MLH Explorations plans to open its first dispensary under the Solterra brand at Eighth and Locust Streets near TJU’s campus in Center City. The company remains in the running for an additional research permit. If it wins the research license, MLH will be granted a permit to grow and six additional dispensaries. MLH Explorations is headed by CEO William “Billy” Landman, a former chairman of TJU’s Board of Trustees. Another MLH officer is Jeff Cook, who is the chief financial officer of Pepsi National Brands, the region’s largest bottler. The Honickman family, which runs that bottling company, also is affiliated with MLH. The alliances seem to point to an interest in the cannabis space by the local titans of Big Soda.