The first week of May marks National Small Business Week – a time dedicated to recognizing the vital contributions of small businesses and entrepreneurs. For cannabis businesses in Los Angeles, this week is especially important as over a third are owned and operated by social equity entrepreneurs. These operators are crucial to our local economy and create employment opportunities, provide goods and services to the community, and generate revenue for the City. To everyone growing something special here in Los Angeles, thank you for everything you do. 

To highlight the hard work, innovation, and value cannabis operators bring to our local economy, DCR’s Social Equity Program has created A Day in the Life, a spotlight series that features social equity cannabis businesses here in Los Angeles. This series showcases the daily hustle and challenges the people of this industry face, and the practices, systems, and innovations that lead to long-term success. The spotlights will be dropping soon, but until then, watch the trailer for a sneak peek here. 

As a reminder for Los Angeles’ business licensees and applicants: the Social Equity Program hosts an online Learning Management System (LMS) that offers over 180 hours of free educational content on topics like workforce development, branding and marketing, financial planning, and more. Verified social equity individual applicants (SEIAs) can access the LMS portal here, and interested general business licensees can email DCR.SEP@LACITY.ORG to gain access. 

As a reminder for consumers: support the businesses in your community and always shop legal, local cannabis. With DCR’s retail and delivery maps, it’s simple to find retailers right in your area. You can access the maps here.