition. These issues led to the City’s Cannabis Program collaborating with multiple cannabis community-based organizations to creatively ensure the industry’s future economic success.
In December, the City of Portland became the first government entity in the U.S. to support cannabis recovery by using cannabis tax revenue when the Office of Community & Civic Life earned unanimous City Council support to allocate $1.33 million to launch the Cannabis Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) grants. CERF is a one-time allocation of cannabis tax revenue to provide equitable economic relief to an industry that has endured the same disasters other industries are weathering.
In the last two months, Civic Life supported three community partners to open the grant application process to the public on Feb. 1.
How CERF Works
Grant applications are available for Portland licensed cannabis businesses, ancillary businesses, and permitted workers who have been impacted by emergencies in 2020 and 2021.
The entire grant process, including the review of grant applications, administration, and fund disbursement, will be solely managed by three community-based organizations:
“These funds are a smart investment, needed now to retain a strong, local cannabis economy populated with diverse-owned companies,” said NuProject CEO Jeannette Ward Horton. “The CERF program gets the 'what' right – an equitable investment – and the ' how' – granting funds to culturally-specific organizations to build capacity in serving Portland’s historically excluded communities. Aligned to this, all individual grants will be serviced via a partnership between NuProject and Cannabis Workers Coalition (CWC), an organization with a mission to protect and advance equitable workers’ rights.”
CERF provides one-time grants of up to $25,000 for eligible cannabis and ancillary businesses within Portland city limits, and up to $5,000 to cannabis industry workers economically impacted by COVID-19, vandalism, robberies, wildfire, and the illness and trauma suffered as a result of these impacts. The City’s Cannabis Program will also provide up to $200,000 in waivers for prior year licensing fees to eligible businesses needing support to stay in compliance.
"I want to thank the Office of Community & Civic Life for once again being innovative and visionary about how to support the survival of these small businesses,” said Commissioner Hardesty during the Dec. 1 Portland City Council meeting that led to a unanimous vote to approve CERF. “I can never talk about the cannabis industry without stressing that it is the only business in our state that pays 85% of their dollars in taxes yet is legally unable to bank like everyone else in the state.”
More about the CERF partners
Civic Life provided funding to three uniquely-positioned community partners to launch and manage the CERF program, including grant applications, administration, and fund disbursement. All eligible applicants must apply directly to the CERF Community Partner of their choice for emergency relief funds. Applicants will receive grant funding from only one of the three partner organizations.
For more information on how to apply for the Cannabis Emergency Relief Fund, visit: portland.gov/civic/cannabis/CERF
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