Grow America Builders, LLC

What Grow America Builders, LLC does

Grow America Builders, LLC is a privately held, Highwood, Illinois-based national design, build, and consulting firm founded in 2018–2019 that focuses exclusively on construction projects for the cannabis industry. The firm is co-led by David Fettner, a Chicago-area builder and practicing zoning attorney with over two decades of construction and legal experience, and Mike Kaulentis, a hospitality concept and brand principal who has personally worked on more than 75 dispensary and consumption lounge designs across fourteen states. The company serves licensed cannabis operators building dispensaries, cultivation facilities, extraction and infusion rooms, consumption lounges, craft grow houses, greenhouse centers, and cannabis laboratories across 18 or more U.S. states, including Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

The firm's core offering is an integrated service model that bundles architectural design, zoning and permit navigation, construction management, real-time budgeting, staffing, and post-occupancy support under a single in-house team of designers, zoning attorneys, construction managers, architects, cannabis cultivation experts, and builders. Proprietary elements include the DCCB (Design, Concept, Construction, Brand) methodology used to standardize concept-to-completion project delivery, and a depth of state-by-state regulatory knowledge codified into 17 state-specific landing pages. Named customers include publicly traded multi-state operator Verano Holdings alongside mid-market brands such as Zenleaf, Ascend Cannabis, Midway Dispensary, Redbud Roots, Green Dot, Cloud 9 Cannabis, Cannivia, Justice Grow, and Dutchess Cannabis. The company is a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), and David Fettner sits on the NCIA Facility Design Committee.

Grow America Builders generates revenue through project-based professional services contracts — design fees, construction management, and consulting engagements — for individual cannabis facility builds. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the firm captures leads through a website intake form and free quote consultations. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales targeting cannabis license holders, supported by content marketing (blog, state-specific SEO pages, social media on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), podcast appearances, and earned media coverage in trade publications such as Cannabis Business Times, Marijuana Business Daily, and regional Crain's Business outlets. The firm operates with approximately 12 employees and does not have disclosed external investors, parent companies, or acquisition activity.

Name

Grow America Builders, LLC

Legal name

Grow America Builders, LLC

Website

https://growamericabuilders.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Grow America Builders is a privately held, Illinois-based national design, build, and consulting firm founded in 2018–2019 that specializes exclusively in cannabis facility construction — serving dispensary, cultivation, extraction, and consumption lounge operators across 18+ U.S. states through an integrated legal-design-construction service model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cannabis Construction Services

NAICS

Commercial and Institutional Building Construction (236220)

SIC

Operative Builders (1531)

akta.pro primary industry

Office & Corporate Building Construction (IMAFACAA)

Keywords

• Cannabis construction services
• Dispensary design build
• Cultivation facility construction
• Cannabis facility consulting
• Zoning compliance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Highwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Design/Build Services: Full-service design and construction services for cannabis facilities including dispensaries, cultivation centers, extraction rooms, consumption lounges, and related spaces. Revenue generated through project-based contracts for design, construction, and project management services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Grow America Builders is a national design, build, and consulting firm that delivers end-to-end construction services exclusively for the cannabis industry. Its offering covers due diligence and compliance, architectural design, construction, and post-occupancy support for dispensaries, cultivation facilities, extraction rooms, consumption lounges, craft grow houses, greenhouses, and cannabis laboratories. The firm combines in-house zoning attorneys, architects, designers, cannabis cultivation experts, and builders under a single accountable engagement model.

Product overview

Grow America Builders is a national design/build/consulting firm offering comprehensive construction services exclusively for the cannabis industry. The company provides a unified service model combining architectural design, construction management, and consulting under one roof. Their core offerings include dispensary design and construction, cultivation facility build-out, extraction room and lab construction, consumption lounge development, craft grow houses, and greenhouse centers. The company also offers ancillary services including zoning and permit assistance, real-time budgeting, staffing, and cultivation consultation. All services are delivered by an in-house team of zoning attorneys, architects, designers, cannabis cultivation experts, and builders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dispensary Design & Construction Full-service architectural design, interior design, and construction build-out for cannabis retail dispensaries, including security, compliance, and customer-experience layouts for licensed operators.
• Cultivation Facility Design & Construction Design and construction of indoor grow rooms, craft grow houses, and greenhouse cultivation centers with specialized HVAC, environmental controls, and cultivation-optimized infrastructure for licensed cultivators.
• Extraction Room Design & Construction Specialized design and construction of cannabis extraction rooms and processing spaces, including equipment installation, ventilation, and safety compliance for hydrocarbon and other extraction methods.
• Consumption Lounge Design & Construction Design and construction of on-premises cannabis consumption lounges with compliance-ready layouts, ventilation, and customer-experience-focused hospitality design.
• Cannabis Lab Design & Construction Specialized laboratory design and construction for cannabis testing, research, and processing operations, including technical infrastructure for analytical and quality-control workflows.
• Cannabis Architectural Design Services In-house architectural design including zoning-compliant space planning, permit-ready drawings, and construction documentation tailored to cannabis facility requirements.
• Cannabis Consulting Services Consulting services including due diligence, compliance guidance, facility planning, and owner's representation across the design/build lifecycle for cannabis operators and license applicants.

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member and David Fettner serves on NCIA's Facility Design Committee, contributing to industry standards and best practices development for cannabis facility design and construction.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Burns & McDonnell: Engineering, architecture, and construction firm with industrial facility expertise applicable to cannabis processing and extraction facilities. Comparable as a large-scale design-build competitor in adjacent regulated facility verticals.
• Stantec: Global engineering and design firm with dedicated cannabis facility design practice serving cultivation, extraction, and dispensary clients across North America. Comparable because it competes for the same cannabis design-build engagements with greater scale and regional density.
• Shawmut Design and Construction: National construction firm with a specialized cannabis facilities group servicing dispensaries, cultivation, and processing clients. Comparable because it competes directly for the same multi-state operator build-outs with deeper balance sheet and bonding capacity.
• Swinerton: Large U.S. general contractor with commercial and life-sciences capabilities increasingly serving cannabis facility clients. Comparable as a scaled national builder that can absorb cannabis construction work Grow America currently wins.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting and construction firm that designs and builds large-scale industrial and life-sciences facilities, including those for cannabis operators. Comparable as a deep-pocketed incumbent capable of taking enterprise cannabis builds.
• Gilbane Building Company: Large national construction manager with active cannabis and life sciences facility practice, including cultivation and processing builds for multi-state operators. Comparable as a turnkey competitor on enterprise-scale cannabis construction projects.

Direct peers

• CannaBuild Group: Cannabis-focused design-build firm offering turnkey dispensary and cultivation construction services nationally. Comparable because it competes head-to-head for the same cannabis operator client base with a similar integrated service model.
• GreenSpace Construction: Specialty contractor focused on cannabis facility construction, including dispensaries and cultivation sites, with multi-state execution. Comparable because it targets the same cannabis vertical with a similar dedicated design-build offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/growbuildersllc
• Facebookfacebook.com/GrowAmericaBuilders
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grow-america-builders-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/growamericabuilders/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grow America Builders, LLC