Grønn will become multinational in the fourth quarter of 2024
The company will begin operations in multiple countries
Emmi Kuikka (she/her), Chief business writer
Saturday, 30 March 2024
Gullkysten — “This company will grow to become one of the largest providers of medicinal and recreational cannabis and union jobs here in Valkyria and in other nations. The day will come when this company will become a multinational cooperative.” When Karianna Westergaard stepped down as the president of the Valkyrian Workers Union to become the president of Grønn in 2017, she set out to make the company an economic juggernaut.
In November 2024, Westergaard will realise that seven-year-old goal as it begins operations in Eflad, Emerald, Hystaiga, Ravensland, Rhayna, and Vrigny. By year’s end, Grønn will operate in seven states throughout the South Pacific. However, Westergaard has stated that the company will start shipping products out to countries beyond the South Pacific region in 2025.
Karianna WestergaardWho am I?President, Grønn (since 2017). Former president, Valkyrian Workers Union (2013–2017). Rebel girl. |
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When I was elected the president of Grønn, I promised that we would deliver good-paying union jobs and wealth to the working class throughout the South Pacific. In 2024, we will deliver that promise when Grønn begins business in six other states.
In November, we will open farms or shops or both in Eflad, Emerald, Hystaiga, Ravensland, Rhayna, and Vrigyny according to their respective laws and regulations. In these places, we will try to grow and sell domestically while limiting exports whenever possible. Our goal is to equitably distribute wealth within our workforce instead of concentrating it among a few. Being a unionised worker-led cooperative is not a weakness. It is our strength. Unlike predatory multinational corporations who only care about filling the pockets of those who sit on the board of directors, Grønn is a business built, operated, and maintained by members of the community. You may recognise them as your sisters, your brothers, your friends, not a stranger just trying to make another sale. When we welcome these workers, they will have just as much a say in the future of Grønn as those who work here in Valkyria. As part of this expansion, Grønn will move forward with a board of national directors composed of members who were chosen after extensive consultations with the major trade unions of each state:
When Grønn begins operations in these states, the workforces of each state will be represented by their local trade unions. We intend to provide the same wages, benefits, and protections to these workers as those enjoyed by Valkyrian workers. Any improvement to wages, benefits, or protections to workers in one state will be extended to all workers in other states. There are not many companies out there that can claim to be owned and led by its workers and not on the scale we have done it. Grønn is one of the few companies where hard work can and is rewarding. Our work is a service to the communities of which we are part of, providing many with fair and equitable access to various plants, mushrooms, and drugs such as cannabis, coca, psilocybin, ayahuasca, ibogaine, and salvia. Come November, Grønn will be experimenting with the production and sale of LSD and MDMA in select national markets where they are legal for adult use. We hope to start up this experiment in Valkyria by then, but that depends on the decision the Storting makes in their legislation this year. We look forward to seeing you in all seven of these states. –K #Grønn 43.7k  Comment
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Grønn’s expansion into six other states represents a significant victory for Westergaard, whose future as the company’s president fell into doubt after the company faced questions from the Kliegmean smuggling case. However, the company being cleared of wrongdoing by the Valkyrian National Police and the subsequent expansion comes as Westergaard’s term nears its end. In 2025, Grønn will hold a presidential election among its workers.
Since Westergaard became the company’s president in 2017, Grønn underwent a shift in its business operation, advancing beyond manufacturing hemp products to becoming a producer, manufacturer, and distributor of cannabis, coca, and various other recreational drugs. In 2025, the company will diversify its portfolio further by expanding into retail with the opening of a grocery store in Gullkysten.
Westergaard, a former president of the Valkyrian Workers Union, has been named as a potential contender for political office, with sources telling the VKS that she may consider a run for the storting in 2025, springboarding her potentially into a senior cabinet position if Prime Minister Steve Bennett and the Alliance of Social Democrats retain control of the government in the general election.
Following the legalisation of cannabis and other recreational drugs in Valkyria, Grønn emerged on top of the recreational drug industry and held a commanding position in the market. In 2023 alone, the company made 48 billion Valkyrian vekter in sales. According to Valeria Heyerdahl, a professor of economics at the University of Gullkysten, Grønn may make exponentially more sales in 2025 with the expansion into seven states.
