BUSINESS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | DECEMBER 14, 2022

Business

www.ahwatukee.com

@AhwatukeeFN | @AhwatukeeFN

S. Mountain College competing for big award

AFN NEWS STAFF

South Mountain Community College is one of the 30 finalists in the February competition for the Bellwether College Consortium’s Bellwether Award.

The consortium comprises award-winning colleges that address critical issues facing community colleges through applicable research.

The nationally recognized Bellwether Award focuses on” innovative practices and programs worthy of replication” and is given in three categories: instructional programs and services; planning, governance, and finance; and workforce development.

South Mountain Community will compete for one the prize in “instructional programs and services” at the the 29th Dr. Richard Daniel, president of South Mountain Community College, credited Professor Maria Bailey-Bensen and her team, for the creation of the Ultimate Technology Summer Camp, which ultimately got the college into the prestigious Bellwether Award competition for innovative instructional programs.

(YouTube)

annual Community College Futures Assembly in San Antonio, Texas.

Only 10 submissions from community colleges across the country are selected to compete in each of the three categories, for a total of 30 nationwide.

“The significance of the Bellwether Award is that the winning programs are replicable, scalable, equity-focused, and demonstrate evidence-based success,” said Dr. Rose Martinez, director for the Bellwether College Consortium, adding:

“With the complexity of issues facing our community colleges today, these finalists are extraordinary examples of colleges providing scalable solutions to tough challenges.”

SMCC’s submission that earned a finalist nod was the college’s Ultimate Technology Summer Camp, which was submitted in the “instructional programs and services” category.

This category recognizes programs and services that foster or support teaching and learning.

see SOUTH page 30

Marijuana sales steadily increasing in Arizona

BY RYAN KNAPPENBERGER

Cronkite News

Sales of marijuana in Arizona soared to $1.6 billion in 2021, just one year after recreational pot was legalized in the state, making Arizona second only to California for retail sales that year, according to an industry research group.

But while retail sales of cannabis are strong, the crop is far from being added to the traditional “5 C’s” of Arizona’s economy, experts say, as production still trails far behind other states.

They say cannabis could become a strong part of the state’s economy in the next few years, but the industry will first have to overcome barriers to growth nationwide that include limited trade and restrictions on financing for a crop that is still illegal on the federal level.

“We don’t see SWAT teams busting in the doors of dispensaries,” said Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “But we do have problems with not being able to take tax deductions like a normal industry, or being able to have interstate commerce, which really creates a barrier to entry for a lot of folks.”

But for now, at least, the industry appears to be growing in Arizona.

Marijuana sales brought in $221.3 million in taxes in 2021, according to the Arizona Department of Revenue, and sales in 2022 were on pace to eclipse that number, with $196.4 million in taxes in the first nine months of the year. That’s an average of just under $22 million in excise taxes a month for 2022.

Cultivation and production of cannabis as a crop, however, are not about to rival the 5 C’s: cattle, cotton, copper, citrus and climate.

Alexis Villacis Aveiga, an assistant professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said that in order for cannabis to rival the rest of the 5 C’s, the state would need to see a much larger expansion of agricultural production.

But Arizona’s climate makes it difficult to grow cannabis, he said, and while greenhouses can help address that issue,

A vendor makes change for cannabis sale at a Los Angeles marketplace in this photo from 2020, when Arizona voters legalized recreational use of marijuana. Since then, cannabis sales in Arizona have surged to an estimated $1.6 billion, second only to California, but produc-

tion in the state still lags. (Richard Vogel/AP/Shutterstock)

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | DECEMBER 14, 2022

Cracker Barrel restaurant sold to San Francisco buyer

AFN NEWS STAFF

ASan Francisco apartment complex owner has bought the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store at E, Chandler Boulevard and I-10 for just under $6 million.

Perrelli Stone Oak LLC’s purchase last week comes two years after seller CB Portfolio Owner Fund IV bought the site for $4 million, according to Valley real estate tracker vizzda.com.

The sale includes the 9,288-square-foot restaurant on 2.68 acres, vizzda said.

It also noted that Cracker Barrel has a 40 year-lease on the building, built in 1998, that expires in 2040 with 10 fiveyear options to renew, making it unlikely the site will be used for anything else than its current use as a restaurant. 

SOUTH from page 29

“The Bellwether finalist nomination highlights the continued amazing and innovative work that takes place at South Mountain Community College,” said Dr. Richard Daniel, president of South Mountain Community College.

“I am extremely proud of our professor, Maria Bailey-Bensen, and her team, whose dedication to the Ultimate Technology Summer Camp has made it such a tremendous success.”

The SMCC Ultimate Technology Summer Camp was created to expose underrepresented minority and female students to educational opportunities and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) - with an emphasis on technology.

The goal of the program is to stimulate interest in STEM and increase the number of underrepresented minority and female students enrolling in STEM related courses – in both high school and college.

“This is such an important effort, in providing STEM opportunities to kids who may not otherwise encounter them,” said Bailey-Bensen.

“The world runs on technology and STEM fields, and we need to build that foundation of knowledge now.”

This nomination marks the 10th time over the past nine years that South Mountain Community College has been named a Bellwether Finalist.

SMCC is the sole representative from the Maricopa County Community College District named as a finalist this year. 

WEED from page 29 Arizona has a lot of catching up to do with other states.

“For example, we have 35,000 square feet of indoors cannabis and hemp,” Aveiga said. “In California there are over 4 million square feet, Colorado has over 2 million and Kentucky has around 200,000.

“So Arizona is pretty small compared to other states,” he said.

Dave DeWalt, the Arizona statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in an email that the state had about 129,000 acres of cotton in production in 2021, worth about $156 million, and that cattle brought in $754 million that year. There were 10,031 acres of citrus in the state in 2017, the most recent year for which USDA has data available.

Acreage for cannabis production was not readily available, but the Arizona Department of Agriculture measures the production of hemp – a type of cannabis plant that contains 0.3% or less of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive component of the plant that gives users a high.

Hemp cannot be used to get high, but can be used to create things like rope, paper, paint, beer, medicine and more.

The department said Arizona had 155.5 acres of industrial hemp growing Arizona has seen a decline in the marijuana market share involving flower and an increase in the popularity of vape pens and prerolls,according to the latest available market data. (headset.com)

in fields at the end of 2021, and 11,558 square feet planted indoors.

Aveiga said current state regulations make hemp less attractive as a crop, since farmers can only sell their harvest if it is below the 0.3% limit for THC. Otherwise, it counts as marijuana, which requires a separate license to grow and sell.

Smith, of the NCIA, said it’s not just farmers: Businesses trying to sell medical and recreational marijuana face legal hurdles that other businesses don’t.

He said regulations for cannabis make it difficult for small businesses to deduct expenses and find banks to work with. That means some operators cannot take credit cards for purchases and in some cases cannot place cash in checking accounts.

“It just serves nobody’s interest to have the industry operate in cash or you do not have access to these services,” Smith said.

Despite all the current hurdles, Smith said Arizona has been a pioneering purple state in terms of cannabis regulation and has shown just how popular legalization can be.

“Cannabis is used across demographics, boomers and millennials and Gen Z, people over 21 are using responsibly and we’re glad to see that,” Smith said. “Arizona law is by and large working well.” 

The latest breaking news and top local stories in Ahwatukee! www.Ahwatukee.com .com

JUST A CLICK AWAY