Two Colby alumni open a cannabis company in Waterville

Brandon Pollock `10 and Nick Friedman `10, friends who met during their time at Colby, recently opened up a cannabis dispensary and cultivation facility in Waterville. The two always knew that they would go into business together one day. In 2020, this dream became reality.

“We’ve taken an old factory over and converted it into a facility where we cultivate cannabis and produce different products. So, we now have a dispensary that is open as well,” Pollock said. 

“Nick and I lived down the hall from each other freshman year, so that’s how we met,” Pollock explained. “We had always been talking, for the first couple years of college, about trying to start our own business.”

While the cannabis industry comes with a stigma attached, the two business partners are firm in their belief that people will use cannabis regardless of any regulations.

“I understand the stigma. My mom was definitely not a huge supporter at first when we got into this industry. We like the opportunity to educate people and in a simple way, whether cannabis is legalized and regulated or not, people are using it anyways. So, there is no reason not to regulate a marketplace that is so widely used to make sure that people are getting safe products and are being educated on potential risks.”

Their local cannabis dispensary provides Waterville residents with access to safer cannabis products.

“One of the benefits of purchasing from a dispensary is that we test all of our products in a testing lab,” Pollock shared. “So, they get sent to a lab that is independently owned and operated, and certified by the state, and they test the cannabis for potency and for safety. They make sure the cannabis has no chemicals in it and no mold in it, as well as tests for the strength so you know exactly what you’re getting.” 

He added, “So, if you’re getting cannabis at a dispensary, it’s been ensured that it’s safe for consumption.”

The new dispensary in Waterville also offers medical marijuana, and to Pollock, there’s not much of a difference between this form of cannabis and recreational marijuana, although some places treat the two separately.

“From a philosophical perspective, we think it’s pretty similar. Generally, people are using cannabis to feel good or better in one way or another, so our view, generally, is that there’s not really much of a difference between medical and recreational. They’re all being used for similar purposes,” Pollock explained. “But, sometimes places in either Massachusetts or Maine treat them differently, or as a different set of industries with different rules. But, we do work with both medical and recreational.”

While entering the cannabis industry may not be everyone’s first course of action, the two friends felt inspired to do so around six years ago in California. 

“We started consulting in the cannabis industry in California because we were curious about it. It was a new [industry], and we were really impressed with what was out there. From our view, it seemed like it was going to be part of the future,” Pollock said.

The cannabis facilities in Waterville were not the first businesses run by Pollock and Friedman, as the two entered the business world early on, during their junior year of college.  

“We started our first company our junior summer of Colby. So, we’ve been working for ourselves since day one, and our first company launched as an environmentally sustainable water filtration company,” Pollock said. “We still have that company and it’s been a great little business, but we wanted to try something new so that’s where we moved into cannabis.”

At the College, Pollock and Friedman were grateful for the help of their professors and were even able to receive course credit for starting their business. The two business partners felt that their time in school provided them with the basic skills needed to start their new cannabis company. 

“Definitely, in the beginning when we were juniors trying to launch our first business, we certainly had a lot to learn there. Now, ten years later, we feel more confident with new enterprises we work on,” Pollock said. “Initially, it can be a lot more work and a lot riskier to start your own company, but for us, it’s very fulfilling and allows us to do exactly what we want to do and it fits our personalities. So, I think it can be a benefit, but there are different paths that might make others happy.”

As of now, Pollock and Friedman are focused on educating others about the cannabis industry, hoping to spark change so the community has access to the knowledge and products and needed for safe consumption.

~ Jenna Boling `24