Justin Conder is only 40 years old with a sturdy build and firm handshake, but gray already specks his otherwise brown hair. It’s quite possible a frustrating, eight-year odyssey to obtain a state craft-grow cannabis license has something to do with that.
“I ask myself that sometimes,” Conder says with a weary laugh when asked what made him want to get into the pot business. “Sometimes, even I don’t know the answer to that question.”
Conder, born and raised in Springfield, is the manager and co-owner of Lincoln Labs LLC. If the business opens as expected later this year, it will become Springfield’s second craft-grow cannabis operation. It will occupy the long-vacant former Comcast building at Cook Street and South Dirksen Parkway, starting out with 2,500 square feet of space to grow cannabis plants.
Conder finally owns a state craft grow license, one of 88 issued statewide since the use and sale of recreational marijuana became legal in 2020. The journey was arduous.
A family group led by Conder first applied for a craft-grow license in 2018, in anticipation of it soon being legalized. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and delayed everything for a couple of years. The application was later denied based on what Conder said was “a technicality.” Lincoln Labs sued the state over the matter, and a judge ruled in the business’ favor.
Lincoln Labs eventually received a state license in 2022, which requires a $40,000 annual fee. Tax rates can take another 20% to 30% off a craft grower’s gross revenue. Conder is hopeful new federal tax laws will allow him to take deductions that were previously prohibited for craft growers, such as labor costs.
But then came numerous false starts over Springfield’s restrictive setback zoning law, which initially prohibited any craft-grow business from locating within 1,500 linear feet of schools, churches or residential neighborhoods. The law has since changed to 1,000 linear feet.
“The zoning (issues) may not seem like a pain in the butt, but they are,” said Conder, the owner of a local construction company, Pro Bid. “We just could not find a place that met the zoning requirements.”
Until, that is, one day when Conder was driving past the old Comcast building.
“I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think that works.’ I went home that night, and I got mad at myself for not noticing this sooner,” Conder said. “Then I called the city and got all the criteria. John Harris is the (Springfield zoning administrator) and I said, ‘Hey John, do you think this works?’ And John is pretty hard, but he said, ‘I actually do think this works.’”
In late December, Conder finally received the news he’d waited almost eight years to hear.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of Lincoln Labs’ zoning request for the property at 701 S. Dirksen Parkway, and the Springfield City Council agreed, approving it with no debate.
“The city, especially (Ward 2 Ald. Roy Williams,) the alderman where the business will be, was very good to us. It was a great moment when we found out the vote,” Conder said.
Now, Conder can finally talk about the benefits to the city he thinks Lincoln Labs will provide. It includes potentially 20-25 new jobs, increased business activity in the surrounding block, increased tax revenue for the city and state, and an increase in the quality of cannabis – be it the flower itself, oil products, infused beverages and more – for customers in Springfield and throughout the state.
Lincoln Labs will not be a retail dispensary open to walk-in customers. The initial 2,500 square feet the business will occupy, with hopes of expanding, will have 155 security cameras that continuously monitor the building with “zero blind spots.” The business will sell products to any of the state’s hundreds of retail dispensaries.
The state allows craft grow facilities to start out with 5,000 plants and expand by 3,000 plants at a time, up to a maximum of 14,000 flowering plants at a time. Each one requires about one square foot of indoor space.
Conder signed a five-year lease with local business owner and landlord Josh Sonneborn, with an option to buy, which he intends to exercise when the time comes. While not giving a specific number, Conder said the business will be a “multi-million-dollar buildout.”
“We’re going to start off boutique-style, sort of like a small batch whiskey distillery. We’re going to focus on quality over quantity,” Conder said. “The state occupies the other half of the building, but when their lease is up, we plan to take it over and grow the business.”
Conder said Chris Stone, who is an investor or consultant to multiple cannabis dispensaries, has been an invaluable resource throughout his eight-year journey. Stone, whose name has become synonymous with the cannabis industry in central Illinois, opened an $8 million marijuana cultivation center and canning operation in 2024 on Springfield’s northeast side. Located in an industrial area, it is the largest facility of its kind in the state, and perhaps the nation, to produce beverages infused with cannabis and hemp oil.
While Conder said Stone has no financial stake in Lincoln Labs, he said, “He’s a great guy. I consider him a friend. I don’t believe we’ll be rivals. I think we can work together. As long as the state allows it, I’m going to lean on him for advice on our oils and things like that.”
Despite the occasional second thoughts over the years, Conder has a no-risk, no-reward mentality and is happy to get into the next phase of the journey, which, in his words, “Is to finally open the damned thing” and participate in the state’s $2 billion cannabis industry.
“It’s like being in a boat where you’re more than halfway to the land you want to dock, but haven’t been able to for whatever reason,” he says. “Do you think I’m going to turn around and go back now? No way.”
This article appears in February 5-11, 2026.
