Paul Szmal: 7.54 now on FLX Morning here on Finger Lakes News Radio, we welcome in our cannabis correspondent Darryl Hilkert, he's with Heist Points Dispensary here in Geneva on routes 5 and 20. Good morning Darryl.
Darrell Hilkert: Good morning Paul, how are you doing today?
Paul Szmal: Doing great, doing great. And one of the things we've not had a chance to touch on is how the cannabis industry itself now that it's legal in New York is actually giving back to New York residents. So that's what we wanted to kind of focus the conversation on today. The first thing you mentioned to me about this was in the amount of taxes that are generated and where that tax revenue goes.
Darrell Hilkert: Yeah, New York State really didn't have a real high tax rate compared to other states at only 13% on the cannabis, you know 9% goes to the state but also 3% of that goes right back to our town of Geneva here and then 1% to the county. So it definitely helps the community and all our locals as well.
Paul Szmal: And let's take it right from the very beginning step because you took a bank branch that was closed and converted that into your operation. So that was a lot of money that was spent here locally with contractors and people of that nature too.
Darrell Hilkert: Yeah, yep, definitely it was definitely a full renovation there. The building was empty for a couple of years so we went top to bottom inside out and did a complete reno on it. But yeah, it employs a lot of people too. We got 12 employees over there right now. So yeah, it helps the community a lot.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and of course that money that's coming into the community as well is tremendously helpful because it increases and has a very nice economic impact.
Darrell Hilkert: It sure does. That's why all of our consumers need to make sure you know you're shopping at a New York State facility. If it doesn't have the sign for the licensure on the door when you walk in, they're black market.
Paul Szmal: Right, right. So Dara Helcurt is joining us, our cannabis correspondent here on FLX Morning. And I know that you're also involved in a lot of community efforts outside of High Points Dispensary and it's something that you've been a part of, things like motorcycle rides and stuff like that for the past couple of years for charitable organizations.
Darrell Hilkert: Oh yeah, yep. We do motorcycle runs, we've done all kinds of stuff. So giving back to the community, that's what it's all about.
Paul Szmal: And how do you foresee that continuing or maybe evolving as time goes on?
Darrell Hilkert: Well, we're going to keep doing whatever we can to help the community out. We run a Toys for Tots campaign around Christmas time. Just anything we can do to help give back is what it's all about and supporting our locals. That's the biggest thing. We want our local people to shop local. There's no reason to travel anymore to get products. We're right here in your back door.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. And for people that don't know about High Points Dispensary, where can they find it? What hours are you open?
Darrell Hilkert: We're right here on 5 and 20, right next door to Denny's Restaurant. It's actually Beans Hill, 811 Canandaigua Road. You can find us online at highpointsdispensary.net. You can shop online, use the pickup window if you shop online and do your payment online. We're everywhere. We're out there. So glad for the community's support. We got a pretty good following right now. We get a lot of repeat customers and a lot of new customers every day.
Paul Szmal: All right. Well, thanks for stopping in and checking in with us this morning. Much appreciated, sir.
Darrell Hilkert: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Paul Szmal: All right. It is 7.58 on FLX Morning.
