KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Franklin’s Stash House started as a two-man team in the corner of a warehouse, rolling hemp blunts by hand.
Three years later, the manufacturer is sourcing from Missouri’s top five cultivators and selling to dispensaries across the state.
"Across the whole industry, it's less than two percent blacks in the business," said co-owner Ronald Rice.
Rice's priority is making sure minority representation does not start and stop with him. In the words of the company, simply being the first is not enough. The goal then is not just Black customers, but it is Black owners as well.
“Success to me means helping others,” said Rice. “Marijuana has been around me the whole time, so to have an opportunity to participate in this industry was big for me, because I’m an example of what the possibilities can be.”
Rice was convicted and sent to prison in 1995 on a marijuana charge. Now as the owner of a cannabis company, he is pushing to change the narrative for the thousands of people who look like him still behind bars.
“Most of the people being incarcerated behind marijuana (are) mostly black and brown. So when the laws changed and you (could) exonerate that, it helped, but it’s still not enough to bring those black and browns into the business,” said Rice.
Rice says the ability to relate to their customers in a way that invites them to see themselves valued in the industry is what sets them apart.
“It’s the feel, it’s the vibe, it’s the energy that we project and it all goes into the product,” said Rice. “That culture is what we cater to because they can recognize the product.”
He also says because his business partner Mike Wilson is Caucasian, it helps them breed a cross-culture environment and reach a broader audience.
"That's what makes us dynamic. That gives us authenticity and you can see the transparency because he's in places, 'Who is that?' and same with me when I get to the boardroom, 'Why is this guy here?' That gives us an edge. It allows us to kind of see both sides of the table and we can merge that together. That's why we call it a cross-culture,” said Rice.
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