Refining aGrowingMarket

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE OF THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY AT THE PASS

By Laura Mars // Photos Courtesy The Pass
April 26, 2022

THE PASS is a self-described farm-to-label dispensary, vertically integrated with three licenses that allows the Sheffield-based company to grow, process, and sell cannabis products at the same site. That alone sets it apart from the many other dispensaries in the Berkshires.

Co-founder and CEO Chris Weld, a Westchester native who also owns the award-winning Berkshire Mountain Distillery, is convinced of the effect of cannabis on wellness. He studied biochemistry with a focus on medicine and the environment as an undergraduate, earning his physician’s assistant degree from Albany Medical College. He worked in a busy California ER before moving to the Berkshires for a quieter life closer to his roots.

Quieter than big city life, yes, but this summer in Sheffield is gearing up to be a busy one. Together with The Pass’s marketing director Jesse Tolz, who worked for agriculture and adventure companies, and cultivation director Peter Steimer, who left R&D at Dupont to study cannabis, Weld has positioned The Pass to flourish well into the future—despite being among the more than 20 dispensaries in Berkshire County. As neighboring New York and Connecticut prepare for final approval to sell recreation cannabis in 2023, Tolz acknowledges that they “are having conversations” about dealing with what promises to be some serious competition.

“We are always refining and are prepared to pivot on product, pricing, and message as the market demands,” says Tolz. “It’s our responsibility to create new products based on what people want—not only what sells, but what makes an impact in someone’s life. Solid product is solid business practice.”

The Pass is taking the initiative with natural living soils, which break down organic matter while providing ongoing nutrients, and naturally deter pests that could be harmful to cannabis plants. “Trial runs are on the agenda,” says Steimer.

“There is a lot of history behind today’s cannabis industry,” he continues. “Standardizing the edible market was a big step, the transition from the illegal to the legal market. Now, dosing—and growing practices—are very controlled.”

The Pass’s main campus on Route 7 in Sheffield, close to the Great Barrington town line, is comprised of a bright, busy retail shop, 38,000 square feet of growing environments, and the MIPS (marijuana-infused products) kitchen where edible products like gummies and sours are processed. In addition to their on-site shop, The Pass sells what they make to other shops; their wholesale business is an important part of their plan.

A second site is 60,000 square feet of available growing space in neighboring Ashley Falls— 43,000 outdoors and 17,000 in greenhouses. Last year was its debut outdoor growing season.

A third site also is in Sheffield—a 40,000-square-foot former plastics factory off Home Road that currently houses corporate offices and is being retrofitted for manufacturing. Equipment testing and initial R&D started this spring. They received the final approval on March 10 to manufacture there, so The Pass can make products from cannabis that’s been cultivated in Ashley Falls. They are waiting for approval from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission to transfer or sell products manufactured there, which they anticipate happening by summer.

The Pass’s main campus in Sheffield includes 38,000 square feet of growing environments. A second site is 60,000 square feet of available growing space in neighboring Ashley Falls. A third site, also in Sheffield, currently houses corporate offices and is being retrofitted for manufacturing.

Different environments enable them to determine where the plants grow best, adding value to their cultivation arm. In other words, some plants do better indoors, some outdoors, and some in the hybrid house. They have the ability to put plants where they are happiest.

“Different cultivars, or strains, need different environments,” notes Steimer. “We ensure that each cultivar is tested in different areas. Once we determine what cultivars grow best in the greenhouse, for example, we focus on only running those in that area. Controlling the plants at every stage ensures consistency and makes it easier for the team to maintain—pinch, prune, and top.”

The Pass’s main campus, with its big, hard-to-miss blue mountain logo, is also home to the mother room, the genetic laboratory and “heartbeat” where perfected strains are cloned and others are nurtured through several growth cycles—“similar to drafting sections of the best apple trees to get the best fruit,” explains Tolz.

All plants come from cuttings in the mother room. From there, they pass through various stages—propagation room, veg room, flower room—all completely climate controlled via light cycles and intensity, temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels. When the plants are ready, they are moved to the growing environment that suits them best. Some will stay indoors, some will move to the hybrid, mixed-light greenhouse, and some will be planted outdoors.

We suited up to tour the hybrid house, which holds about 700 plants. Tolz explains that preventing contamination is critical to the purity of the product, and cultivators who work in the greenhouse wear surgical scrubs. The temperature is maintained at 77 to 82 degrees, sometimes climbing into the 90s in the summer.

Retractable roof vents allow the Berkshire sun into the mixed-light greenhouse, and sensors turn on supplemental artificial lighting as needed, providing a perfect balance between growing solely indoors and solely outdoors. At a peak height of 20 feet, it can accommodate vertical growing, which would double the amount of cannabis that can be grown legally in a specific number of square feet by stacking a second level of plants over the first. The Pass is licensed for 98,000 square feet of cultivation canopy and is using about 70,000.

Different environments enable The Pass to determine where the plants grow best. Some do better indoors, some outdoors, and some in the hybrid house.

A third growing space next to the hybrid house is waiting to be developed into what will be needed most—outdoor space or more greenhouse. The combination of growing environments means that they can control each space and each strain.

“We started with about 40 cultivars,” says Steimer, “and have since gotten our genetic library down to below 20. We are constantly refining what we grow, searching for new genetics to replace cultivars that may not produce the same effect, yield, or cannabinoid content.”

Their products can be made with cultivars from either sativa plants (skinny, light green leaves from tall slim plants with high THC levels), indica plants (broad, dark green leaves from short bushy plants with high CBD levels), or hybrids. “Sometimes we produce a product with a specific cultivar, while other times we extract just the THC molecule out of a blend of cultivars through distillation,” says Steimer.

When all three sites are up and running at capacity, The Pass will directly employ about 100 people and indirectly support many more through its ongoing relationships: selling their products to other shops, buying products to sell at The Pass, and collaborating with others to create new products.