Cleveland, OH--Harvest of OH announced in a press release that it is officially vertically integrated as of April 13, 2022, making Ariane Kirkpatrick the first female and Black majority owner of a vertically integrated cannabis company in Ohio. Vertical integration describes a company that controls every stage of the production path – growing, dispensing, and processing.
Kirkpatrick's journey into the cannabis industry began in 2017 when she was awarded provisional licenses to dispense, grow and process medical marijuana. In 2021, after building the company's infrastructure and receiving certificates of operation, Kirkpatrick opened three medical marijuana dispensaries: Harvest of Columbus, Harvest of Athens, and Harvest of Beavercreek. Each dispensary sells a variety of cannabis flower, vaporizers, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, topicals and accessories. More than 9,000 patients have visited the dispensaries. Also in 2021, Harvest of OH opened Harvest Grows, a state-of-the-art greenhouse facility located in Ironton, Ohio.
Kirkpatrick recognized the importance of Harvest of OH being family-owned and operated and enlisted her family's expertise. The Harvest of OH executive leadership team is a diverse group of individuals, family included, all with the mission to improve lives through the goodness of cannabis.
"Having a diverse team is a priority of mine with just over 50% of our 75 employees being women and people of color," said Kirkpatrick in the release. "Our plan is to shape the future of the cannabis industry as we advocate for equity, inclusion, and social justice, especially for those that are overrepresented in the penal system for marijuana offenses and underrepresented in careers in cannabis."
Read more in the entire press release.