Maryland is expanding its cannabis social equity efforts beyond licensing with a new initiative designed to connect social equity cannabis businesses with certified minority-owned suppliers.
On May 21, the Maryland Department of Social and Economic Mobility’s (DoSEM) Office of Social Equity partnered with the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (CRMSDC) to host the Open Roads B2B Tour, a statewide event that brought cannabis operators and minority-owned businesses together to explore procurement and partnership opportunities.
According to DoSEM, the initiative is intended to support more than 190 social equity cannabis licensees by helping them build relationships with businesses offering services such as security, compliance, manufacturing, technology, and facility operations.
“Maryland has over 10,000 small, minority, and disadvantaged businesses in our orbit, and cannabis is an industry where those businesses can compete and win right now,” said DoSEM Secretary Walter L. Simmons.
The tour included stops at Moment Maryland (Verdant Cultivation, Inc.), Farm Coast—Maryland’s first approved micro-grow cultivation facility—NWILKS Holdings, and Happi Daze, Somerset County’s only standard cannabis dispensary.
Delegate N. Scott Phillips, Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, joined the Central Maryland stop. During the 2026 legislative session, Phillips helped pass SB 594, which increased the minority ownership requirement for cannabis licenses from 35% to 45% while adding new advertising restrictions and operational requirements for dispensaries.
CRMSDC President and CEO Sharon Pinder said the tour was designed to turn months of planning into tangible business opportunities.
“The groundwork OSE and CRMSDC laid over the past year is now active commerce,” Pinder said. “Our certified minority businesses have the industrial capacity, technical expertise, and commercial readiness to scale Maryland’s cannabis industry.”
DoSEM and CRMSDC said they will continue supporting connections made during the tour by providing participating cannabis businesses with capability portfolios from certified minority-owned suppliers, with the goal of fostering future procurement partnerships.
The Open Roads Tour is the first state-led initiative of its kind in Maryland to bring together cannabis social equity licensees and certified minority-owned businesses through a seed-to-sale business development program.
