Under Olmsted’s current rules, two random lotteries will take place at public meetings later this year with at least two weeks’ notice.
The lotteries will be held for three categories of licenses based on how large the businesses are, and will reserve applicants in case those businesses don’t open or give up registrations.
Some business owners hope those lotteries come sooner. Mitch Daniels, who co-owns a prospective microbusiness, told commissioners at a special meeting last week that a lottery for small-business retailers would help level the playing field for owners.
“An early microbusiness lottery set for late June ensures cultivation time for stores to open for retail purchases in the first quarter of 2026,” Daniels said.
Olmsted County is planning to award eight licenses to microbusinesses, which will be allowed to grow, process and sell marijuana products on a relatively small scale from a single storefront. The county is looking at a July lottery just for small businesses.
“That’s a lot of registrations that are ready right now,” Commissioner Michelle Rossman said last week. “Let them start down the process.”
Southeast Minnesota’s most populous county could hold a lottery for small retailer registrations as soon as July. Read More
