Meet Cali Premium Produce CEO Priscilla Vilchis, the only minority woman among LA County’s Final 13 marijuana applicants
The City of Angels just got wings to grow legal cannabis. Lynwood City Council gave preliminary approval for 13 applicants to secure their position in Los Angeles County’s new legal cannabis industry at a special board meeting July 18.
Among Los Angeles County’s first legal growers is Cali Premium Produce, Inc. CEO Priscilla Vilchis. She’s being recommended to receive two of LA’s first-ever cannabis business licenses for cultivation and production. Lynwood received over 100 applications.
Vilchis – the only minority woman on the list of 13 pre-approved applicants — helped grow several different businesses to multi million-dollar companies prior to entering the medical cannabis space.
“We are excited to be among the most reputable leaders in this emerging recreational cannabis industry that the majority of California voters supported last November,” Vilchis said.
These adult use licenses will enable our company to accomplish our goal of cultivating and harvesting the highest-quality cannabis flower available for wholesale to the California market, while maintaining our intent focus on education, public safety and job creation.”
The Los Angeles-based entrepreneur began her first cannabis operation in Las Vegas in 2014, when her company Premium Produce, LLC was awarded two licenses from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.
Vilchis’ brand, ‘Queen of the Desert,’ earned her the moniker that is sure to become an American cannabis legend. Lynwood is located in Los Angeles County, the most populous in the U.S., and is among the first cities within the county to issue such permits since the passage of California’s Proposition 64 on Nov. 8. According to the latest industry forecasts, California will soon account for 40 percent of the US cannabis market
When the council started talks on growing in city limits in December, Lynwood spokesman Robert Alaniz said in a statement, “As a responsible city government, it is incumbent on us to issue strict controls, regulations and license the growing and manufacturing of cannabis . . . and that we set the standard for local municipal regulation of California’s newest and voter approved industry.”
Under 2016 Adult Use of Marijuana Act, Cali Premium Produce was given a preliminary California cultivation license for indoor cultivation of recreational marijuana. The company was also awarded a preliminary Type 6 Manufacturer 1 license for manufacturing sites that produce recreational cannabis products.
Cali Premium Produce plans to operate from a new 11,000-square-foot, leased facility in Lynwood.
