Nevada’s rising cannabis industry has a surprising face
Businessman Deane Albright doesn’t have dreadlocks, nor does he wear Rasta colors or reek of Mary Jane. He does, however, represent Sierra Wellness Connection, one of Nevada’s several (60) medical marijuana dispensaries and Reno’s very first.
Despite being white-haired and composed in his business-casual apparel, he conveys an open-minded, free spirited attitude, fitting for someone involved in cannabusiness.
For Albright, the process of starting two dispensaries and two grow facilities began in 2013, when the bill for medical marijuana legalization passed by a single vote in the Nevada State Legislature. A friend of Albright’s, Rebecca Gasga, was heavily involved with the passage of the bill, and introduced him to a friend of hers involved in the industry in Colorado, Morgan Carr, who he immediately flew out to see in order to get advice.
“We needed the expertise, you know, someone that really knew the business, because, as Nevadans, if we’d have known anything about the business we’d have been committing a felony,” Albright laughs.
After learning the industry, he co-founded Sierra Wellness Connection with several business partners, including trustee of the Nightingale Family Foundation Steven Nightingale (as in the Nightingale Concert Hall here on campus) and ex-president of the university Dr. Joe Crowley (as in the Joe Crowley Student Union).
But why did these particular men decide to get into cannabusiness?
“I tried it a couple times in college, but I’m really not a fan…”
“Essentially, with the medical side of it — it just became a business opportunity,” Albright says. “We wanted to make sure it was done above board, complied with all the regulations, and it was done right.”
In addition to the business side of medical weed, Albright also expresses an interest in the history behind legalization. He is expressly interested in “irrational thought processes” and comments on the irrational reasoning behind the criminalization of the drug in 1937.
“Cannabis has had a medical use for virtually thousands of years and so putting it as a controlled substance really didn’t make a lot of sense,” Albright says. “All the resources that go into that; it’s a waste of money.”
Other than objective interest, Albright has no personal attachment to the drug outside of his dispensary, and he and his family don’t use it recreationally or medically.
“I tried it a couple of times in college, but I’m really not a fan, nor are any of my family,” Albright says.
For the others involved with Sierra Wellness, it’s rather personal. Dr. Joe Crowley became involved because some relatives of his use medical weed, while dispensary manager Eva Grossman used it herself after a serious accident. Grossman sees Deane as more of a mentor than a boss, and describes him as an “energizer bunny.”
“He’s a great man, I look up to him a lot” Grossman said. “I’m very grateful to him for providing this opportunity to me; to do this and help people.”
Born in Minnesota and raised here in Reno, Albright was a “typical student” here at the University of Nevada, Reno, before graduating in 1971. As a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity and student body class president, he gained many of the skills he needed in order to become such a successful businessman.
“I think the education that I got here gave me some social skills in addition to the analytical skills that you get being a CPA,” Albright says. “It’s kind of a focused profession, but I was fortunate enough to have some of the social and critical thinking skills to kind of branch out and do things other than strict number crunching, so to speak.”
Clearly, he has branched out from his major in accounting. Albright does own his own accounting firm, however he also part-owns a yoga studio and a brewery, and is a trustee of the university board in addition to being co-founder of SWC.
His colleagues all speak very highly of him, and at mention of the co-founder many will say “We all love Deane.” He’s very in-touch with his employees, and they all seem to appreciate his leadership.
So far, the attractively decorated dispensary has been successfully providing patients with the help they need, thanks to Deane and his associates.
“I’m doing very well, thanks to you guys.”
Inside the dispensary, one can sense the care and compassion that Sierra Wellness offers its’ customers. Their service is friendly and personal, and many repeat customers truly appreciate it. One man that comes in tells Grossman “I’m doing very well, thanks to you guys.”
They have also started several community groups, including Compassionate Care, which reaches out to patients to gauge their interests. Currently, the store is in the process of bringing in shatter, or dabs, a more concentrated form of THC. It will be the first dispensary in the state to do so. Based on its series of firsts, the store will clearly be a frontrunner in Nevada’s industry thanks to its team of professionals.
