Cannabis licenses are coming to unincorporated Riverside County in just three weeks. We’re super excited about it – and not just because it’s one of our local jurisdictions.
Riverside County is a great place to live and work and features a ton of resources that make it a standout place to set up a cannabis business.
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The market
Riverside County has over 2.5 million residents and is the fourth largest county in California by population, according to the Riverside County Economic Development Agency.
That’s an immediate market of 405,000 potential customers for cannabis businesses in unincorporated Riverside County, applying the 16.2% rate of cannabis consumption in the United States as reported by the United Nations.
The cluster
The Coachella Valley has emerged as a cluster for the cannabis industry, driven by cannabis-friendly regulations in incorporated areas such as Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. The Valley, for the most part, is a shining example of how California can do legal cannabis the right way, with wins for everyone involved, including the community.
The opening of unincorporated areas to cannabis creates an opportunity for businesses to bring that positive work further into the 7,200 square miles of the county. And the unincorporated areas surround the incorporated jurisdictions, oftentimes right across the street from existing cannabis businesses within incorporated areas. That opens opportunity for current businesses to move or expand.
The environment of fairness
We’ve seen in places like Adelanto and Huntington Park that competitive licensing processes can breed corruption and bad behavior. But in Riverside County, the industry has yet another chance to get it right. And we know it will. With an engaged Board of Supervisors representing some of the best communities in California, things look good for the legal cannabis industry in unincorporated Riverside County.
The place itself
From the coastal plain to the Colorado River and everything in between, Riverside County has a ton of things for employees to do from outdoor activities to shopping, not to mention the close proximity to Los Angeles and all that it has to offer. We love Riverside County and can’t wait to welcome some new cannabis entrepreneurs and investors to the neighborhood.