“We were expecting one, two or three worker-owned cooperative applications in every zone, or even zero, but 12 is a huge outlier,” worker cooperative organizer Emma Karnes, with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328, said in an interview. “There were only 10 traditional license applicants in Zone 2, so who are all of these coops? We have no idea what happened here.”

Karnes has been working with Co-op Rhody to help four worker cooperatives with their applications, including finding real estate and investors.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to organize, even if it’s not with these founding four cooperatives, into cooperative programming and, ultimately, raise awareness about cooperatives and achieve and strengthen cooperatives’ power in the state,” she said.

There were 23 social equity applicants, spread across all the zones, with the most, eight, in Zone 4. According to the RI Current, there were initially 94 social equity license “requests,” but only 36 met the eligibility criteria in November, and the number appears to have dropped to 23. Applications for social equity applicants opened in August.

The social equity provisions in state law are being challenged in lawsuits revived by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a District Court judge dismissed them. The appeals court directed the judge to issue rulings on merits at least 45 days before the date that the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission intends to issue retail licenses. There is no timeline for license issuance.

Of the general retail applications, where were none in Zone 1 in the north; 24 in Zone 6, which includes Pawtucket, East Providence and Aquidneck Island; and two in Zone 3, the middle-western portion of the state.

Among the four cooperatives Karnes is working with is Permaculture, which has secured a location in Coventry.

Where are the zones located?

Here are the cities and towns in each zone.

Six municipalities rejected retail sales via a referendum vote in 2022, described at the time as the only way to opt out of allowing it: Barrington, East Greenwich, Jamestown, Little Compton, Scituate and Smithfield.

Zone 1, northern portion of the state: Burrillville, Cumberland, Glocester, North Smithfield, Smithfield, Woonsocket. Smithfield rejected retail sales via a 2022 referendum vote. There were a total of two applications.

Zone 2, East-Central and urban core: Providence, North Providence, Central Falls, Johnston, Lincoln. There were a total of 26 applications.

Zone 3, Middle-western: Coventry, Foster, Scituate, West Greenwich, West Warwick. There were a total of nine applications.

Zone 4, West Bay: East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Cranston, Warwick. East Greenwich rejected retail sales via a 2022 referendum vote. There were a total of 19 applications.