Legal Greens, LLC, founded by 29-year-old Vanessa Jean-Baptiste, is on a list of staff-recommended provisional licenses up for a vote at the state Cannabis Control Commission meeting set for Thursday morning in Worcester. If approved, it would allow Legal Greens to move forward with the build out of her proposed retail marijuana store, which she plans to open in a 2,500-square-foot space at 73 Pleasant St. in downtown Brockton.

“I’m very excited,” said Jean-Baptiste, reached on Wednesday. “The process has been a challenge. It’s been a journey.”

Jean-Baptiste, a Bridgewater State University graduate, is a state-designated economic empowerment applicant, meaning that she was given priority status by the Cannabis Control Commission, as part of a provision in the Massachusetts marijuana law aimed at helping people from communities that have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana law enforcement to be able to participate in the growing legal marijuana industry.

While she was previously denied a host community agreement from the city of Brockton, former mayor Moises Rodrigues re-opened the process to minority applicants including Jean-Baptiste during the summer of 2019, providing her a host community agreement. Jean-Baptiste was also able to gain crucial $250,000 in financing and product through an equity program offered last year by Theory Wellness, a marijuana company that has a dispensaries and retail marijuana locations in Bridgewater, Great Barrington and Chicoppe.

Jean-Baptiste said she filed her application for the provisional license in October. The young entrepreneur said she expects her company to get approval on Thursday. Then, Jean-Baptiste said her company needs to continue raising $600,000 for construction.