WORCESTER — No bank will lend a penny to Matthew J. Huron. The Colorado purveyor of medical marijuana can't offer customers the option to pay with credit cards, either, because financial services companies won't touch a business that federal law considers illegal.

WORCESTER — No bank will lend a penny to Matthew J. Huron.

The Colorado purveyor of medical marijuana can't offer customers the option to pay with credit cards, either, because financial services companies won't touch a business that federal law considers illegal.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to growing and selling marijuana for medical use, as a number of new businesses plan to start doing later this year in Massachusetts.

"There's a lot of challenges," said Mr. Huron, chief executive of Good Chemistry Inc. of Massachusetts, which received provisional state approval to open medical marijuana stores in Worcester and Boston plus a facility to grow plants. But, he added, "it's my passion. I believe medical marijuana should be accessible to patients that need it."

With the announcement in late January that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health had tentatively approved licenses for medical marijuana sales at 20 locations, Good Chemistry and other entrepreneurs became pioneers in a new, peculiar Massachusetts business sector.

The companies are all organized as nonprofits. Most have backers with experience in other states that allow the sale of medical marijuana, such as Colorado and California.

Altogether the companies project they will post $86 million in revenue during their first fiscal year of operation, sell nearly 10,000 pounds of marijuana and serve more than 36,000 patients. Nine of the 20 companies, including the Worcester dispensary, expect to turn a profit in year one.

State officials requested and received financial projections from applicants because they wanted to feel confident the operators could run effective businesses in a responsible way, said Karen van Unen, executive director of the state's medical marijuana program.

Still, it's not clear how accurate the projections will be. Approved operators projected first-year revenue ranging from $1.5 million to $11.9 million and sales ranging from 25 to 2,400 pounds of marijuana. Good Chemistry of Worcester expects to sell 657 pounds of marijuana at an average price of $12.50 per gram over the first fiscal year of operation while serving 1,008 patients a month and posting revenue of $3.9 million and profit of about $419,000.

"I think until we launch the program, we really are not going to have the data to fully appreciate the impact that this industry will have in Massachusetts, from a cost perspective, from a patient-services delivery perspective, from an economic opportunity perspective," Ms. van Unen said. "They're all projections."

Individuals who go into the business tend to be marijuana warriors who see medical use as an opportunity to legitimize cannabis, patients or their relatives who feel strongly about the therapeutic aspect of marijuana, or people who see a financial opportunity, said Robert L. Frichtel, president and chief executive of Colorado-based Advanced Cannabis Solutions Corp., a publicly traded consulting and real estate business catering to the cannabis industry.

"The third group is the entrepreneurs, the people who just see this as a $1.8 billion dollar industry that could grow to $10 billion in the next decade, and they want to get a piece of the action," Mr. Frichtel said. "There are obviously people who are part of all three."

Mr. Huron of Good Chemistry is a 14-year veteran of the medical marijuana industry who got his start by founding a co-op in San Francisco.

"My father and his partner both had HIV, and they found therapeutic benefits from medical marijuana," Mr. Huron said. "We started growing and delivering medical marijuana to assisted living facilities throughout San Francisco, developed a nonprofit out there. So really, just started from my family and the spirit of providing this medicine for those in need."

In 2010 Mr. Huron launched Good Chemistry in Colorado. The company operates a dispensary in Denver and a cultivation center, employing 42 people and posting $4 million in annual revenue. He also owns 50 percent of Wellspring Collective Medical Marijuana Center, a Colorado entity catering to senior citizens.

Mr. Huron said he has relatives in Worcester and has found the community welcoming of his proposed business. Good Chemistry's license application notes that 63 percent of Worcester voters approved the 2012 ballot question that cleared the way for medical marijuana.

Yet uncertainties remain. In Massachusetts, doctors must clear patients for medical marijuana, but no one knows how many will seek certification to do so.

The Massachusetts Medical Society has criticized state regulations for not including provisions for dosages or how to properly administer the drug. Good Chemistry noted in its application that it expects slower growth than at its Colorado location, partly because of a "conservative" medical culture in Massachusetts, notably the requirement that doctors have bona fide relationships with patients before clearing them for medical marijuana.

The issue isn't a conservative medical culture, though, said Dr. Stephen B. Corn, an anesthesiologist and director of clinical innovation for Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who co-founded TheAnswerPage.com and has gathered information about medical marijuana on the site for physicians.

Medical schools do not teach future doctors about the properties of cannabis, common drug reference materials do not mention it and marijuana has never gone through human studies under Food and Drug Administration review, Dr. Corn said.

"Without available education for doctors on medical marijuana, there may be two extremes of physicians," he said. "Those doctors who simply say 'no to their patients, and those that certify their patients but are not adequately educated to guide and monitor their patients."

Meanwhile, all medical marijuana businesses in Massachusetts remain federal outlaws. Banks, which are subject to federal law, cannot do business with marijuana operations, said Jon K. Skarin, senior vice president of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, a trade group.

"There are some real repercussions to the banks in not obeying these laws," he said. "There are pretty significant financial penalties."

Unable to obtain traditional financing for his operations, Mr. Huron has poured money earned back into Good Chemistry. The Worcester operation has lined up $1.3 million in initial capital from MGC LLC, an entity led by Mr. Huron that also has other investors.

Without access to banks, marijuana operations also can become awash in cash, which raises security concerns and makes it difficult to pay bills.

Those operators in other states who are able to obtain banking services tend to guard the details. Mr. Huron said he has access to some banking services, but he declined to elaborate.

Federal authorities waded into the situation Friday, issuing guidance aimed at allowing banks to do business with marijuana operations they know are legitimate. Massachusetts regulators said they would support it.

"The Division of Banks will work with federal regulators to implement this guidance for Massachusetts banks and credit unions," the department said in a statement.

Contact Lisa Eckelbecker at leckelbecker@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaEckelbecker.