By Theresa Knapp

The Hopedale Select Board has approved a Host Community Agreement for Manufacturing and Tier 1 Cultivation for Green Mountain Chocolate & Cannabis Company at 1 Rosenfeld Drive.

The site was the previous home of Green Mountain Chocolate which closed its doors in June 2021. 

The new owners plan to bake cannabis-infused chocolates at this location.  

“The initial plans are to lean into the experience, the expertise and frankly recipes of what was there before, so infused chocolates, other edible goods,” explained Blake Mensing of The Mensing Group LLC, a Boston cannabis advisory firm that represents the new owners. “Really just making use of the commercial kitchen, infusing wholesale distillate (purchased from another licensed producer within the state). 

The owners listed on the HCA are Timothy Phillips and Kevin MacConnell with an address of 660 Douglas Street, Suite 400, in Uxbridge, also the home of Yamna Cannabis. Neither owner was present at the meeting. 

The HCA is the first step in a lengthy process to get approval. This proposal is for a business-to-business setup with no customer aspect proposed, according to Mensing. 

“The only available customer base to this facility would be a licensed retail establishment, a wholesale delivery operator, or I suppose a manufacturer could take a product and turn it into a cake or something,” said Mensing, and also indicated the owner might expand its operations on the parcel in the future. 

While the agreement was being signed, Michael Scott (who was identified as “Todd’s partner”) asked when the town would make a decision on the number of marijuana establishments it would allow into town, and also said they would be interested in opening a bakery in the future. Selectman Brian Keyes said the town boards are still discussing a possible quota, and that a bakery could be a possibility in the future.