As ABC 7 Chicago reported, Diane Brewer and her sons, Matthew and Chuck Brewer, made history with the grand opening of the Grasshopper Club, the city’s first independent Black-owned business in the cannabis industry. The trailblazers opened the location to build generational wealth for their family and help people in their community with job opportunities.
“It was this opportunity for wealth creation, generational for my mother and my brother,” Matthew told the Block Club Chicago. “This isn’t like banking or engineering where the experts have been doing it for decades and have all of this experience under their belt. This is an industry where people haven’t been doing it a lot longer than you have, so there’s a chance to get in early.”
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Matthew has been in the cannabis industry since 2014, and the launch of the Grasshopper Club has been in the works since 2019. Due to the heavy restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, plans unfortunately slowed down, but the family ensured they were still on track to open the doors eventually.
Each of the founders has a significant role in the company to help keep the business afloat. Diane handles accounting, Matthew oversees the business, and Chuck manages the daily operations. And it’s extra special for Chuck to legally be a part of a cannabis business after multiple run-ins with the law due to his recreational use of marijuana growing up.
