AgdaPkt 2020-08-24 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

From: Maribel Diaz To: GRP -City Council; MGR -Melissa Stevenson Diaz; GRP -City Clerk Subject: Request for economic equality for disenfranchised minorities in Cannabis Retail Date: Monday, August 24, 2020 2:25:03 PM Hello Mayor and City Councilmembers, My name is Maribel Diaz Garcia and I am writing today to ask that you consider social and economic equity as you discuss allowing storefront retail cannabis operations in Redwood City. I would also ask that you allow storefront retail cannabis businesses to operate in traditional retail locations. I am the owner of a small independently run family business based in colorful Oakland, California. Our goal is to become a fully vertically -integrated cannabis company focused on raising the visibility of social equity brands in the Bay Area, while also promoting a diverse workforce on our team including women in management, the formerly incarcerated, and people of color. We take pride in providing the best quality products at an affordable price in order to steer consumers away from unsafe black-market products by pricing quality tested goods at a comparable price. It is our hope that with this approach we are capable of circulating money in an economy that has been closed to people of color for decades. I am a first -generation Latina woman, born and raised in San Francisco, California. I graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting. My family migrated here from Mexico in hopes of receiving a better quality of life with unlimited opportunity and possibilities. My father did not receive a formal education while in Mexico, and he worked on his family's farm in Michoacan until he was seventeen years old, which is when he made the decision to leave his family to make the trek to America. My mother was given three years of elementary level education before being asked to help her family. She too left home at the young age of seventeen. They were determined to give themselves and their posterity a better life so much, so they were willing to leave everything they had ever known for the chance at the American Dream. My parents gained a lot from their decision to migrate-- union jobs, health care, a home, a family, educated children and most of all power. The power that comes with making it. I did too, I was able to experience what coming from nothing feels like, the grind that is innately in you because of the realities of your life, and the chance to see what preservation and power looked like at such a young age. These things pushed me to become the woman I am today, a college educated CEO, home -owner, and mother. These gifts are my fuel in every pursuit, and it is with them that I accomplish my desires. Business Experience Fast forward five years, a great opportunity for a retail location in Vallejo opened up. The owner sought out me and my husband who is also an accountant to help her turn her struggling dispensary around, and, in four months, we were able to completely turn the store around. The club went from grossing $30k per month to almost $400k a month. During our time at the dispensary, we also supported local causes through a backpack giveaway along with other charitable donations. This experience piqued our interest in the Cannabis industry and I became an approved equity applicant in San Francisco. However, we were unable to find an affordable building in San Francisco to house our cannabis business. Through our network we were able to find an opportunity in the City of Oakland.