Sheffield, Mass. – On November 19, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted approval for The Pass cannabis dispensary to add outdoor growing plus five additional greenhouses to their capacity at a second location in Sheffield. This added site will allow The Pass to manage an outdoor area (~43,000 square feet) cultivating 2,700 plants in season, and greenhouses containing 2,400 additional plants year-round to provide raw material for their retail store and wholesale business. The new site will not be accessible to the public.
The Pass’ original site has a 7,200-square-foot multi-level indoor growing facility, a 5,760-square-foot outdoor greenhouse and a lab for manufacturing its own products from the flowers grown on-site.
“Having our flower production on-site ensures that our customers are getting the freshest cannabis possible,” said Head of Cultivation Pete Steimer. “The opening of The Pass’ second grow location will allow us to develop our wholesale business, have a stronger presence at dispensaries throughout the state and expand and diversify our in-house menu.”
Committed to providing social and economic benefit to the community, The Pass employs 48 staff members year-round. The Pass will be hiring around six full-time staff members for the second site with an additional four to six seasonal workers when the outdoor season is in full swing. Currently, The Pass has eight cultivation staff members working the original site which will also see a push of seasonal workers when outdoor production begins.
Centered amidst the mountains and farms of the Berkshires, The Pass is a new, adult-use cannabis dispensary located about five miles north of the Connecticut border — the closest legal cannabis dispensary to Western Connecticut, New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.
The Pass’ retail store opened to the public on July 17, 2020, after three years of planning, building, licensing, staffing and inspection. The inspection and licensing process was delayed and caused the facility to open a year later than expected.
The dispensary has the look and feel of a modern barn featuring a wide range of premier Pass and preferred-partner products — flower, pre-rolled joints, vape cartridges, concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals. Each Pass-branded product is categorized by whether the plant was grown indoors or outdoors, then further divided into effect categories that include sativas, indicas, or hybrids of the two. The store showcases packaging and accessories and features local art, music and video.
Founded by Berkshire residents Michael Cohen and Chris Weld, The Pass is a vertically integrated dispensary offering farm-to-label cannabis — a playful variation of the region’s farm-to-table culinary culture. Grounded by the area’s guiding principles of human and agricultural wellness, Pass-branded products are grown, processed, extracted and sold onsite. They also sell wholesale to several cannabis dispensaries across the Commonwealth.
“We are excited by the state’s recent approval of our expanded grow capacity,” said Chris Weld, founder and CEO. “After only four months in business, our products are selling out pretty fast. There are significant gaps in the cannabis supply chain and our expanded capacity will help create infrastructure to meet existing and expected demand.”
About The Pass
At the intersection of nature and culture, The Pass’ mission is to support human consciousness — to inspire, connect, and calm the mind and body — through intelligent consumption of natural flower and extracted/infused products. The company’s name is a nod to that relationship — The Pass is a reference to its physical location in the mountains, the legal status cannabis carries in the state and the communal tradition of passing of a joint.
Locally owned and operated and situated on the border of New York State and Connecticut, The Pass is located at 1375 N. Main Street (Route 7) in Sheffield, Mass. The retail store is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and accepts cash and debit card payments. The Pass will be taking COVID-19 precautions and remain vigilant about social distancing with customers in the store. To stay up to date on new products and store events, join The Pass’mailing list and follow their Instagram. Visit their website at www.thepass.co to order directly for pickup on site. You can reach The Pass via email at hello@thepass.co or call 413.644.6892.