Missouri welcomes Liberty Cannabis, the industry’s best place to shop for medical cannabis patients
Liberty Columbia opens on Friday, September 10th with additional dispensaries opening soon in Kansas City, St. Louis and Rolla. Holistic Industries’ regional focus and investment in the communities in which they operate allow for this expansion into the Missouri market while maintaining the company’s core values to be the best place to work, shop and invest in cannabis across the country.Holistic Industries, the largest, private multistate operator in cannabis, announced the opening of Liberty Columbia, Missouri’s newest cannabis dispensary. This is the company’s first of four Liberty-branded medical cannabis dispensaries to open in Missouri before the end of 2021, in addition to a grow/processing facility also scheduled to open later this year.
In Columbia, Liberty will fill almost 20 positions (including both full and part time), with the ability to scale depending on increased patient demand. Holistic hires locally and places a heavy emphasis on community outreach and cannabis education programs in the communities where they have Liberty dispensaries and other facilities.
Inclusion and diversity are in Holistic’s DNA and our goal is to have a workforce that looks like the community mosaics we serve. Because of this commitment, Holistic and Liberty Cannabis in Missouri have partnered with two non-profit organizations, Southeast Enterprise (SEE) and Alphapointe, for job training and placement for differently-abled people.
“These partnerships feed into Holistic’s intent to have a fully diverse workforce that includes people from different races, gender, gender identification, creed, ethnicity, religious belief, ability, LGBTQ+, and more.” said Lee Riley, Retail Market Director for Liberty Cannabis in Missouri. “We know that when we have diversity seated at the table, production increases, employees are happier and patients who walk into Liberty and engage with our team can feel that.”
Liberty Cannabis Cares, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of Holistic Industries, is the proud sponsor and community volunteer for The Harvest Hootenanny on September 18th. The Harvest Hootenanny is a yearly celebration of local agriculture and marks the completion of another successful growing season. For over a decade, Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture has used The Harvest Hootenanny, to showcase the value of urban agriculture and continue building community around the mission of good food for all, and the skills to grow it.
Liberty Cannabis Cares will join the City of Columbia to beautify its trails with an Adopt-A-Trail partnership. Liberty team members will help maintain a section of the Columbia Trail system on a monthly basis throughout the year and help make Columbia and its trails more beautiful.
Why Missouri Loves Liberty
Missouri medical cannabis sales exceeded $20 million in July and some attribute it to a combination of new dispensaries opening and growing patient enrollment. However, when Liberty dispensaries open, they will give patients an experience unlike anything else offered in the state. Holistic Industries started in limited license, medical markets and understands how to meet patient needs when it comes to access, product quality and consistency, and the retail experience. The company was started by Josh Genderson ten years ago when he won a grower/processor license in D.C. He wanted his facility to be the best, which meant also learning everything he could about medical programs, licensing and regulation. Soon after, he was introduced to some parents who told him about a group of kids with intractable epilepsy that benefitted from high-CBD strains of cannabis. After meeting Jackson, one of the kids, and seeing first-hand how the medicine helped him, Josh knew he had to grow and process medical cannabis for these kids in D.C.
Now in nine states, including Maryland and Pennsylvania which are also medical markets, Holistic industries and Liberty were built to give medical patients access to the highest quality cannabis medicine. Now they bring a new level of sophistication and expertise to the Missouri medical cannabis market with a track record of successfully operating in medical markets around the country.
Why Liberty is the Best Place to Shop
There are many options for cannabis patients in Missouri, but what makes Liberty the best place to shop is the comfortable, at-home feeling patients get when they walk in the door. Liberty has committed to being a true neighborhood dispensary by hiring from the surrounding neighborhood and giving back to the local community. The Liberty retail experience is convenient and unintimidating with a store set-up designed to invite shoppers to explore with captivating displays and organic elements. Liberty team members are called “Wellness Guides.” They are passionate about cannabis and deeply committed to sharing that passion and knowledge with others, making them a big part of the patient’s retail experience. Often, customers develop relationships with Liberty Wellness Guides, asking for them and their recommendations by name and finding new products for new patients.
Liberty is the first cannabis retailer to join the ranks of forward-thinking companies like Starbucks with a sophisticated app called Liberty Wallet, designed specifically around patient’s needs when it comes to cashless payments, messaging and a loyalty program that truly benefits the patient. Liberty Wallet is a convenient, safe and secure way for cannabis patients to get the most out of their shopping experience at Liberty. Liberty Wallet is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The first Liberty retail location to open in Missouri is located at 1400 Forum Blvd, STE 12 in Columbia. For more information, visit: www.libertycannabis.com/.
About Holistic Industries
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Holistic Industries is the largest private multi-state cannabis operator (MSO) in the U.S. and runs vertical operations in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and soon in West Virginia. Founded by Josh Genderson in 2011, Holistic Industries has grown into a national medical and consumer goods company, a cultivation and extraction network, and a Liberty-branded retail dispensary chain. Holistic Industries was founded to provide patients access to the highest-quality cannabis medicines and has grown quickly with this ethos in mind. As Holistic has entered adult-use markets, the company has built a reputation for delivering exceptional products in a customer-service oriented retail environment. Holistic Industries’ Greenhouse of Brands includes Liberty (dispensaries), Do Drops, Strane and Garcia Hand Picked.
About Alphapointe
Alphapointe, headquartered in Kansas City, MO has been empowering people with vision loss to achieve their goals and aspirations since its founding in 1911. Alphapointe, the third largest employer of people who are blind in the U.S., with manufacturing facilities in both the State of Missouri and the State of New York, has nearly 400 employees, of which 220 are blind or visually impaired. Alphapointe is one of the region’s largest resources for people with vision loss, offering products and services nationwide. Alphapointe’s business lines include plastics, micro-molding, office products manufacturing and sales, textiles manufacturing and sales, janitorial products, contact center services, retail stores and a comprehensive rehabilitation and education program for people who are blind or are losing their vision. For more info about Alphapointe, visit www.alphapointe.org.
About Southeast Enterprises
Southeast Enterprises was incorporated as a Missouri not-for-profit corporation by concerned parents and area businesspersons in November 1975. The purpose of this corporation is to establish an Extended Employment Sheltered Workshop Program to provide productive employment opportunity and necessary support services to Jackson County adults with developmental, physical, and emotional disabilities who are unable to successfully engage in competitive employment so that they may enhance their work skills and earning potential. These individuals develop not only appropriate job skills and behaviors; but also, pride in their work, confidence, maturity, and a sense of self-esteem. Southeast Associates develop not only job skills and behaviors; but also, pride in their work, confidence, maturity, and a sense of self-esteem.
