NCIA’s Member Spotlight for the month of May takes us up to Arlington, Washington, to speak with Fitz Couhig, CEO of Pioneer Nuggets, an indoor craft agriculture company that supports the adult retail consumer industry for cannabis in Washington State.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Cannabis Cultivation
NCIA Member Since:
2014
How do you uniquely serve the cannabis industry?
We focus on the core competency of making a quality flower product for consumers. Focusing on a core competency and providing effective just-in-time inventory services are setting us apart. Our assembly-line work flow and perpetual production that supports our made-to-order inventory management system are unique as well.
Why should customers buy cannabis grown by Pioneer Nuggets?
Black Haze cannabis strain, grown by Pioneer Production and Processing, LLC
We serve consumers over the age of 21 that enjoy cannabis and visit an adult-use (+21) retail shop in the State of Washington. Adults should go with Pioneer Nuggets because they enjoy cannabis that is smooth and high in flavor profiles.
Can you give us some insight into the cannabis community in Washington, the challenges, upsides, and where you’d like to see it go?
The most unique challenge is being a wholesaler. No other taxed and traded system involves wholesaling and distribution, and we are required to do it without the help of any other organization. Serving retailers is what we do. We would like to see the industry move in the direction that allows retailers, processors, and producers to all thrive. We need tax reform and we need to be treated like normal businesses.
The Pioneer Nuggets team, based in Arlington, WA
How many employees do you have and how many customers do you serve?
We have 18 full-time employees and serve around 25 licensed retailers. It takes a lot of great people to continually make sensational products and provide excellent customer service.
Why did you join NCIA?
We joined NCIA for two reasons. One, the organization structure is well designed to develop a quality trade association for the cannabis industry we are a part of. Two, the team of people responsible for the NCIA and supporting its efforts and mission. We believe NCIA will succeed in creating the standards and forums industry professionals need, that our employees need, and that our organization needs.
Survey: Work and Well-Being in the Cannabis Industry – Participate by May 31
We need your help!
Researchers at Colorado State University are seeking participants in a confidential survey about work and well-being in the cannabis industry. If you work at a direct-to-plant organization in Colorado, you are eligible to participate! (e.g., budtenders, managers, grow facility workers, cannabinoid extractions, edibles manufacturing, etc.). All who participate will receive a $20 Amazon gift card as a ‘thank you’ for your time and efforts. The survey is completely confidential, and the results of the survey will be used to develop reports and training recommendations for the industry. Click below if you’d like to participate!
The researchers need as many responses as possible by May 31st, so please share this with anyone you know who is eligible to take the survey! This could be co-workers, friends, supervisors, subordinates, etc. Even if you’ve already completed our survey or if you aren’t eligible to take the survey, please share this information with people who might be.
NOTE: While we recognize the importance of health, safety, and well-being on a global scale (i.e., among industries and workers in other states and countries), we are focused only on Colorado in this study in order to have confidence in how we interpret the data – if we included other states and industries, there would be too much “noise” in the data to really know what we were seeing, given that this study is the first of its kind. Ideally, we will be able to conduct future projects that can examine and answer these questions in other industries as well.
Member Spotlight: A Therapeutic Alternative
For April’s Member Spotlight, we spoke with Kimberly Cargile, CEO of A Therapeutic Alternative, based in Sacramento, California. Kimberly and her team have a deep commitment to patient education and being active in shaping the future of medical cannabis.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Medical Cannabis Providers
NCIA Member Since:
2013
How do you uniquely serve the cannabis industry?
A Therapeutic Alternative’s patient-centered dispensary provides a variety of alternative healing therapies and lab-tested medicinal cannabis products to patients. Our patients have access to a range of complementary services, including yoga, Reiki, sound therapy, meditation, cranial sacral therapy, support groups, massage therapy, and acupressure. A Therapeutic Alternative is unique among dispensaries in California because we offer a holistic approach to treatment. We want to see patients heal, and we are dedicated to providing patients with natural therapies to use on their individual journeys. Lab testing medical cannabis is not required in California; however, we test all products with a third-party lab to ensure quality control. Products are tested for contaminants such as mold, mildew, bugs, pesticides, and solvents prior to being provided at A Therapeutic Alternative. We also test for the products’ cannabinoid percentages. This is very helpful to patients when they decide which strain to use. Because each cannabinoid produces differing pharmacological effects on the body, a product’s cannabinoid profile is extremely important.
Why should patients looking for medical cannabis services go to A Therapeutic Alternative?
A Therapeutic Alternative offers yoga, massage, Reiki, acupressure, and more.
A Therapeutic Alternative is a City of Sacramento permitted and regulated dispensary located in the medical district of Midtown. We are close to three major hospitals, the cancer center, doctors’ offices, and laboratories. We offer patients with immediate and long-term needs access to high quality service and products. Our outstanding service is due to the fact that we have hired a knowledgeable, experienced, and educated team. Together our team provides patients with support through diagnosis and treatment. A Therapeutic Alternative supplies a large variety of strains with varying cannabinoid profiles to cover a wide range of symptoms. We provide dried herbs, tinctures, topicals, edibles, capsules, concentrates, clones, and seeds. Our staff spends the time necessary with each patient to tailor a treatment plan for each individual.
Can you give us some insight into the medical cannabis community in Sacramento, where it’s been and where it’s headed?
It has taken a long time to make progress in Sacramento; however, the progress is great in respect to the rest of the state. The City of Sacramento’s staff, local patients, and advocates worked together to create a local ordinance regulating medical cannabis dispensaries. That process took about two years, starting in 2008 and finishing with a City Council vote in 2010. This allowed all 30 dispensaries to stay open and continue to operate through a stringent permitting process. A Therapeutic Alternative was the 5th dispensary in Sacramento to receive our final permit, a process that took nearly five years. There is a long road behind us and a long road ahead of us as we face state regulation legislation and adult-use or recreational use legalization initiatives in the next few years. Because we are operating in the capital of California, A Therapeutic Alternative has had a unique chance to have an impact on state legislation. We have given many tours to entities including state representatives, the Police Chiefs Association, California League of Cities and Counties, and the Board of Equalization. It is our goal to use our place in the capital to spread education about our industry’s and our patients’ needs.
Why did you join the team at A Therapeutic Alternative?
Kimberly Cargile, CEO of A Therapeutic Alternative
I have been working in the medical cannabis industry in California since 2003. When I graduated from Humboldt State University in 2006, I moved to Sacramento and took on my first job as the general manager at one of California’s first dispensaries, Capitol Wellness Collective. In 2007, I had an opportunity to work behind the camera interviewing medical cannabis patients for a documentary about the need for dispensaries. During that special time I spent with those patients, I realized that I had a responsibility to stand up and speak up for those who were too sick or too scared to do so for themselves. So, I decided to start volunteering for Americans for Safe Access and began organizing patients for City Council meetings, County Board of Supervisor meetings, Planning Commission meetings, State Senate and Assembly meetings, protests, and signature drives. In 2009, A Therapeutic Alternative opened up close to my house, and I joined the collective. Shortly thereafter I took on a consulting position to help the founders learn the ins and outs of managing a medical cannabis dispensary. I also started a yoga program at A Therapeutic Alternative for cancer patients, which I still teach to this day. In 2012, the founders asked me to join the board and take on a more active role in the dispensary. I am currently the CEO of A Therapeutic Alternative and enjoy my position managing the daily operations. Whenever I get stressed out or frustrated by the office work and politics, I go downstairs and spend time helping the patients. Talking with patients helps me to remember why I am doing it all and makes me thankful that I have the courage to help them access safe medical cannabis.
Why did you join NCIA?
When Aaron Smith told me he was going to fulfill the needs of our emerging industry by providing us with the National Cannabis Industry Association, I was thrilled. As we make progress throughout the nation, we need communication and education on multiple levels. We need it within our industry, between businesses, in order to set high standards and best operating practices. We also need it outside our industry with government, in order to make good laws protecting cannabis businesses and patients. The National Cannabis Industry Association does just that.
Nominations Open for NCIA Board of Directors Election
The National Cannabis Industry Association’s annual board election begins April 27. As the only national trade association for the cannabis industry, NCIA prides itself on the democratic system it employs to select the Board of Directors who are tasked with overseeing the organization’s budget and strategic plan as well as acting as ambassadors for the association. Board members also support NCIA and the NCIA-PAC through financial contributions and member recruitment.
Any current Sustaining NCIA member may run for a seat on the board with the nomination of any other member. Nominations for board candidates are being accepted through this online form until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 17.
NCIA’s Board of Directors is made up of 20 elected positions and the executive director, who reports to the entire board. Elected members serve two-year terms and elections are staggered with 11 of the 20 seats open this year. A list of current board members is available online.
The online ballot will open to members from Monday, April 27 until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 16. NCIA utilizes a weighted voting system. Each member business can cast one vote. That vote is then weighted according to membership status. A Sponsoring member’s vote carries twice the weight of a basic member’s vote and a Sustaining member is weighted at five times that of a basic member.
If you are not yet a member of your industry’s trade association but want to participate in the election as either a voter or candidate, contact NCIA’s Bethany Moore at bethany@thecannabisindustry.org or (888) 683-5650, ext. 17. We are also happy to answer any questions you have about the election or upgrade your membership so your vote will carry more influence.
More information about the board election, including a voter guide with candidate information, will be made available to our membership by e-mail in the weeks ahead.
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