Marijuana licensing begins in Washington

Four electrical engineers at Pullman, an automotive parts wholesaler from Yakima and a budding insurance salesman in Clarkston were among those watching closely Wednesday as the Washington State Liquor Control Board issued its first licenses for marijuana ventures.

The licenses went to Sean Green of Spokane, who will run Kouchlock Productions, a business that will be able to grow and process as much as 21,000 square feet of marijuana.

Others in eastern Washington hope to join Green in the days and weeks ahead as the state issues more licenses. Entrepreneurs entering the new field have different goals for their businesses.

Among them are Interstate 502, which would like to set up shop in a warehouse near Pullman; Juan Rodriguez, a Yakima man looking to raise marijuana near Endicott; and Robert Dunn, of Clarkston, who wants to be a small player in the industry.

Interstate 502 is seeking a Tier 2 license for middle-sized growers, along with permission to process in a warehouse near the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, said Carl Schmokel, who recently quit his job so he could devote all his time to the start-up venture.

In addition, the company is expecting to perfect technology to make cultivating marijuana more efficient, drawing on the expertise of the four founders - electrical engineers who met when they used to work at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman.

None of them has any experience growing marijuana, but they are hiring consultants who do, Schmokel said.

"We're definitely going to try to bring it to the next level," Schmokel said. "We're going to bring all of our technical experience to bear on this opportunity."

Interstate 502 is the latest collaboration for the partners. Schmokel met Brian Augdahl when Augdahl was his supervisor at SEL. The two became business partners in a 5,000-square-foot warehouse they hope will house the marijuana business.

The warehouse is already the location of Whiskey Barrel Cider Company, which brews hard cider and is owned by Augdahl and another partner in Interstate 502, Trent Maier.

They started Whiskey Barrel Cider Company after Maier left SEL and attended culinary school. Maier is married to Stacie Maier, who is also Augdahl's sister, Schmokel said.

Rodriguez of Yakima also sees marijuana as a way to diversify.

"I'm always looking for new and evolving industries," said Rodriguez, who has worked as a Spanish/English translator in health care and court settings.

The site where he'd like to be near Endicott in rural Whitman County is so promising that he had initially hoped to land three licenses in the Tier 3 category on adjacent plots and permission to process, said Rodriguez, who has since scaled back his vision since the state is limiting producer licenses to one per individual.

"I believe there is a demand that needs to be satisfied," Rodriguez said. "The law has recognized that it is something that can be consumed respectfully by adults for leisure."

Rodriguez is drawing on his knowledge of farming that goes back to his childhood when he would accompany his father, who was a foreman at an apple orchard of more than 100 acres. He would be along as his father completed tasks such as checking the health of the trees, applying fertilizers and eradicating pests.

In contrast to the plans of Interstate 502 and Rodriguez, Robert Dunn of Clarkston, sees his role in the new industry as a small one. He would be an employee of Eastside Growers, which is applying for a license under the name of his sister, Terri Harrington.

If the license is granted, equipment now used for a medical marijuana operation would be converted to grow for the recreational market, Dunn said.

The 1,200 to 1,300 square feet of pot he would like to raise in a pole building at 1040 Bridger Lane in Clarkston would be an amount that's similar to medical marijuana cooperatives already under cultivation in the area, Dunn said. "It's something that wouldn't even be a blip on the radar. It's more of a (hobby) size."

He's also obtaining a license to sell life and disability insurance since marijuana would be a side business. "It's more like sellers of organic vegetables or flowers."

Dunn has been one of the more prominent faces on the marijuana scene in Asotin County. Last year he opened a business that sold items such as pipes and rolling papers on Sixth Street in Clarkston. He is no longer involved in that business, but it is still open. He has also spoken at public meetings about marijuana.

As those seeking licenses fine tune their plans, county officials are still wrestling with how to deal with the new businesses (see related story on Page 1A). The Washington State Liquor Control Board has been sending notices to county commissions about those applying in their jurisdictions. Asotin County, which has a six-month moratorium that runs through the middle of June, and Whitman County are responding to those differently.

Asotin County sent its notice about Eastside Growers back to the state, checking boxes that indicated it didn't approve of the location or the applicant. A copy of the moratorium was attached, said Karst Riggers, Asotin County planner.

Moratoriums like the one Asotin County has aren't considered in the state's decisions about licenses, said Mikhail Carpenter, a spokesman for the liquor control board.

What's relevant to the board are the criminal and financial histories of applicants and investors as well as where they live, since the law requires them to be Washington residents for at least three months, Carpenter said.

Even though the state is indifferent to the moratorium, it's creating a logistical problem since Eastside Growers has a tentative lease agreement on its proposed location and isn't sure if that will be a place where growing marijuana will be allowed, Dunn said.

Whitman County hasn't sent the notices back, said Art Swannack, chairman of the Whitman County Commission.

The state is viewing no response from local officials as a sign they don't have issues with the proposed licenses, Carpenter said.

Once the state issues a license, recipients can start growing marijuana as long as they have met local requirements such as zoning rules and building codes, Carpenter said.

Any business in Whitman County is required to go through a zoning review, and no marijuana business has formally started that process yet, said county Planning Director Alan Thomson.

Growing marijuana and simple processing such as putting it into bags and delivering it to a seller would be allowed in designated agriculture areas in unincorporated Whitman County, Thomson said.

But most of the informal inquiries he's received involve more elaborate ideas that would likely require conditional-use permits or zone changes.

"Just getting a state license is not sufficient to start a business," Thomson said.

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Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.