Local medical cannabis company addresses state need, brings hope
April 20, 2021
Nora Bushfield sat quietly at the Georgia State Capitol, watching as legislators debated the merits of a bill tied so closely to her daughter’s fate. She could not help but think of the sleepless nights and all-consuming days caring for her adult daughter, Jolie. Battling seizure after seizure, Jolie was suffering and was in desperate need of help.
For parents and patients like Nora and Jolie who had exhausted all other traditional treatment options with no improvement, the passage of House Bill 324, “Georgia’s Hope Act,” gave them something they were sorely in need of – hope. The act made improvements to the state’s medical cannabis program. Patients with certain qualifying conditions can still possess low-THC oil, but the new bill also authorized the production of low-THC oil and low-THC oil products in the state, giving patients the ability to legally purchase those options in Georgia.
Medical Cannabis is Medicine
An Athens, Ga.-based company, Windflower Georgia, said it believes medical cannabis is medicine. In early 2019, the company said it formed with one goal in mind – to provide Georgia’s patients, like Jolie, access to the medical cannabis they so desperately need. Along with parents, like Nora, Windflower advocated at the Georgia State Capitol to pass House Bill 324. “It was very difficult. We were in meeting after meeting trying to explain to lawmakers not only the need for this legislation, but how to effectively structure the program so we would get medicine to patients and avoid federal scrutiny,” said Jacob Eassa, Windflower’s medical cannabis attorney and advocate. “There were many ups and downs. But thanks to the efforts of state lawmakers like Micah Gravley and Matt Brass, along with crucial leadership from Governor Kemp we were able to get the ball across the finish line.” Once passed, their real work began.
“We have worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork for a secure, pharmaceutical-grade facility to house our Class 1 production facility, should we be fortunate enough to be granted a license by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission,” said Russell Bennett, the Chairman of Windflower Georgia’s Board of Directors. “Our hope is to be able to cultivate and produce high-quality, low-THC oil and low-THC oil products for authorized Georgians, while supporting our local community through job creation and our foundation.”
By Georgians, For Georgians
Windflower Georgia is a company created by Georgians for Georgians. In building its team, they sought talented, underrepresented, and hard-working individuals within the state that would dedicate their efforts to uplifting Georgia and its patients.
“We whole-heartedly believe Georgians should directly benefit from the profits of this new industry,” Bennett said. “Which is why our company is majority-owned and comprised of local Georgians.”
Led in part by Bennett, a local entrepreneur from Athens who owns and operates an organic farm in the Monroe area and a record-pressing plant in downtown Athens, the Windflower team is teeming with local talent. From noted neurologists from Emory to local community organizers, including James Woodall, President of the Georgia NAACP; to community and business leaders, like Windflower CEO Mark Jennings, who owns and runs a construction company in Athens; to state-based scientists, including Sarah Johnson, owner of SJ Labs, one of the few licensed hemp analytical testing labs in the state; to nationally recognizable pharmaceutical professionals, including Charles Walgreen of Walgreen’s Pharmacy; their team plans to serve as a standard bearer for the industry in Georgia.
“Notably, our team also includes those most impacted by the passage of Georgia’s Hope Act,” Bennett said. “Patient advocates like Nora and John Bushfield, Julie Doran, Jennifer Conforti, and attorney Jacob Eassa, all of whom tirelessly worked for children and their community to improve the quality of life for all patients who may benefit from medical cannabis.” In speaking with these patients and advocates, you can hear their excitement. “It’s just amazing to watch this come full circle. In 2016 I was testifying in front of a committee of legislators telling them my daughter’s story and how much this medicine impacted her life, and today I get to work with a company who may have the opportunity to provide her this life changing medicine here in Georgia,” said Jennifer Conforti, talking about her daughter Abby. “It’s just great to see companies like Windflower take such an interest in patients and families.”
As native Georgians, Windflower knew it would need operational assistance to produce the best products for patients in the state. They scoured the country, seeking a partner intensely focused on medical cannabis and serving patients, as opposed to big multi-state operators seeking to expand medical markets into adult-use sales. Windflower found that partner in Standard Wellness. Standard Wellness solely operates in medical-only states, holding licenses in Ohio, Utah, and Missouri. Consistently one of the first licensees to bring products to market, Standard Wellness has a proven track record in efficiently and compliantly becoming operational.
“Too frequently, dispensaries will be ready to open, but are unable to do so because there is no product available to sell,” Bennett said. “With Standard Wellness, patients are not put in this unfortunate position.”
Windflower does not want to put corporate profits above the patients they serve. “Thanks to our strong team of patient advocates, we have taken the unprecedented step of forming a patient-focused foundation, the Georgia Medical Cannabis Foundation,” Bennett said. “Because medical cannabis is not covered by any health insurance, even where medical cannabis is available, its cost can oftentimes be prohibitive for those that need it most. Through the Georgia Medical Cannabis Foundation, Windflower is dedicated to subsidizing the cost of low-THC oil and low-THC oil products for those patients most in need. If awarded a license, patients and patient advocates will play a leading role at Windflower to ensure patient needs are always the primary consideration for all decisions.”
Investing in Georgia: Jobs for Georgians
Many times, large companies locate in Georgia, but end up hiring out-of-state workers and funnel profits to out-of-state executives and shareholders. Windflower said this will not be the case.
“Our profits will stay in Georgia and will be continually reinvested in our community,” Bennett said. He said Windflower has strategically located its proposed facility in Athens-Clarke County, a designated Tier 1 County by the State of Georgia, meaning the area has some of the highest rates of unemployment, lowest per capita income, and highest percentages of residents with incomes under the poverty line. “As locals, we know that for too long, development in the state has focused on more urban areas, leaving rural areas underserved and communities impoverished,” he said. “Windflower wants to reverse this trend. We have already identified and partnered with numerous local contractors to help build our facility, if awarded a license. Once operational, we will bring close to 175 high-paying jobs to the area over the next few years, with strategic hiring to ensure those jobs go to locals.”
Windflower said it also hopes to partner with several universities and technical colleges located in the Athens area. “We hope to partner with our many local, educational and medical institutions to research medical cannabis and learn about the many opportunities this medicine brings. We look forward to serving the patients of Georgia.”
For more information or for approval please contact Jacob Eassa or Russell Bennett
jeassa@capitolaffairs.net (404) 771-2679
russell@windflowerga.com (770) 231-9139
For parents and patients like Nora and Jolie who had exhausted all other traditional treatment options with no improvement, the passage of House Bill 324, “Georgia’s Hope Act,” gave them something they were sorely in need of – hope. The act made improvements to the state’s medical cannabis program. Patients with certain qualifying conditions can still possess low-THC oil, but the new bill also authorized the production of low-THC oil and low-THC oil products in the state, giving patients the ability to legally purchase those options in Georgia.
Medical Cannabis is Medicine
An Athens, Ga.-based company, Windflower Georgia, said it believes medical cannabis is medicine. In early 2019, the company said it formed with one goal in mind – to provide Georgia’s patients, like Jolie, access to the medical cannabis they so desperately need. Along with parents, like Nora, Windflower advocated at the Georgia State Capitol to pass House Bill 324. “It was very difficult. We were in meeting after meeting trying to explain to lawmakers not only the need for this legislation, but how to effectively structure the program so we would get medicine to patients and avoid federal scrutiny,” said Jacob Eassa, Windflower’s medical cannabis attorney and advocate. “There were many ups and downs. But thanks to the efforts of state lawmakers like Micah Gravley and Matt Brass, along with crucial leadership from Governor Kemp we were able to get the ball across the finish line.” Once passed, their real work began.
“We have worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork for a secure, pharmaceutical-grade facility to house our Class 1 production facility, should we be fortunate enough to be granted a license by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission,” said Russell Bennett, the Chairman of Windflower Georgia’s Board of Directors. “Our hope is to be able to cultivate and produce high-quality, low-THC oil and low-THC oil products for authorized Georgians, while supporting our local community through job creation and our foundation.”
By Georgians, For Georgians
Windflower Georgia is a company created by Georgians for Georgians. In building its team, they sought talented, underrepresented, and hard-working individuals within the state that would dedicate their efforts to uplifting Georgia and its patients.
“We whole-heartedly believe Georgians should directly benefit from the profits of this new industry,” Bennett said. “Which is why our company is majority-owned and comprised of local Georgians.”
Led in part by Bennett, a local entrepreneur from Athens who owns and operates an organic farm in the Monroe area and a record-pressing plant in downtown Athens, the Windflower team is teeming with local talent. From noted neurologists from Emory to local community organizers, including James Woodall, President of the Georgia NAACP; to community and business leaders, like Windflower CEO Mark Jennings, who owns and runs a construction company in Athens; to state-based scientists, including Sarah Johnson, owner of SJ Labs, one of the few licensed hemp analytical testing labs in the state; to nationally recognizable pharmaceutical professionals, including Charles Walgreen of Walgreen’s Pharmacy; their team plans to serve as a standard bearer for the industry in Georgia.
“Notably, our team also includes those most impacted by the passage of Georgia’s Hope Act,” Bennett said. “Patient advocates like Nora and John Bushfield, Julie Doran, Jennifer Conforti, and attorney Jacob Eassa, all of whom tirelessly worked for children and their community to improve the quality of life for all patients who may benefit from medical cannabis.” In speaking with these patients and advocates, you can hear their excitement. “It’s just amazing to watch this come full circle. In 2016 I was testifying in front of a committee of legislators telling them my daughter’s story and how much this medicine impacted her life, and today I get to work with a company who may have the opportunity to provide her this life changing medicine here in Georgia,” said Jennifer Conforti, talking about her daughter Abby. “It’s just great to see companies like Windflower take such an interest in patients and families.”
As native Georgians, Windflower knew it would need operational assistance to produce the best products for patients in the state. They scoured the country, seeking a partner intensely focused on medical cannabis and serving patients, as opposed to big multi-state operators seeking to expand medical markets into adult-use sales. Windflower found that partner in Standard Wellness. Standard Wellness solely operates in medical-only states, holding licenses in Ohio, Utah, and Missouri. Consistently one of the first licensees to bring products to market, Standard Wellness has a proven track record in efficiently and compliantly becoming operational.
“Too frequently, dispensaries will be ready to open, but are unable to do so because there is no product available to sell,” Bennett said. “With Standard Wellness, patients are not put in this unfortunate position.”
Windflower does not want to put corporate profits above the patients they serve. “Thanks to our strong team of patient advocates, we have taken the unprecedented step of forming a patient-focused foundation, the Georgia Medical Cannabis Foundation,” Bennett said. “Because medical cannabis is not covered by any health insurance, even where medical cannabis is available, its cost can oftentimes be prohibitive for those that need it most. Through the Georgia Medical Cannabis Foundation, Windflower is dedicated to subsidizing the cost of low-THC oil and low-THC oil products for those patients most in need. If awarded a license, patients and patient advocates will play a leading role at Windflower to ensure patient needs are always the primary consideration for all decisions.”
Investing in Georgia: Jobs for Georgians
Many times, large companies locate in Georgia, but end up hiring out-of-state workers and funnel profits to out-of-state executives and shareholders. Windflower said this will not be the case.
“Our profits will stay in Georgia and will be continually reinvested in our community,” Bennett said. He said Windflower has strategically located its proposed facility in Athens-Clarke County, a designated Tier 1 County by the State of Georgia, meaning the area has some of the highest rates of unemployment, lowest per capita income, and highest percentages of residents with incomes under the poverty line. “As locals, we know that for too long, development in the state has focused on more urban areas, leaving rural areas underserved and communities impoverished,” he said. “Windflower wants to reverse this trend. We have already identified and partnered with numerous local contractors to help build our facility, if awarded a license. Once operational, we will bring close to 175 high-paying jobs to the area over the next few years, with strategic hiring to ensure those jobs go to locals.”
Windflower said it also hopes to partner with several universities and technical colleges located in the Athens area. “We hope to partner with our many local, educational and medical institutions to research medical cannabis and learn about the many opportunities this medicine brings. We look forward to serving the patients of Georgia.”
For more information or for approval please contact Jacob Eassa or Russell Bennett
jeassa@capitolaffairs.net (404) 771-2679
russell@windflowerga.com (770) 231-9139
