As the new marijuana industry gains traction statewide, entrepreneurs with off-Island ties are setting their sights on the Vineyard. Two groups envision opening multiple retail stores on the Island and have identified possible locations for the businesses.

Island businessman Geoff Rose said he is waiting on final state approvals to open his cultivation facility on Dr. Fisher Road and a medical marijuana dispensary on State Road in West Tisbury. Last fall, Mr. Rose entered into a partnership with the mainland cannabis company Acreage Holdings. He said this week that he hopes to eventually open two additional retail marijuana stores on the Island and is in the process of opening another store in Framingham.

At a Tisbury selectmen’s meeting last week, a group with business connections in Williamstown presented plans to open a cannabis store on Mechanic’s street in Vineyard Haven. A spokesman for the group said they hope to open three stores on the Island.

Individual businesses are limited by the state Cannabis Control Commission to three licenses for retail marijuana establishments and three licenses for medical marijuana establishments. No recreational licenses have been granted by the Cannabis Control Commission on the Vineyard yet.

Four Island towns have zoned areas for marijuana businesses. Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury and Tisbury did not limit the number of retail marijuana stores that could open in those areas. In Edgartown, the number of retail marijuana licenses is limited in relationship to the number of liquor store licenses issued.

Last spring, Mr. Rose considered a retail space in the Woodland Center commercial complex in Tisbury for an adult-use cannabis store, but business owners in the shopping center voiced concerns ranging from parking issues to the prospective establishment’s proximity to a children’s dance studio. Mr. Rose said he took the concerns to heart.

“I am looking at other retail locations in Vineyard Haven as well as other towns,” he said. “The location that I originally chose, to the best interests of everyone, I decided not to move forward with.”

As for his relationship with cannabis giant Acreage Holdings, Mr. Rose said the company is financing his endeavors and he remains the sole shareholder of his business, Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard. He said he had received a loan from Acreage Holdings and entered into a management agreement.

“My intention was to try to fund this with local money, local loans, but it became very apparent that the cost to operate was far greater than my ability to generate loans from local individuals, so I started the effort to look for other lenders,” Mr. Rose said. “Acreage came to me. I did not go to Acreage. They sought me out.”

Acreage Holdings is set to be acquired by the Canadian company Canopy Growth, pending federal legalization of marijuana sales in the United States.

Mr. Rose said his dispensary and cultivation facility for medical marijuana in West Tisbury are both complete, and he is awaiting a final signoff from the Cannabis Control Commission to begin operations.

Meanwhile, last week Main Street Medicinals pitched a retail marijuana store to Tisbury selectmen. The group includes Boston businessman Noah Eisendrath and Island business owner Nicholas Catt. Main Street Medicinals has a consulting agreement with the off-Island company Silver Therapeutics.

Silver Therapeutics co-founder Joshua Ferranto said Main Street Medicinals had signed a purchase and sale agreement to buy a warehouse at 65 Mechanic’s street in Vineyard Haven for cannabis cultivation and sales. The long-term plan is to open three retail stores, Mr. Ferranto said, adding that multiple stores are needed to justify that expense of cultivating the marijuana on-Island. Marijuana cannot legally be transported across federal waters.

“We’re actively looking at another location on the Island,” he said. “Because you can’t move product off the Island, and we have to go through the expense of building out a cultivation facility, if you’re going to do that, it makes sense to have three retail dispensaries on the Island.”