Curaleaf Holdings Inc.’s stock rose 6% Monday after the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission on Monday voted to strike down a rejection of the company’s adult-use license and allow it to continue operations.
In an emergency meeting conducted via Zoom, the commission’s 4 to 1 vote to renew an adult-use permit with conditions came just days after its April 13 decision to refuse a license renewal around questions about Curaleaf’s decision to close down a cultivation facility last month.
Curaleaf’s
CURLF,
-0.41%
CURA,
+0.31%
stock rose by 15 cents to $2.52 a share on Monday after trading was halted during the afternoon for news pending.
If the denial had held, Curaleaf would have been forced to shut down adult-use sales at two dispensaries in Bellmawr and Edgewater Park by Tuesday, officials said.
Dianna Houenou, chair of the commission, said Curaleaf must provide the board with evidence of good-faith efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement at each facility, according to a video of the meeting.
The company must also provide information on its labor practices as well as documentation of its decision to modify its New Jersey operations in Bellmawr, where it closed down a 40-employee facility last month.
The board may issue any penalties including fines or revocation of license if Curaleaf does not comply.
Commissioner Krista J. Nash said the commission’s actions on Curaleaf amount to a “wake-up call” for cannabis operators in the state to follow the labor requirements in the state’s cannabis law.
“It’s time to favor people over profits,” Nash said before voting for the proposal, with conditions. “Companies must maintain labor peace agreements and provide access to unions and have a collective bargaining agreement within 200 days of starting up.”
Curaleaf closed down operations at its Bellmawr growing facility to consolidate at a newer facility in Winslow Township, N.J., and offered jobs to all but five employees affected by the move, Curaleaf Chief Compliance Officer James Shorris said at the commission’s meeting on Thursday.
In a statement on Monday, Curaleaf Chair Boris Jordan said Tuesday’s decision “is a victory for Curaleaf” after it “proudly generated tens of millions of tax dollars for the state, invested upwards of $75 million more to support its cannabis industry, and supplied cannabis products to nearly all of New Jersey’s licensed dispensaries.”
Curaleaf said it had agreed to provide the state with “additional information regarding its labor practices and confirm its ongoing compliance with New Jersey law.”
In a statement on Thursday, Commissioner Nash said the state’s cannabis law was intended to protect employees as part of a Garden State tradition that goes back to the early days of the labor movement. Peter J. McGuire (1852-1906), who was a resident of New Jersey, is credited as a founder of the Labor Day holiday.
Curaleaf’s stock traded near an all-time low on Friday following the state’s earlier decision.
Also read: Curaleaf stock tumbles toward record low after NJ denies license renewal, but analyst sees case for company to appeal and sue
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