LAKE LEAF READY TO BECOME THE BEST CULTIVATION FACILITY IN STATE
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
A celebration and official ribbon cutting of Lake Leaf was held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, which began with a heartfelt invocation by Baabiitaw Boyd and speeches by members of Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, Chief Executive Virgil Wind, District II Representative Wendy Merrill, and District I Representative Carolyn Beaulieu. Commissioner of Corporate Affairs Joe Nayquonabe Jr. said he remembers over two years ago when the Minnesota Legislature voted to move forward with legalizing recreational marijuana. “We started thinking, at that point in time, what that meant for the Band, now what can we do with it? That’s where the dream started… what can we do to make the Band membership proud to put their name on? We were mainly thinking, what can we do to make this into a $100 million opportunity for the Band? We weren’t thinking small we were thinking big. That is why we have this beautiful structure out here,” Nayquonabe said.
“We are not in this business to play. We are in it to win,” Nayquonabe said. “We want to be the number one cultivator in the state of Minnesota, and that is what we are trying to do. We think that is what our Band membership deserves. We think that is what they want. We think that is what they expect. And that is where we are going.”
Taking time to celebrate when there is so much more work to be done is a little “weird” for the leadership of Lake Leaf. Nayquonabe said the development phase is complete. “We will now move into execution of the plan.” He continued to thank Lake Leaf staff for the work they have put into the devel opment of the facility and the grow. “Every two weeks when this thing is up and running, there will be 800 to 900 pounds of flower coming out of that facility. Every two weeks. Rinse, repeat, and do it again, and again, and again so that people throughout the state of Minnesota can have the best cannabis possible to be grown here in this state.”
There is a lot of work to be done for Lake Leaf including working through the plans to have an outdoor grow facility and retail facilities across the tribal economy and the state. The first grow is scheduled to be ready for harvest in January 2025. The cultivation facility and possibilities for the economy of the Mille Lacs Band all started with dreams and plans. "And none of that matters if you don't have folks who support those dreams," Nayquonabe said. He thanked the Band Assembly for having the courage to support those dreams and those plans. "I can't say enough thanks to you for buying into that vision. We don't take that lightly.”