Helios Laboratoriesa minority-owned craft cannabis grower in Broadview, Illinois announced that it has first loan from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Social Justice of Cannabis loan program intended for social equity license holders.

“As the leading cannabis social justice organization, we’re excited to be among the first to have access to these funds,” he said Ambrose Jackson, CEO of Helios Labs. “Given the huge start-up costs, it is critical for all license holders to complete the build-out and be operational as soon as possible and move into a revenue-generating model,” said Jackson, adding that the loan provides the cash injection needed at a crucial time Time in development of the project.

According to a press release Helios Laboratories receive their loan from Good Tree Capitala Chicago-based financial institution that provides credit and now a digital wallet for cannabis businesses to store and use their funds.

“We are proud to partner with Helios to provide them with both a loan and a digital wallet to store their funds and use them to grow their business,” he said Sec BallardFounder of Good Tree Capital.

Social justice also means access to capital

The Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program was created to help Social Justice License Holders gain access to capital, which has historically been one of the main barriers to entry.

The program launched in the summer of 2021 with the goal of providing low-interest loans to social capital licensees through a partnership with lending institutions.

The DCEO loans required applicants to meet certain conditions, including:

• Applicant must be from an underfunded area or from an area disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs.
• The applicant or a family member must be directly affected by police enforcement of anti-marijuana laws.
• The applicant hires 51% of employees from distressed neighborhoods adversely affected by the War on Drugs.

“Justice has always been at the heart of what we do cannabis…