3. IN THE CANNABIS INIIUSTRY
Jim Parco's academic
and military background guides
the business principles upon which
Mesa Organics was founded
ucation
Iessor, published
p.inciples b€hind owning and operating
a successful business, and he's puning
his own €ducarion ro rhe re$ by opcninS
Mesa OrSanics. a naleJicensed cannabis
retail storc in Pueblo. ( olorado.
Jim and his wife. Pam. folk)qcd a
very di$erent path and busincss modcl
than mosl mariuana entrepreneurs. Al-
ter rctinng l.mm thc U.S. Air Force as a
licutcnam colonel. Jim moved his lbmily
back to their home state of Colorado
to take a position a. a professor
ofbusineis and cconomics at
Colorado College. Thcy
By LUKAS BARFIELD
ino the cannabis industry in 201.1. $hen
Jim went on sabbatical. making cannabis
the research focus of his professorship.
Neirher ofthe Parcos had any prelious
exp€rience qith cannabis, so Jirn took a
job at a medical dispensary to leam ev-
crything he could.
His 2o-year Air Force career included
tcaching. working on theNalional S€curi-
ty Councilduring the Clinton administra-
tion. and scrving as a diplomal in lsrael.
ln addirion ro his highly decoraied mili-
lary career. be has a Ph.D. in management
and economics from the Univcrsily of
Now he was doing grunt work lbr a
medical mari juana cnlcrprise.
''I swcpt Roors. washed buckels.
trimmcd. managcd invenbry and simul-
tancously lcamcd aboutlhe cannabis laws
in Colorado, he says.besan their excurcion
ww,m.rlluln4nrcd,.on | 51
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CO[4 PANY:
lMesa organrcs
OWNERS:
J rn and Parn Parco
LOCATION:
Pueblo Colorado
EMPLOYEES:
8
OPERATIONS:
Retarl store,
grow operation and
exkact on faciltty
GROW LIGHTS:
LED
WEBSITE:
www mesaorganics corn
www.B.njuanav€nture iom | 53
6. il
't
The historic G.eenwood's Cafi buildinB war
a pictu.esqlesiceof Americana in 1954
(abow), but had falei into a state ofdisrepair
prior to the Mesa Or8a.ics rcvivat{ieft).
THE FORMER
RESTAURANT
HAD BEEN
ABANDONED
FOR YEARS
Using laur gft)" lcnls with sixlccn
plants ir .!ch. Jim controlled lhe srrain.
gro$
'rledium.
$arcr, nurrienl leels.
lighting. IcmNrrlure. hunlidir! lnd plt
lsee sidebxr on l,asc 60). The onl) arF
ibles in cach tcnl !ere iso dilt-erenr
namc br nd nurrienrs rnd rhc lighring
n{trcc (hrgh-inr€nsir} dirchargc enus
lighrcnriting ceramics). SuhscqLrenr
quililv lcsls and econonretric {na1}ses
rccaled thar ]ield and qMln $ere es-
scntjall! rhe same rcgardlcss ol rhe dit-
lcrenl ,rriables This sold bitn on thc
less epcnsie nurricnt line nnd encF
sy eficier)r lighting He elentuLrlly pi!-
otcd to strle-ol-rhe-an Ll:D teehnolog)
Nirh 65[$.r l.umicros lixturcs aftcr
discoverins drat rhc loc letecrric urit,
jr) as ollcrirg rcb cs tbr I FI)s. Thc
Lumicrow lights gi!c Jin the rbilir] lo
chnnSe the lighr frcqucncr Nith drc rouch
ol-a smart phone o. tablel.
Mcsa Organics also lrlns to be on lhe
culling edge ol- etr clion lcchnol()!:
using snpcrerilicnl aO: ro p()duce coD
cenlratcs- ropicals a d ediblcs. Jnn hr
liees hldroe.rrbon elndion $.ould bc
contrarJ to l'lesa Orgrnics lllission to
improc qu lilr- ofliic.
Otcr lhe ncI ]ear. lhe Pdreo! ortcd
to ohlain all the ncc.ss{ry pennits lar a
comme.cinl crnnabis operariotr.
The) bought the historic Oreenrodd r
Cai'd huilding. locared nexl door to rheir
fanril hmr. in the lall ofl0l.r The ti,r-
mcr rcsrauranr had bccn ibudoned tbr
ycrrs: il $as an easy ta.gct lbr gralfi-
ti and in desperate nccd ol ir ronrplelc
s4 | Marijo.n. v€nture // sepr€nb€r 2015
7. NO Marijuana
n The Mesa
Topto bottom: Mes3 OrCanics avoided the 'tryro.be cveryrh,ng
to everyone approach" n tavoroffocu5 ng speohcJ lyon r
prim a ry demogra phic, c!stome6 olderthan 40rProtest groups
s!.h as Cihzens for a Healthv Pueb o have conhnued toflghr !g!'n(
commerc a .ainab s bus ne$es
ocrh!ul. lhr 1.s. Org.ni( rcno.lron
qds r tunning t..rti)nnrtion larthe lo-
Becausc ol the P.reo! drcp res ro
PLreblo -rin] and Pirr $ere high ichool
$eerheans. and Jlor sas aledictori!n
of Pu.hlo HLgh School dr. s.nt.d
to makc ntre rhe reach.d our l() Pu(hlo
r.slderl' iirr inpur berir. opcnin!r l.sr
I Jrnuar l0li. le(ers $ere Drailed
s6 Marijua.a Venture //september 20rG
ro rll rcirrl.nl' ilhin i onc-nrlc rrdru.
ol rhc fhtr.(l lcsa ()rgrnie loelri( .
ill irlng Ih.nr ro r corrNrurrt) n)cclitg Io
discLrrs rh. rLc.ntl l.!rll/cd crrtlrpr..
( rnnxhrs nrfforlcrs rrd otjron.nr
!likL rll.ndLLl rhe n)cerrg. Th. li,l
lo$i S $lcl. tn'rr.rch t,ot.{l r si!rr
icror rlc srr.cr lronr 1c{ ()r1rrnr(s
rc.rdi S o lnrliuafn or rhc l(sr.'
complet. ith thc ..ll fhonc nu rhcrs
of thrcc count coun(rl nlcnrbcr5 The
frncsl rllerrlnl rcporrcdl h!cklired:
rh. nrutort) ol eu ll ro rhc.ouD(il $ere
rr sunporl ol 1lru ofg.ni.s.
''. hr! rlr srrl. I c. $ilhrD lhe cllo'
r.hi in(t0rry i! o$n.r lrirr8 lo otcn
r husillc's un(br rhc rrdxr. .lifr su
''Srlre! crnn.bis l sueI r.,)Dt'ocAirl
1,,pi(- il rcrll) r hcller 1o h. tis rrL'nsprr
cnl ls |osihlc lionr the gcclro. lhNr'
$hxt e dirl rt Nlc' orgltnit. Nnd rl
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THERE ARE ONLY TWO
THINGS IN BUSINESS WORTH
PAYING ATTENTION TO:
INNOVATION AND MARKETING
9. a
''Dmcler rcr|inl u rhere r[e ofl to
rlrngs in busin.s: $ orlh fr) ing anerrliolr
ro: in onuon tln(l rrtrk.linS.- Ilm $r
''I el]drirg e1.e houeleefing '
l)ue ro regrl.l()r) concenri- 1.sr ()r
g.rnici has for ..tixrcd rri nredical l
ceoie. buI rls Inrgcl custourcr is slill the
''ernnabls nebie. fcolile ho :re .lr)
ilrd older uiifs rlrrriiLlnnr li)r nredicul
''som.rhin! I .. r Inr in buriners
r .r rr) t() hc LLrlhifg'ro..rlotc
ipprox.h- JiDr sxls -lho. ttrrjuing
rhi nrod.l cnd uf bcing nolhing to
hcn busincss osr.rs s.lllc on lheir
rirg.l D rlcl. Lhc slrould li).us rrl ser-
iDg lhosc specilic c!5tr)nrcrs b.ner lhar
rhcl conlp.lrl(rrr. Jrnr n l)rlce lhal-s
hcLn .cconrpllthed. rI.n h!.,n,r*.' ..n
kcct lh.ir.l.i opcn li,r $.i l(, rcc,rnr'
nr,Lr. r broxder denrostxthre.
lcsr Orsafics Uscs color ch.nrc.
frir. Ibelins. lilrhlir]g rn(t efrploce
lrnifin{ lo crerle iust Ih. riSlrl lc.l lar its
lnrgcl .rLl(Irrer. I-en th. 'l.re- hlorl
n d(!rSrr.d lo rela .ortotlcr
''. r{llt $ant.d t(, nrrle rhir nc$
c.nnrhr eontrnr.r conrli,rlrhl.. n' e
rncd ro nule our ihi)p l.cl rrrlLL$ l{)
.lhcr rellil .fcicnces.--.lirr . :. lhc
hud hrr llr shopfers bro'c our .]c.
tiof ot llo$ rrs hclirre lalking $ lh 3 bud
L.rder..iUsl lil'. ]l olher stor.s $ hi. I o!
crn look xl trodtrcri b.ti)r. lxllin! lo r
OWNERS
GETTING INTO
THE CANNABIS
BUSINESS
SHOULD BE
PREPARED
TO FACE
CHALLENGES
AND DEVELOP
Mesa Organics a ms to be
on thecuttjnS edge wth
both tsgrowoperano.
tYt m0tan
?eNtcl0i ntQulrr0
SOLUTIONS
10. Grow Research
In order to determine the best equrpment
land setup for growrng cannabrs, Mesa
Organics owner Jim Parco set up an exper_
iment to test different lighting and nutrient
combinations.
Using a set of control variables and gro!r/
tents, he tested four different nulrient and
liqhting combinations.
Based on his mekics of yield and quality,
all four combinations turned out virlually the
same, leading him to choose the cheaper
brand of nutrients and more energy-effr-
cient lighting.
Trcatment Variables
HID Liohis
1.000-watl Hydrolux Blue melal halide
1,000-watl Xtrasun high-pressure sodium
Enerov-eff lcl.ni liohts
63o'watt SunSystems light-€mitling cercmic
ludeds
Canna
General Hydroponics
Control Variables
Sta,in: Gorilla Glu€ *r4
Medrum: Growstones
Hydropanic Canttols: Oxygen Pol Systems
i{€le,: Ambienl 50 ppm
Nulnent Evels Followed lhe nulrient
manufaclurer's guidelines
WgqkslL5 Vegetalive:
18 hours oflighU6 hours ofdafiness
lllgeks lii!!l: Flowerins:
12 hours ot lighu'|2 hours ol darkness
Tenperaturcl 77 degtees avetage
Mjlhqq: 68 degrees
Maximum: 84 degrees
Hrmidily:45% avercge
Nlinimum:20%
Maximum:650/"
pH:5.46.2
F€€dlrg schedu/e: Ev6ry six hours
F/rsh: Once a week tor 12 houls
50 | M.iliu.n. v.ntoE // s.pt nber 2015
THERE ARE
ENTREPRENEURS AND
WANTREPRENEURS.
NIKE SAYS IT BEST:
JUST DO IT!
Nlesa organics hosled its
grand opening on APril 20. 2016.
Nith the local chamber of com
mercc and more thrn 60 pcople
in .rltendancc. Tbe lulurc looks
good lbr Mcsa organics. bur Jim
admits that
'nanjuana
business€s
tace an unccdain lulure. El'en
loday, anti-lnarijuana aclit'ists
ha'e circulated petilions lo shut-
rer$e cannabis industry in Pueb-
lo Counry. Citizens for a Heahhy
Pueblo is attempting to put an
iniri.rive on ihe Novcmbcr ballot
thar would ban marijuana rerail
sbres, manuhcturing faciliries.
rcsling labs and gros operalions
''lfs going to take a whilc for
ccrything to gcl scttled in lhis
ncu industD." Jim says. "owners
gctting inio thc crnnrbis business
should bc prcparcd lo lace chal-
lcngcs ,nd delelop solutions- es-
pecially in markering. outsidc of
shar ma-vNork in morc lradilion-
al business models. Bu1 clentu-
ally. like olher ind stries. things
{ill se(l€ down. '
while martuana busincsscs
fac€ a unique ser of obstaclcs.
all slartups have challcnges theY
must lacklc if thcy rc going to
survivc and succeed. Jim $ys h€
has a phrase lhat he onen repeats
to his srudenc lhat dennitely ap-
plics ro cannabis: "Thcrc arc cn-
trcprcncurs and iantrcprenetrs.
Nike srys it best: Just do it!"
