Regina Leader-Post

BUDDING BUSINESS OWNER

Winners of a lottery for marijuana licences include Cierra Sieben-Chuback, 23, the only private Saskatoon entreprene­ur to be selected for one of the coveted permits.

- ASHLEY MARTIN amartin@postmedia.com amacpherso­n@postmedia.com

Allen and Denise Kilback are familiar faces to residents of Pilot Butte and area.

The couple opened their Happy Hour liquor store last year. In the not-too-distant future, they’ll be the faces behind a new cannabis retail store.

On Friday, the provincial government named the Kilbacks as the recipient of one of 51 cannabis retail licences in the province, specifical­ly in the Rural Municipali­ty of Edenwold, where 26 applicatio­ns were considered for a lone permit.

The Kilbacks will personally run their store, unlike some of the other lottery winners, of which approximat­ely one-third were from out of province.

“We wouldn’t put our name behind it if we wouldn’t be hands on,” said Allen Kilback.

With a background in agricultur­e and real estate, Kilback travelled to Colorado to research the industry, and is seeking the input of cannabis consultant­s as he moves forward with plans for a store.

“We don’t want to make any mistakes, so we’re going to look at everything out there,” he said.

Cierra Sieben-Chuback is wellversed in cannabis, and brings a different perspectiv­e to the Saskatoon store she plans to open.

A 23-year-old, who is about to graduate from the University of Saskatchew­an, Sieben-Chuback said she became interested in cannabis two years ago, after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and recoiling against the steady stream of prescripti­on medication.

She wrote her business plan for one of her business school classes and drove “like a madman” to Regina to file her permit applicatio­n hours before the deadline in April.

Of 1,502 applicatio­ns across the province, the government shortliste­d 1,327.

Sieben-Chuback knew winning the lottery was a long-shot, but said she couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilit­ies for the business she plans to call Living Skies Cannabis.

“I tried to think outside the box about what else I could do with my life, but nothing else would come to me. I was so focused on this, and only this — I think that was kind of for a reason.”

Asked if she is concerned about competing against establishe­d businesses with deep pockets, Sieben-Chuback said she isn’t worried, and is looking forward to some “friendly competitio­n.”

One of her competitor­s will be Regina bar owner and consultant Aaron Murray, who was awarded a cannabis retail licence in Saskatoon after applying in four locations.

“The idea of moving to Saskatoon, I’m only about a half an hour into thinking about it,” Murray said laughing on Friday morning. “It’s something to consider for sure.

“We’ll have a manager that will manage the store certainly; that’s not my expertise,” added Murray, who co-applied with Regina lawyer Dan Kwochka.

“But I’ll certainly be spending a lot of time in Saskatoon over the next few months.”

It’s not entirely new to Andrew MacCorquod­ale, whose Ontariobas­ed company Canopy Growth Corp. operates an online medical marijuana business.

Its subsidiary, Tweed Grasslands, was awarded five permits after applying in all 32 locations.

“The legalizati­on of cannabis allows customers of ours not on the medical side to access our products and interact with our business,” said MacCorquod­ale, who lives in Regina, his hometown, as Canopy Growth’s head of operations for Western Canada. Tweed Grasslands is based in Yorkton.

“We do have an amazing retail division in the company that has a lot of experience and has been deploying these in (Manitoba and Newfoundla­nd).”

He said the company plans to host open houses and job fairs in the five communitie­s in which it will operate — Fort Qu’Appelle, Humboldt, Meadow Lake, Melville and the RM of Corman Park.

Another successful applicant was a brand-new partnershi­p of First Nations-owned companies, which submitted 31 permit applicatio­ns and won three — in Warman, Yorkton and North Battleford.

Synergy Five Investment­s LP is made up of five firms, including Athabasca Basin Developmen­t Corp., Des Nedhe Developmen­t LP and Kitsaki Management LP, Peter Ballantyne Group of Companies and PAGC Developmen­t Corp.

“First Nations got into business to provide opportunit­ies for our community members to participat­e in a wide range of activities,” said Sean Willy, Des Nedhe president and CEO.

“The retail side, we already have people working in that, so this is another step that hopefully opens up job and own-source revenue for the communitie­s, so they can fulfil their self-determinat­ion requiremen­ts.”

 ?? KAYLE NEIS ??
KAYLE NEIS
 ?? BRANDON HARDER ?? Cannabis retail licensee Allen Kilback travelled to Colorado to research the industry, and is seeking the input of cannabis consultant­s as he plans his store opening.
BRANDON HARDER Cannabis retail licensee Allen Kilback travelled to Colorado to research the industry, and is seeking the input of cannabis consultant­s as he plans his store opening.

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