State hemp law pushes 121 East Tennessee jobs to NC

Greenbean Ventures LLC, based in Johnson City, said Friday it is preparing to move operations and roughly $750,000 in annual payroll to North Carolina. The company is the parent company for Gold Spectrum CBD, who oversees the Smoky Grass Station locations throughout East Tennessee. A WARN notice from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development states that Greenbean 121 employees will be laid off, effective July 13. The company blamed in a press release a new state law pointed toward hemp-derived THCA products. A June 30 enforcement deadline under that law — Public Chapter 526 — is pushing the company toward the move, CEO Zack Green said. "We built this business in Tennessee," Green said. "We employ Tennesseans. We would much rather keep growing here. But if Tennessee is going to let out-of-state companies keep serving this market while Tennessee companies are forced to walk away from it, that leaves us very few options." The layoffs will affect businesses in Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, Jonesborough, Elizabethton, Greeneville and Gatlinburg. THCA, or tetrahydrocannabinol acid, is a hemp-derived cannabinoid that gained rapid popularity in recent years and now accounts for an estimated 75 percent of Tennessee hemp sales, according to the company. Public Chapter 526 redefined lawful hemp to prohibit THCA and other psychoactive cannabinoids. Enforcement transferred from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Jan. 1, though retailers holding TDA permits received a reprieve through June 30 under the previous regulations. The company said it hopes Tennessee will revisit hemp regulations in the next legislative session. House Speaker Cameron Sexton has suggested medical marijuana could be a priority next year, and Gold Spectrum said hemp policy should be included in that conversation.