Page 4 - Westman Business 2019

4 THE BRANDON SUN • WESTMAN BUSINESS • OCTOBER 2019

» Continued from Page 3 Snelgrove was asked why she thought
American restaurant chains like Qdoba,
The Winnipeg Free Press recently re- Applebee’s and Wayback Burgers have
ported that Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, chosen to come to Brandon early in their
which handles wholesale cannabis sales to expansion into Canada.
retailers, lost $2.4 million on cannabis in “I think we are pretty representative,
the 2018-19 fiscal year ending March 31. we’re a pretty engaged community,” she
Given that loss and the effect of can- said.
nabis derivative products, which recently Because Brandon has hit the 50,000 to
became legal on the one-year anniversary 60,000 population threshold, Snelgrove
of legalization, the long-term health of the says it makes the community more desir-
market remains to be seen. able for new businesses.
However, MLL said that some of their “They’ve got a large enough draw area,”
losses were due to one-time expenses in- she said. “They can know how successful
curred during the legalization process. they’re going to be and not get lost in, say, a
Without those expenses, the organization million-person city.”
told the Free Press that it would have re- As for why businesses are staying in
corded a $1.7 million profit. Brandon after they arrive, Snelgrove be-
Another problem the industry faced LEFT: Brandon First executive director Graham Harvey, outside of Brandon’s historic Dome Building, which lieves that it’s due to the strength of the
during its infancy was supply shortages, serves as their headquarters. RIGHT: Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Cathy Snelgrove listens to local workforce. She believes Brandon is a
though CEO John Arbuthnot of Delta 9 a fellow speaker at a past Chamber event. (Files) hard-working community due to its agri-
recently told the Sun that those problems cultural background.
have largely been resolved at this point. tion. Ryan said that Brandon’s Meta loca- over illnesses linked to vaping in the Unit- When asked if she was worried about
Ryan concurred that the supply situation tion was built with the derivative products ed States and Canada, both Arbuthnot and the potential economic effects on the city
had improved. in mind for when they became legal. Ritchot said that due to the agricultural sector having had
Even though derivatives like edibles, Robert Ritchot, the founder of local- Brandon has seen a few restaurants open such a rough year with a dry summer fol-
topicals, and concentrates are now legal, ly-based national cannabis accessories com- this year, like the Original Joe’s at Shoppers lowed by an extremely wet fall, Snelgrove
producers still have to sort out regulatory pany humble + fume (formerly BOBHQ), Mall as well as the Freshii and full-service remained optimistic.
issues like getting Health Canada approv- recently told the Sun that he expects the Dairy Queen at the Corral Centre. It would be naive, she said, to expect no
als. products his company’s research and de- Murray Fischer, the City of Brandon’s effect from this difficult year, but suggested
These products will take a while to hit velopment branch is working on will most acting building safety manager, said there that Brandon has rebounded from previous
store shelves and there may still be supply likely hit shelves in the first quarter of next are a few more restaurant chains looking to bad years for agriculture.
issues as the market waits for a full suite of year. move into Brandon but did not have spe- » cslark@brandonsun.com
products to become available for distribu- Though there have been recent concerns cifics. » Twitter: @ColinSlark

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