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Movement in Congress In Cannabis Policy Reform with Michael Correia and Michelle Rutter Friberg today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Host Bethany Moore checks in with NCIA's D.C. team about the most recent movement in Congress in cannabis policy reform. NCIA's Director of Government Relations, Michael Correia, and Deputy Director of Government relations, Michelle Rutter Friberg, check in with the show to discuss the reintroduction of the SAFE Banking Act in the 117th Congress, plus the reintroduction of the MORE Act. Michael and Michelle offer insight into the balance of bipartisan support for these bills, as well as the nuances to what bills contain, and what changes may have been made in these newer versions. Bethany also reflects on the 7 to 8 years that Michael and Michelle have been working on Capitol Hill as NCIA's full-time lobbying team, representing the legal, regulated cannabis industry in the halls of Congress, and how their day-to-day lobbying work is slowly returning to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how they conducted their efforts with Congressional staff.

Weediatrics with Erin O’Hearn today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice with Bethany Moore only on Cannabis Radio. Erin has a passion for producing thought-provoking, compelling, and entertaining films with storytelling that delves into significant social issues. After graduating from Cornell University, she worked in the corporate communications department at HBO and went on to produce news specials and documentaries for MTV. Erin made a career transition into news reporting and worked for ABC in Philadelphia for more than 13 years. Oakz Media/Open Water Studios is a small production company. They wanted to produce a movie that was significant on a variety of levels---socially, politically, and emotionally.

How company culture within the cannabis industry looks with Cassandra Michaud of Elev8 on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Cassandra is a marketing professional who has worked in various retail management positions, strategizing business development and sales training to drive record-breaking revenue margins. Since then, she briefly managed Elev8 Cannabis’s Oregon store, before becoming Elev8’s Operational manager; coaching store managers across all locations, while learning about the cannabis industry and the unique and varied needs of cannabis businesses.

Medical Cannabis Access and Insurance with Anne M. Davis, Esq. today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Anne has been practicing law for 20 years. For the past 12 years, she has been recognized as one of the state’s leading experts in marijuana law and policy. In that role, Davis has presented workshops and seminars nationally about marijuana law reform. Since her diagnosis with MS, she has dedicated her skills and experience to create programs and expand access for medical marijuana patients. As part of that mission, she is a Patient Advocate for Bennabis Health, the first health care company in the nation covering medical marijuana. As a community leader, Anne serves as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) working with foster children; she teaches CCD at her local church and has served as a Girl Scout leader for 11 years. Anne was recognized as a “Woman of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts at their annual Gala in 2020. Working with children, keeping them safe, and giving them the best opportunities possible are some of her top priorities. We review a bit more about her background in cannabis and her personal story.

Cannabis Big Data with CEO & Founder Henry Finkelstein today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry's Voice. Henry empowers colleagues and clients by spinning data into gold with intuitive, actionable insights. After working in e-commerce, consulting, healthcare, and government contracting, Henry saw the opportunity to create a modern-day data toolkit for cannabis businesses that connect the data dots with one-click reports & dashboards that help companies earn more and stress less.

Changing cannabis laws with Michael Williamson, Pipp Horticulture, today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Michael currently serves as Director of Cultivation for Pipp Horticulture and Chief Operating Officer for Catalyst BC is a legacy licensed cannabis operator and pioneer in vertical farming. Michael relocated to Denver, Colorado in 2009 and co-founded and operated Kind Love; an award-winning and vertically integrated medical cannabis company. Then in 2013, co-founded Greenhaus Industries which was then acquired by Pipp Horticulture in 2018.

Raising capital for a cannabis business with Cliff Whatmore and Sumit Mehta today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Sumit is a cannabis strategist, an internationally recognized speaker, and the author of the MAZAKALI GreenPaper, an authoritative voice on deep industry trends in its sixth year of publication with over 70,000 readers. In addition to his role at MAZAKALI, Sumit serves on several cannabis company boards and is the Chair of the NCIA’s Banking and Financial Services committee. Cliff Whatmore is the President of MAB Investments, AND Evolv Capital Partners Where he applies the rules of Behavioral Finance and Economics to develop novel investment strategies, and Wealth Governance Solutions. Cliff started early-stage investing in biotechs, and CPG companies; before focusing on the cannabis space in 2014. He has submitted studies on Private companies’ valuations using Behavioral pricing models. He has several successful exits over $500,000,000.00 and taken companies to the public markets. He has a strong background in food science including launching a Nutraceutical MATCHA +, a sports beverage, and is a member of the Institute of Food Technology and the Research Chefs Association. BOTH are Members of NCIA’s Banking and Finance Committee. So being on the Banking and Finance Committee, their group is taking on various issues ranging from raising capital for your business to the SAFE Banking Act at the federal level. We start with the topic of raising capital for a cannabis business that is still federally illegal. We walk everyone through the process here starting from having the brilliant idea while brushing your teeth to having a full-fledged business, essentially how we get from A to Z.

The nomenclature project Jacob Enslein from AJ Cannabis Consulting, and Paul Coble at Thalo Technologies today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice. We dive into their subcommittee Cannabis Nomenclature and talk about what it is their doing. We have seen tons of value in having shared language in our industry. So we talk about the difference between terminology, jargon, and nomenclature? Many of us know the basics like cannabinoid or terpene or what have you, but there’s a lot more, so we really get into the vibe of the purpose and expected outcome of the nomenclature project.

Future-Proofing The Cannabis Industry with Kathy Knutson, Ph.D. and Dr. Kathryn Birmingham today on NCIA Cannabis Industry Voice. Kathy Knutson is an Independent Contractor with ImEPIK - who sits on NCIA’s Education Committee for a second term. Dr. Knutson consults internationally with food, dietary supplement, and cannabis manufacturers on recall investigations, problem-solving, training, and Food and Drug Administration compliance. She conducts hazard analysis, risk assessments, and recall investigations for the root cause and control of pathogens, specializing in the development of Environmental Monitoring Programs for ready-to-eat foods. and Dr. Kathryn Birmingham, COO of ImEPIK Dr. Birmingham ensures product and service standards for research-based interactive online training. She leads teams that research and design training solutions while tracking impact. She is a former University of Florida professor and Dean of Arts & Sciences for Florida State College with experience overseeing a Biotechnology Degree Program with food testing analytical lab and is certified as a Lead Instructor for the FDA regulated standard curriculum for the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual.

The Cannabis Business with Author Charlie Alovisetti today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Charlie is a partner at Vicente Sederberg and chair of the firm's Corporate Department. He is recognized by Chambers & Partners as one of the top cannabis lawyers in the United States and is the co-author of The Business of Cannabis: Understanding Law, Finance, and Governance in America’s Newest Industry (Routledge, 2020). Prior to joining VS, Charlie worked as an associate in the New York offices of Latham & Watkins and Goodwin, where he represented public companies and private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in a range of corporate transactions. For companies trying to raise money for their businesses, either startup or bigger expansions, with this federal confusion, we talk about how that impacts the process of raising money in a technically illegal industry. We dive into if there is risk in putting yourself out there that you’re in this industry trying to raise money.

Compliance In Cannabis With Frank Nisenboum, Vice President of ERP Sales. Frank is a trusted advisor at c2b technologies who has guided organizations of all sizes enabling them to establish a technology presence and expand their business through technology. His proven ability to analyze the current and future plans of a company and work with team members to subsequently bring technology solutions to the organization result in improved processes and controls that assure continued growth and profitability. Frank has worked in the ERP and CRM software selection, sales, and consulting industry for almost 25 years. We start by talking about compliance. It’s on our minds in this industry constantly and at this stage, we’ve seen some common mistakes or infractions that are made on the compliance front. Creating some patterns that our industry should take notice of and address, we talk about what are these common compliance infractions we’re seeing in our industry lately. Having touched on compliance here, which is our industry’s mantra, there’s a lot of documentation involved in staying compliant. Everything from the seed to sale reporting like tracking the plants themselves and even the waste material, to financial reporting of sales for METRC, as well as 280E compliance, good grief. So we dive into managing all that and how to keep it all together.

The vaping crisis with Ramon Alarcon and Arnaud Dumas de Rauly today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice only on Cannabis Radio. Arnaud is currently Co-Founder and CEO of The Blinc Group. He is a thought leader in the science, technology, and supply chain of vaping products. Arnaud also serves as Chairman of the ISO (International) Standards Committee on Vaping Products & Chairman of the European Standards Committee on Vapor Products. Ramon has a career in innovation. As head of engineering and design, he took blu (the e-cig market-maker) through 2 acquisitions and built its portfolio of 80+ patents. He’s also worked in VR at NASA, a patented surgical simulator startup, vehicle tech at Ford, and has degrees in engineering from Stanford. Their committee recently hosted a webinar about future-proofing their business. We chat with them both further about this for listeners who didn’t catch the webinar. Within the Cannabis Manufacturing Committee, which covers both edibles and extractions, for example, there’s certainly a lot to discuss vaping products that are very popular. For a lot of reasons they’re discreet, they don’t smell like flowers. NCIA published a white paperback in late 2019 about the vaping crisis we all remember which feels like a million years ago. So we dive into the big picture concerns that we discovered along the way about vaping and what the big deal is there.

Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry Part 3 with Debra Borchardt and Gaynell Rogers. Today we’re going to talk about an important new policy report called Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry. talk about the reason we’re here today, the newly released gender parity report that is a partnership effort between NCIA and The Arcview Group, working with a group of amazing individuals across various companies and organizations, who will we will get to know and speak with across a series of about three or so podcasts as we unpack the various sections of this collection of research on gender parity. Debra Borchardt is the Co-founder and CEO of the cannabis financial news website Green Market Report. Her career as a financial journalist included serving as senior producer and reporter at TheStreet.com. Debra is also a Co-Founder of the women’s cannabis executives networking group, Industry Power Women, and serves on the board of the cannabis newswire, Axiswire. Gaynell Rogers is Treehouse Global Ventures Founder and Managing Partner. She has been named Influencer of the Year 2018 by Industry Power Women, and the Top 100 Women of Weed by The Green Market Report. She has enjoyed a storied career in media relations & mass communications, in music & film- and now in the cannabis industry for the past 11 years.

Federal legalization: How Close Are We? with Rocco Petrilli and Tamala McBath. Tamala is the Executive Director of the NCRMA, National Cannabis Risk Management Association as the Chief Execution Officer, and Rocco Petrilli, Chairman of the National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) Both are Members of NCIA’s Risk Management and Insurance Committee. Now that we are past the inauguration of the Biden-Harris Administration, past the election, and we have a friendlier Congress ahead of us, the idea of federal legalization seems even closer, within reach. With legalization around the corner, we talk about their thoughts on the potential legal ramifications to the industry. Currently, companies operate at the state level, and can’t just cross state lines and open another business. It’s an entirely different licensing process in each state, and there are certainly differences. With the prospect of an “umbrella legalization” in America, that could change the legal landscape in how businesses operate. We all discuss if businesses have more or less legal exposure post-legalization. That and much more on federal legalization: How Close Are We? with RMIC, Rocco Petrilli, and Tamala McBath today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice. 

Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry - Part 2 with Elise Serbaroli, Debra Borschardt, and Christine De La Rosa. Today we’re going to talk about an important new white paper series called Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry: Creating Gender Parity through Ownership, Leadership, Boards, Pay Equality, Branding, and Capital, but first, let’s talk more about our guests.Elise Serbaroli leads Global Business Development at Strimo – she brings global experience in software and multinational food operations to the cannabis space. Elise is a member of the NCIA’s State Regulatory Committee, focused on Technology, Compliance, Regulatory Forces, and Informing Local Governments.Debra Borchardt is the Co-founder and CEO of the cannabis financial news website Green Market Report. She left Wall Street to earn her Master’s Degree in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University, and embarked on a career as a financial journalist, including as a senior producer and reporter at TheStreet.com. Debra is also a Co-Founder of the women’s cannabis executives networking group, Industry Power Women and serves on the board of the cannabis newswire, Axiswire.Christine De La Rosa is the co-founder and CEO of The People’s Dispensary, and spent 20 years as a system and database architect in tech before coming to cannabis. Christine has her own story and experiences of cannabis as a life-saving wellness medicine, which inspired her to open Benefit Health Collective in 2016, along with her co-founders, to help those who most need access to cannabis. Christine is on NCIA’s DEIC Committee.

Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry Part 1 with Elise Serbaroli, Kelly Perez, and Christine De La Rosa. Today we’re going to talk about an important new white paper series called Building New Foundations in the Cannabis Industry: Creating Gender Parity through Ownership, Leadership, Boards, Pay Equality, Branding, and Capital, but first, let’s talk more about our guests. Elise Serbaroli leads Global Business Development at Strimo - she brings global experience in software and multinational food operations to the cannabis space. Elise is a member of the NCIA’s State Regulatory Committee, focused on Technology, Compliance, Regulatory Forces, and Informing Local Governments. Kelly Perez is the President and co-founder of Cannabis Doing Good, the co-Executive Director of the Cannabis Impact Fund, and the CEO/co-founder of king colorado. Kelly was the Human Services Policy Adviser to Colorado Governor, now U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, and led the creation of the Office of Marijuana Coordination in the first legal, adult-use, cannabis market in the world. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social work. Christine De La Rosa is the co-founder and CEO of The People’s Dispensary, and spent 20 years as a system and database architect in tech before coming to cannabis. Christine has her own story and experiences of cannabis as a life-saving wellness medicine, which inspired her to open Benefit Health Collective in 2016, along with her co-founders, to help those who most need access to cannabis. Christine is on NCIA’s DEIC Committee.

The Future of Cannabis Consumerism with Dr. Tara Couch, EAS Consulting Senior Director for Dietary Supplement and Tobacco Services. Dr. Tara Lin Couch is a Ph.D. Analytical / Organic Chemist with over 25 years of diverse laboratory and regulatory experience in academic, field, contract, and manufacturing environments. Tara serves on various industry committees for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), and the Food, Drug Law Institute (FDLI). She is also active in the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices) (Get more paper, get more people) systems are becoming a serious topic in the cannabis industry we've noticed through blogs and podcast interviews. Our committees have been focusing on that and applying it to so many specific areas of our now highly complex industry. We think it’s important for us to get ahead before federal legalization, which we get into later. Products categorized as Dietary supplements in specific, as cannabis products are going to becoming more popular, we’re going to want more CBD and other cannabinoid combination products, like tinctures, tablets, capsules, liquids, and gummies, and some fuzzy lines on other chocolate things. We dive into all this as well as what can be brought forward and applied into the cannabis industry going forward.

Podium: Communication for the Cannabis Convenience EconomyNCIA's Bethany Moore speaks with Cameron Wiseman, a Senior Account Executive at Podium. He has helped hundreds of retail business owners to improve their online reputation and help adapt to the convenience economy.Cameron finds enjoyment in helping others in his work and his community. Cameron lives in Utah with his wife and two kids and considers himself an outdoor enthusiast. Podium modernizes the way business happens locally with messaging tools designed to help local businesses get found, win more leads, centralize interactions, and receive payments via text. Today, more than 60,000 local businesses trust Podium’s award-winning interaction management platform to power over 7.5 million customer interactions every month.They discuss how using technology and software in the cannabis industry is to improve businesses in one way, shape, or another, from enterprise resource software behind the curtains of the business, to the marketing technology that’s reaching your customers.

Post Covid In Cannabis with Kim Stuck of Allay Consulting. Kim Stuck is the founder and CEO of Allay Consulting, a compliance strategy, and services provider serving the hemp and cannabis industries nationwide. SPreviously, Ms. Stuck held a pioneering role as the nation’s first cannabis and hemp specialist for a major metropolitan public health authority. During her tenure with the City of Denver, home to hundreds of cannabis businesses, she worked as an investigator covering cultivation, manufacturing, and retail. Allay Consulting serves the hemp and cannabis industries to ensure regulatory compliance across all operations to develop customized strategies and avoid compliance pitfalls. We talk about some lessons learned in her realm from going through COVID-19 and all its uncertainty for almost a year. 10+ months of navigating and pivoting and being quick on your feet for clients. We discuss what kinds of changes and adjustments and challenges Kim has seen and experienced throughout all this and what she is doing. We also look to a world Post COVID where there is somewhat less of a global emergency and look to the future and maybe pick up where we left off before the world got thrown into complete uncertainty and many things put to a halt. Really we talk about where are we going once we “reopen the gates”.

Cannabis In The Media with Jimmy Young of Pro Cannabis Media. A native of Newton Massachusetts and a 1979 graduate of Tufts University, Jimmy Young has over 40 years of experience in commercial television and radio. A former Emmy Award-winning Talk Show host for his sports talk show for kids on NECN in the 90’s, he is one of the rare professionals in that industry who has had success in front of the camera, in production, and in sales management. ​The founder of Pro Cannabis Media is the current host of In The Weeds with JimmyYoung. Pro Cannabis Media is dedicated to telling the true stories of the emerging cannabis economy and culture through the real voices of those leading the change.