BILLINGS — A new cannabis dispensary is now open just outside the Billings city limits, marking a step forward for Indigenous entrepreneurship in Montana’s growing marijuana industry.
Watch to learn more about the Montana-based, native-owned dispensary:
N8V Grown, which celebrated its grand opening on July 18 at 7342 Eggebrecht Lane, is one of the state’s few fully Native American-owned dispensaries.
"It was big for me just because I'm Native American, first one in the state, you know, that actually is known as a Native American dispo," said founder Charles Swan.
The store is the latest expansion of a company that began originally as a medical dispensary on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in 2018, founded by Swan and his father in Box Elder. Swan, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, said the project has always been deeply rooted in family and culture.
“My dad's been working for the company since day one, and he's actually the one that helped me push through this,” said Swan. "At the beginning, it was actually just us three and one other person running the company, me and my wife and my dad, so at the beginning we were actually doing 15-hour days."
The company operates five dispensaries in northern Montana, including locations in Cut Bank, East Glacier, Harlem, and Charlo. The Billings location marks their sixth location, their first venture into the southern part of the state, and their first near a larger populated area.
The dispensary has a strong commitment to community employment. Of the 74 people currently working for the company, 94% are Native American.
“My goal was to employ Native Americans at the beginning, just because it was close to my reservation. I never really knew how far I could actually take it till now,” said Swan. “For me, I feel like I accomplished my goal, what I wanted, but just at a higher level, because I wasn't expecting to have that many employees ever in my mind."
True its name, the business grows its own cannabis, and plans to start cultivating locally in Billings at its large facility within the next year.
"They were getting great feedback on their stuff (from) the reservation, all the people were requesting it, so they just wanted to fulfill that," said store manager Becca Dabdoub-Olivera. "That's one of the biggest things, their quality over quantity."
Dabdoub-Olivera joined the dispensary at the beginning of the year and brought years of experience in the cannabis industry. She was introduced to the plant for medical reasons, and said she has seen a shift over the years in public attitudes toward marijuana from a recreational stigma to a more accepting focus on wellness.
"The whole excitement of the recreational at the beginning was more of what marijuana kind of gets the stigma for, everybody's going and just wanting to get that high. But it's more now so that I'm meeting customers that come in specifically for certain terpenes or certain strains because it helps their fibromyalgia or their arthritis," said Dabdoub-Olivera. “There's always going to be a little controversy, but what's crazy is I have at my old location, I had more of a customer base with retired military guys that came in over the younger kids that wanted to come in and just try it.”
“Everybody has their own opinions," added Swan. "It's safer for medical in the way that we're doing it than buying it off the streets, obviously, because at least these products are all getting tested."
Since Montana legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, the state has seen more than $893 million in cannabis sales from January 2022 to October 2024 and collected nearly $148 million in taxes, according to the Department of Revenue. According to Swan, running a dispensary can come with challenges.
Related: Montana Ag Network: Legalized marijuana paving way for future farmers
“For the most part, it did get a little tougher since medical (was legalized), in my opinion, just because taxes increased," said Swan. "When it comes to the tax situation and stuff, it does make it tougher for any company to expand."
“Definitely strict rules and regulations," added Dabdoub-Olivera. "They do do their inspections, and I just had one, even though we just opened, they still come in and do their due diligence. We definitely have to have notices when you walk into a dispensary on the doors inside, obviously no one under 21 unless they have a medical card."
With just one testing lab serving the entire state currently, wait times can stretch to two weeks. Regulatory oversight is evolving, but it is also strict, which adds to the pressure.
Related: Montana marijuana industry shares concerns over testing
“We have quite a bit of shops, but there's other people in our situation that may have one or two shops that they need their product, and waiting a few weeks is kind of tough on everybody,” said Swan.
Despite hurdles, N8V Grown continues to expand. The company plans to spread its roots throughout the state and will open additional locations in Glendive, Sidney, and Plentywood in the coming month, with a plan to increase staff to at least 15 more employees.
“It's exciting for, I don't think just Billings, but Montana in general,” said Dabdoub-Olivera. "I really do think that this is going to be a big step, not just for Billings, but for N8V Grown in general.”
