Britni Tantalo, owner of Flower City Dispensary. (Photo by @murrayyaravitzphotography)
Britni Tantalo has no apprehension about being at the forefront of a new state-wide industry, breaking down barriers and serving as a role model for women and minorities. In fact, she’s embracing it.
“It’s go-time now,” said Tantalo, owner and president of Flower City Dispensary Inc., a retail cannabis business preparing to set up shop in Rochester.
Tantalo is applying for a New York State Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) license to become one of the first retail dispensaries to open for legal adult-use cannabis sales in the state.
The Office of Cannabis Management began accepting applications for CAURD licenses on Aug. 25.
CAURD is a key pillar of the New York state Seeding Opportunity Initiative.
Through the Initiative, New York’s first legal adult-use retail dispensaries will be operated by those most impacted by the enforcement of the prohibition of cannabis, who will make the first sales of adult-use cannabis in New York with products grown by New York farmers.
To be eligible for these licenses you can choose to apply under the qualifying business track or qualifying nonprofit track.
Prospective qualifying business applicants must:
- Have a marijuana-related offense conviction that occurred prior to the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act on March 31, or have had a parent, legal guardian, child, spouse or dependent with a pre-MRTA marijuana related offense conviction in the state of New York, and
- Have experience owning and operating a qualifying business.
Tantalo meets the state criteria for the qualifying business track. She is an experienced business owner who had a minor marijuana-related offense conviction in her late teens.
While cannabis has traditionally had some social stigma attached to it; Tantalo believes it will eventually become normalized.
“It’s up to us as the first group to market to set that precedent, be sustainable and help create a thriving industry,” she said. “We are recreating the norm.”
Tantalo
Tantalo has a background in corporate finance and accounting, with an undergraduate degree in finance from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from St. John Fisher.
She previously worked as a public tax accountant for Ernst & Young LLP.
But the extensive travel throughout the year and the extra-long hours in the office during tax season coupled with a desire to spend more time with her growing family left Tantalo wondering if there was something else she was better suited for professionally.
As a result, she and her husband, Jayson Tantalo, began working in the cannabis space in 2014 with the launch of Metavega Corp., an indoor growing equipment wholesaler.
Tantalo said she and her husband have complementary styles and broad business experience between them. Jayson Tantalo has some two decades of experience in the horticulture and hydroponics industries, with extensive experience in web design.
The two traveled up and down the East Coast promoting the business and selling the product, making solid business relationships along the way. A decade later, they are still working with those customers, she noted.
The couple opened Flower City Hydroponics in 2021 to expand their offerings. The Fairport business is a hydroponics equipment supplier.
Education is a key component of the business, Tantalo said, noting Flower City Hydroponics caters to novice and seasoned growers.
Flower City Dispensary is a logical next step for the couple.
“Every decision we have made along the way has been strategic,” she said, noting the numerous advantages of the new market. “Whether they’re a user or not, people are aware of the potential in the cannabis space.”
Britni and her husband, Jayson Tantalo. (Photo by @murrayyaravitzphotography)
The two have formulated an executable business plan and researched the banking, insurance and legal components of starting such a business.
Tantalo, who is half Korean and has a young daughter, wants to be a role model for other women, girls and minorities who may have doubts about succeeding in business.
The other priorities for the new venture include operating a profitable business, being a job creator, giving back to the community where they live and protecting the state’s investment in the business.
Among the challenges Tantalo and other cannabis retailers will be facing is the industry’s inability to access secure banking in the face of federal prohibition.
Strict product marketing regulations could also impact the retailers’ abilities to spread the word about their businesses.
And while those granted CAURD licenses during the first application round receive a turn-key operation, the state decides where the location will be, which gives Tantalo and other awardees less time to research, prepare and market the location.
Despite the obstacles, Tantalo is up for the challenge.
“In order to succeed you have to be able to take that risk,” she said.
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