Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Plants derive energy from light. And marijuana – also known as cannabis – needs light just like other plants. In fact, cannabis plants grow best when exposed to an ideal spectrum of light, according to Gary Arnold.
Arnold, of North Providence, co-owns a Warwick-based company that sells specialized light fixtures for a wide variety of indoor farms, including marijuana farms.
The company, TSRgrow, was among more than 90 exhibitors at the third annual Rhode Island Cannabis Convention, which ran Saturday and Sunday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
The event bills itself as a gathering of "canna-sumers and ganja-preneurs" and a "must-attend expo" for anyone interested in medical and recreational marijuana.
It made a good forum for talking to companies that hope to make money if Rhode Island follows Massachusetts and legalizes recreational marijuana use.
TSRgrow is among some Rhode Island companies positioned to profit from the process of photosynthesis that supports marijuana plant life.
The company has sold 1 million LED light fixtures, for a full variety of indoor plant-growing applications, since it was established in 2009, Arnold said.
The company has 35 employees involved in manufacturing in Vermont and Massachusetts and will soon open a manufacturing facility in New York. It has seven employees doing manufacturing work in Rhode Island.
Arnold hopes to employ more people in the state. The legalization of recreational marijuana use would definitely help, he said.
A short distance across the convention hall was the concession of another Rhode Island-based light company, Vividgro, of West Warwick. The Vividgro display featured a small rectangular tent-like structure, no taller than five feet, and a small set of lights for incubating baby marijuana plants.
The company, which already sells a lot of equipment to medicinal users, aims to expand those sales to recreational cannabis users in Massachusetts, said a salesman, Dennis Custodio.
Perhaps, with legalization, Rhode Island, too, will provide another recreational opportunity in 2019, he said.
"It's just another market for us," Custodio said.
The organizers of the convention itself, the New England Cannabis Network, are making money by providing venues where marijuana-focused businesses can network and develop.
The rationale, said the network's cofounder and president, Marc Shepard, is that companies established in other states like Colorado will simply dominate the New England marketplace if local companies aren't in place to make money when new laws present fresh business opportunities.
To that end, Shepard's network put on a convention in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center in 2014. It drew 200 exhibits and 6,000 attendees, he said, emphasizing that it was timed to help companies harness opportunities in medical marijuana.
Shepard estimated attendance at Providence's event this past weekend at 1,500 visitors.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seeing the light on legalization at Rhode Island Cannabis Convention - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
Author: Mark Reynolds
Contact: Contact - Providence, RI - providencejournal.com
Photo Credit: Ben McCanna
Website: providencejournal.com: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Providence, RI
Arnold, of North Providence, co-owns a Warwick-based company that sells specialized light fixtures for a wide variety of indoor farms, including marijuana farms.
The company, TSRgrow, was among more than 90 exhibitors at the third annual Rhode Island Cannabis Convention, which ran Saturday and Sunday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
The event bills itself as a gathering of "canna-sumers and ganja-preneurs" and a "must-attend expo" for anyone interested in medical and recreational marijuana.
It made a good forum for talking to companies that hope to make money if Rhode Island follows Massachusetts and legalizes recreational marijuana use.
TSRgrow is among some Rhode Island companies positioned to profit from the process of photosynthesis that supports marijuana plant life.
The company has sold 1 million LED light fixtures, for a full variety of indoor plant-growing applications, since it was established in 2009, Arnold said.
The company has 35 employees involved in manufacturing in Vermont and Massachusetts and will soon open a manufacturing facility in New York. It has seven employees doing manufacturing work in Rhode Island.
Arnold hopes to employ more people in the state. The legalization of recreational marijuana use would definitely help, he said.
A short distance across the convention hall was the concession of another Rhode Island-based light company, Vividgro, of West Warwick. The Vividgro display featured a small rectangular tent-like structure, no taller than five feet, and a small set of lights for incubating baby marijuana plants.
The company, which already sells a lot of equipment to medicinal users, aims to expand those sales to recreational cannabis users in Massachusetts, said a salesman, Dennis Custodio.
Perhaps, with legalization, Rhode Island, too, will provide another recreational opportunity in 2019, he said.
"It's just another market for us," Custodio said.
The organizers of the convention itself, the New England Cannabis Network, are making money by providing venues where marijuana-focused businesses can network and develop.
The rationale, said the network's cofounder and president, Marc Shepard, is that companies established in other states like Colorado will simply dominate the New England marketplace if local companies aren't in place to make money when new laws present fresh business opportunities.
To that end, Shepard's network put on a convention in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center in 2014. It drew 200 exhibits and 6,000 attendees, he said, emphasizing that it was timed to help companies harness opportunities in medical marijuana.
Shepard estimated attendance at Providence's event this past weekend at 1,500 visitors.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seeing the light on legalization at Rhode Island Cannabis Convention - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
Author: Mark Reynolds
Contact: Contact - Providence, RI - providencejournal.com
Photo Credit: Ben McCanna
Website: providencejournal.com: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Providence, RI
