helios labs a minorityowned craft cannabis grower in broadview illinois announced it secured the first loan from the illinois department of commerce and economic opportunity dceo cannabis social equity loan program designated for social equity license holders as a leading social equity cannabis organization we are happy to be among the first to access these funds said ambrose jackson ceo of helios labs with enormous startup costs it is vital for all license holders to complete buildouts and begin operations as quickly as possible and move into a revenuegenerating model said jackson who added the loan provides needed cash infusion at a pivotal time in the projects development according to a press release helios labs received their loan from good tree capital a chicagobased financial institution that provides loans and now a digital wallet for cannabis companies to store and use their funds we are proud to be working with helios to both provide them with a loan but also a digital wallet where they can store their funds and put them to work to grow their business said seke ballard good tree capitals founder social equity means access to capital as well the cannabis social equity loan program was created to help social equity license holders access capital which has historically been one of the main barriers to entry the program launched in the summer of 2021 with the goal of providing lowinterest loans to social equity licensees through a partnership with lending institutions the dceo loans required applicants to meet certain conditions including   the applicant must originate from an underresourced area or one disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs   the applicant or a family member must have been directly impacted by police enforcing antimarijuana laws   the applicant hires 51 of employees from distressed neighborhoods negatively affected by the war on drugs equity has always been at the core of our cannabis legalization process said illinois governor jb pritzker but if we want to create a truly equitable cannabis industry in illinois we must give our business owners the resources they need to grow get your daily dose of cannabis news on benzinga cannabis don’t miss out on any important developments in the industry