JONESBORO — A group of local investors in one of the first medical marijuana cultivation operations in Arkansas has sold their company to another investment group.
The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission approved the sale of Delta Medical Cannabis on Dec. 2.
The company’s cultivation facility is located in Newport, and Jon Chadwell, director of the Newport Economic Development Commission, said Delta has been a good part of the community.
“They hired a number of local folks, and there are local folks in the upper management of the operation, so we get to visit with them and it has just worked out really well,” Chadwell told The Sun Friday. He said representatives of the new ownership group have assured him the operation would remain in Newport, “so we feel pretty comfortable with it.”
The new owner is Revolution DMCC Acquisition Corp. of Jonesboro. According to documents provided by the marijuana commission, Dustin Shroyer of Jonesboro owns 37.5 percent of the new venture, while Tamika S. Edwards, a Little Rock attorney, owns 62.5 percent.
The sale price was not disclosed.
Two limited liability corporations and three individuals were listed as the sellers.
Eagles, Birdies, Doubles and Triples LLC, owned by Doug and Jacquelyn Falls of Jonesboro, owned 42.02 percent of the cultivation operation; Valentine Cultivation Co. LLC, owned by the Lynn M. Parker, Donald L Parker II and Ray F. Osment investment trusts and Tommie M. McKee and John D. McKee, all of Jonesboro, owned 28.01 percent; Amy Fulkerson of Jonesboro had 18.18 percent; Penelope A. Stanley of Augusta held 16.18 percent; and Tracy Johnson of Little Rock owned the remaining 4.67 percent of the stock.
Scott Hardin, spokesman for the marijuana commission, said the sale of the cultivation operation didn’t affect the Delta Medical Cannabis dispensary operation in West Memphis.
At one point, Newport was to be the home of two cultivation facilities. However, the marijuana commission approved the sale of Jonesboro-based Natural State Wellness Enterprises to Good Day Farm LLC in November 2020, and approved the transfer of that facility to Pine Bluff on Nov. 10.
Community leaders, led by Newport Mayor David Stewart filed suit in April, challenging the ownership change and transfer of the facility. Other plaintiffs are Jon Chadwell, director of the Newport Economic Development Commission; the Northeast Arkansas Charitable Foundation; and the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board.
A second lawsuit, filed in October, seeks the return of the real estate to those organizations’ control.
The lawsuit said Natural State Wellness Enterprises, the original owner of the permit in 2018, took advantage of hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial incentives in deciding to locate the cultivation facility in Newport.
According to the newest complaint, Natural State Wellness Enterprises transferred its interest in the Newport property to BRLS Properties AR-Newport LLC, for less than $100.
The second complaint said there was a provision in the deed transfer from Newport to Natural State Wellness Enterprises that, “In the event that the Grantee does not build, construct and operate a marijuana grow facility properly permitted by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission on the premises within 24 months from the date of this conveyance, title to the lands and premises shall revert to the Grantor.”
The first lawsuit said the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board sold 20 acres to Natural State Wellness, believed to be valued at $870,000, for just $20. The city also provided an estimated $75,000 worth of easements for streets, natural gas, electrical, sewer and water at no charge and installed a water and wastewater line at no charge. That work was worth more than $90,000, according to the complaint.
Those cases are still pending.
Unlike the Natural State Wellness property, Chadwell said Delta sought no local government incentives and purchased the property from a private landowner.
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