Why Safeport?

Our family has been involved in the cannabis industry for 15-plus years. Desperate to help a loved one in need, along with his love of cannabis, my dad, Lonnie, started working in the cannabis industry in 2007. When Prop 64 passed in 2016, Lonnie and Nancy patiently waited for a city close to home to pass an ordinance. In 2017 the city of Port Hueneme passed ordinance 734, allowing recreational cannabis businesses. With the aspirations to provide safe access to cannabis in their hometown, as well as a safe working environment for their family, my parents knew they had to pursue this business venture. In 2018 our family opened Safeport Port Hueneme to the public.

We had many challenges when we first opened Safeport, but the biggest was the financial risk. My parents put every cent they had and invested it into Safeport; they took equity out of our family home to launch Safeport. We are happy to report that the risk paid off!

Navigating a highly regulated industry presented challenges that we had not encountered before in more conventional businesses. The learning curve was very steep. Finding locations initially was a challenge because most landlords we talked to were afraid to let their property be used for the cannabis industry, for fear of repercussions from the federal government.

Marketing is crucial for a successful business and with the heavy restrictions on cannabis marketing, that has also been a tough obstacle to overcome.