Kalamazoo staff proposes expanding cannabis social-equity policy into a four-pillar wealth-creation program

City economic development staff on Monday outlined a proposed update to Kalamazoo's social equity policy that would broaden the 2020 cannabis-focused program into a four-pillar, wealth-creation framework and launch a new request-for-proposals process.

"We want to move from access to lasting economic impact," said Bobby Boyd, the city's economic development supervisor, describing the proposed pillars as: access to capital and asset acquisition; ownership, retention and growth; asset protection and transfer; and cannabis business retention and education. Boyd said staff will continue to dedicate 25% of cannabis tax allocations to retention and education for cannabis businesses while expanding supports beyond that industry.

The presentation framed the change as a response to market and policy shifts since 2020. Boyd said the local cannabis market has seen an "85% drop in flower prices" since legalization and that a recent statewide 24% wholesale tax increase will reduce available revenues; he gave a historical range for the city's 25% allocation of roughly $280,000 to $350,000 per year but said the impact of the new wholesale tax will be clearer by late 2027.

Commissioners pressed staff for implementation details, including whether expansion beyond cannabis would be codified in the existing policy or become a separate program, how the city will measure outcomes, and whether a chamber membership structure should be spun off as an independent entity or remain under city oversight. "We are going to break the RFP down into two or three different RFPs," Boyd said, and promised more measurable outcomes and stronger contractual deliverables in the next iteration.

Commissioner Slaby asked for the expansion language to appear in the policy draft so the commission can track changes; Boyd said staff will return with suggested amendments and additional language. Commissioner PRL asked staff to provide full cannabis revenue totals since 2020 so the commission can evaluate what 25% represents; Boyd committed to providing those figures at the next action meeting.

No vote was taken; Boyd said the item will return for possible approval on Aug. 10. Staff also said the city will issue RFPs to identify program operators and may bring some workforce-development functions in-house after assessing contractor capacity.