Expanding Portland cannabis company lines up another retailer
By Pete Danko – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal
July 18, 2019
Groundworks Industries, the expanding cannabis company headed by real-estate investor Spencer Noecker, says it’s in a deal to acquire Rose City Wellness, an Old Town Chinatown retailer.
Privately held Groundworks revealed the deal in a website post, noting that it comes “amid consolidation in the crowded Oregon industry" and adding, "GroundWorks expects to make more moves.”
Groundworks Industries is a subsidiary of Groundworks Operations, which revealed in a securities filing in May that it had raised $16 million in a private placement.
The company has a growing roster of retail outlets, including a half-dozen under the Electric Lettuce brand, a couple of Serra stores, Farma and several other formerly independent stores. It also has growing, processing and distribution arms, and says it employs more than 150 people in Oregon.
Noecker, the CEO, was a co-founder of the real estate investment firm NBP Capital. He left his leadership role at NBP in 2015 to run the cannabis company, although he remains an NBP investor, according to his bio on the Groundworks website.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly substituted "Nectar" — a Groundworks competitor — for "Serra" when detailing the Groundworks portfolio of retail stores.
