Marijuana boom spawns ancillary businesses

Ben Wu took a six-figure pay cut when he left a career in private equity for a shot at the marijuana boom. Trained to spot small businesses with big potential, he started this year as chief executive of Kush Bottles, a Santa Ana company that sells child-resistant plastic cannabis containers.

It took some persuading to get his parents and girlfriend to embrace the move. But Wu insists it was a sound business decision. As the pot industry blossoms, he reasoned, a robust supply chain is needed to help grow, package and market legal marijuana.

“The sky’s the limit,” said Wu, 35, a New York University business school graduate and former vice president at Wedbush Capital Partners. “As long as states continue to adopt, we’re going to double growth each and every year.”

Container brands like Kush Bottles are among a slew of ancillary companies joining what many are calling the green rush. Where there’s weed, there’s also a growing need for everything from greenhouses and fertilizer to pipes and vaporizers.

“The annual revenue is easily in the hundreds of millions, and likely much more,” said Chris Walsh, editor of website Marijuana Business Daily.

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