Natural Supplements, a cannabis cultivation, manufacture, retail and distribution business, has been approved by Antioch’s City Council.

The council OK’d the operating agreement Tuesday on a 3-to-2 vote, with Councilmembers Lori Ogorchock and Mike Barbanica dissenting.

City Attorney Thomas Smith said the operating agreement provides benefits to the city in several ways, including fees that increase each year for the first four years.

Under the 10-year operating agreement, which includes two possible five-year extensions, the operator will pay a percentage of its gross revenue to the city each month.

Another benefit to the city, Smith said, is in a social equity program that’s attached to the agreement, in which the business helps support a local nonprofit.

“The social equity program gives the business a chance to give back to the community,” Smith said.

Under the agreement, the operator has chosen Rubicon Programs, an anti-poverty program that provides workforce services to justice-impacted job seekers, many of whom were formerly incarcerated and impacted by the War on Drugs.

Antioch approves operating agreement for new cannabis business