By Alex Hahn
Reynold Greenleaf was an alias for Robin Hood and the Merry Men. If any of them ever got caught by the sheriff and were asked who they were – they would say Reynold Greenleaf. It is a nod to the fact that we are all criminals in our efforts to serve the patients of New Mexico.
Founded in 2010, R. Greenleaf began with one goal in mind: to serve as many Medical Cannabis patients in New Mexico as possible. 6 years later, the company cultivates more grams of the medicine than any other Licensed Non-Profit Producer in the state. With its dedication to patients and employees, R. Greenleaf’s does everything in its power to accomplish our mission: to provide New Mexico Medical Cannabis patients safe access to high-quality medicine at fair prices.
The Beginning
William Ford helped found R. Greenleaf as a way to change his career path and life in order to achieve a more meaningful existence. After watching a family member pass away from cancer, Mr. Ford understood that safe access to high-quality medicine would have been a great tool in easing the final stages of his relatives’ life. From this R. Greenleaf sprouted, and received its license in the final round of New Mexico’s 2011 original medical licenses.
Getting off the ground took overcoming setbacks including a ruined crop and zero startup capital. Alfonso Garcia, founding board member and partner/CEO of R. Greenleaf, remembers those times fondly while demonstrating their dedication to their mission, “We weren’t sure we were going to make it, but we had to they are hardest for the patients that needed us.” Eventually, though a man named Jacob White joined the team as Master Grower, working as a volunteer until well after his first harvest for the company, and R. Greenleaf finally saw itself starting to get onto stable ground.
With the stability of business expanded, and Mr. Ford the R. Greenleaf Board of Directors found support amongst a community of New Mexico based investors, some of which were patients themselves who wanted to see the program and R. Greenleaf’s mission succeed in New Mexico.
Serving the Patients
R. Greenleaf’s Cannabis first clinic started as a one room operation near Coronado Mall and Uptown. As they served more and more patients, so did the size of their store and the number of employees they needed. At that first location, the company went through two building expansions, each time focusing more and more on a footprint that would benefit the patients through efficiency, education and of course, safe access.
From the very beginning, R. Greenleaf has offered one-on-one patient consultations, including an introduction to Medical Cannabis Program for patients who are new and have no prior knowledge of the array of benefits Medical Cannabis supplies. Having an educated staff that could communicate and properly assists patients is integral to William Ford’s and R. Greenleaf’s ambition, resulted in the company’s culture that recognizes employees who help patients on the front lines, entitling them “Peer Educators.”
Breaking the stereotype of the “Budtender,” Peer Educators are patients of the program themselves who have had experience medicating with various forms of cannabis. R. Greenleaf utilizes that personal knowledge and appreciation of medical cannabis to help a broad range of patients who suffer from a many of ailments and has always made a habit of supporting the patient community through employment, with 85% of its employees’ medical marijuana patients themselves.
Joshua Walls, the Clinic Manager at R. Greenleaf’s Midtown new location, if proud to be part of what R. Greenleaf is doing. It’s a patient-centric company, where even the decisions we make behind the counter are for the betterment of the patients.” These decisions include a standardized flower medicine price per gram, continual development of Quality Assurance, a delivery program that existed until recent regulations changed, 100% Guarantees on satisfaction, and the consultation of a management company to ensure best industry practices.
Currently, R. Greenleaf is working with the Pediatric Hospice: UNM Mariposa Pediatric Hospice Program to help educate healthcare professionals, as well as provide free medicine to qualifying patients. The partnership was formed between the Mariposa Program and R. Greenleaf to ensure that the both the mission of the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program and R. Greenleaf itself were both met, while also providing a better quality of life for those who need it most.
In 2014, R. Greenleaf broke ground on its 16,000 square foot grow location, shortly thereafter, in February of 2015, the company moved plants into the building. This new building, custom outfitted with two stories of growing space vastly improved the production for R. Greenleaf, but it wasn’t until 2016 that the company’s Master Grower, Jeffrey Gardner, has really started to flourish.
“My goal for 2016 is to produce one million (1,000,000) grams of medicine, not because that sounds cool, but because that means we are starting to produce at our top capacity and the patients of New Mexico will be better served for it,” Mr. Gardner says.
There is no reason patients can not get what they need, unless we are not trying hard enough.
R. Greenleaf prides itself on the effort they put in every day, including following strict cleanliness standards that require all of their cultivation employees to wear clean scrubs, protective eyewear, and sterilized footwear.
A Few New Clinics On August 29th, 2016 R. Greenleaf opened its doors at a new flagship location, 4414 Menaul Blvd NE, Suite 1, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Having outgrown its original location across from Coronado Mall, R. Greenleaf was excited for the opportunity to help more patients more efficiently, and they do by serving nearly 200 patients a day!
On August 29th, 2016 R. Greenleaf opened its doors at a new flagship location, 4414 Menaul Blvd NE, Suite 1, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Having outgrown its original location across from Coronado Mall, R. Greenleaf was excited for the opportunity to help more patients more efficiently, and they do by serving nearly 200 patients a day!
R. Greenleaf is still doing its best to get medicine to the underserved communities of New Mexico, despite the suspension of in-house delivery programs. On November 1st, 2016, R. Greenleaf had the Grand Opening of its Grants, New Mexico Clinic in rural West New Mexico, a community that has been underserved for a long time, and a goal of R. Greenleaf’s for about a year and become part of the companies mission to serve patients all over New Mexico with safe access to high quality medicine.
Today Establishing relationships with patients throughout all of New Mexico has always been part of R. Greenleaf’s business, so installing itself as a helpful part of the community was something that just happened naturally. Beyond the Companies’ ongoing work with the Mariposa Pediatric Hospice Program, it works to serve part of the community each quarter. Most recently, it was to collect school supplies for APS Title I, a program for homeless students. Now, as the holiday season approaches R. Greenleaf is gearing up collecting food for Road Runner Food Bank, toys for various children’s organizations, as well as supplies for the homeless donated to Albuquerque’s Heading Home.
“R. Greenleaf is a great company because not only does it support the community at large, but it continually does its best to support the patient community. Every decision we make is to further the program, but also because we have a very passionate staff that is always trying to improve – because they know that if they do their best to build up R. Greenleaf, R. Greenleaf will do the same for them,” says Alfonso Garcia.
R. Greenleaf Organics Cannabis Strain Menu
