A company owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is building a 50,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility behind Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, Minn.
Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV) announced last week construction has already begun and should be completed by fall.
“Profits generated from this endeavor will be reinvested into the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to support essential government programs and services for its members,” MLCV said in a news release. “Furthermore, it presents a new avenue for job creation within the Mille Lacs tribal economy.”
The grow operation is the latest cannabis development on tribal land following the decision by Red Lake Nation and White Earth Nation last year to open the state’s first recreational marijuana dispensaries. Minnesota’s tribes have been early movers in the new market as they have sovereignty to set their own cannabis rules and regulations.
The state’s full adult-use cannabis market is expected to come online next year once regulations are finalized and licenses are issued.
Mille Lacs Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin took time to make the decision.
“I wasn’t necessarily on board with it, but I decided to take it out to the elders in the community,” Benjamin told the Star Tribune in January. “I asked them if they want to have this type of business here on the Mille Lacs Reservation, and of all the people that decided to respond, we got over 90% [saying] yes, we want to move forward with this.”
Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures does not yet have plans for a retail outlet and intends to “stick to the growing and manufacturing side” for now, the company said. As one of the first large grow operations to come online, MLCV could become an early supplier for retailers around the state.
