Peter Schweda is Co-founder and Master Grower for Nature’s Grace & Wellness in IL/District 14 and obtained a successful license for cultivation in Illinois. Peter has been in the green and cannabis industries for over 20 years. He has vast experience in commercial greenhousing and outdoor nurseries/tree farming operations.
Rachel K. Gillette is an attorney based in the Denver-Boulder area of Colorado and she currently serves as the Executive Director of Colorado NORML. A major part of Rachel’s practice is focused on advocating on behalf of medical marijuana patients and caregivers, marijuana consumers, and the representation of state and locally licensed medical and recreational marijuana businesses and their employees throughout Colorado. Since founding her practice in 2010, Rachel has assisted numerous marijuana businesses throughout the complicated local and state business licensing processes. Rachel also represents taxpayers before the Collections, Appeals, and Examination divisions of the Internal Revenue Service, including marijuana business taxpayers facing tremendous tax challenges due to the IRS’s application of 280E, and those marijuana businesses under state, local, or federal tax audit. Rachel is highly involved in the political discussion surrounding the development of Colorado’s new regulatory model of cannabis legalization under Amendment 64, passed by 55% of Colorado voters in 2012. She is committed to ending the prohibition of cannabis at the national level and ensuring state licensed and legal marijuana businesses are fairly taxed and regulated.
Randy Clark is the Vice President of Business Development at BioTrack THC and is responsible for the overall direction of the sales department that has experienced exponential growth over the last year. BioTrackTHC provides “seed to sale” inventory tracking and point of sale software specifically designed for the cannabis industry and is currently deployed in hundreds of locations in 8 states DC and Canada. Randy started his career as a US Marine serving in Desert Storm and Somalia and then spent the majority of his career in the semiconductor industry managing and growing territories exceeding $50 million in revenue.
A lifelong Portland resident, Earl Blumenauer was first elected to public office in 1972 and has served in Congress since 1996. Congressman Blumenauer is a long-time supporter of marijuana policy reform and, in 2013, was awarded NCIA’s inaugural Legislative Leadership Award.
Gabriel Bankier Plotkin is a partner at Miller Shakman & Beem LLP, a litigation firm in Chicago. A former federal public defender, Gabe has significant experience representing clients in federal criminal matters. He also represents a wide variety of clients in commercial disputes in both state and federal court, including in litigation involving contract disputes, corporate and partnership disputes, fraud, and RICO allegations. In addition, Gabe has advised numerous lawyers and law firms on issues of ethics and malpractice. Gabe is a graduate of Yale Law School and currently teaches a clinical course on criminal justice at the University of Chicago Law School.
Representative Lou Lang (D) was appointed to the Illinois House in 1987 for the 16th District, and has served Skokie and parts of other northwest suburbs of Chicago since. In 2013, Representative Lang sponsored House Bill 1, creating the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program.
Robert Hunt has more than 15 years of experience in the cannabis industry as an attorney, a consultant, and a serial entrepreneur. Robert is currently a Partner, and the Lead Industry Executive of Tuatara Capital. In this role Mr. Hunt is responsible for leading Tuatara’s deal generation efforts, operational due diligence, and execution of new investments.
Robert is an active attorney in the State of Colorado and was also the founder of Consult Canna, a cannabis consulting firm based in Colorado, where he worked as a professional consultant to many dispensary owners and license seekers in multiple jurisdictions to help navigate a rapidly changing legal landscape. Previously, as the owner and CEO of Rocky Mountain Hydroponics in Colorado, and Evergreen Garden Centers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, Rob tailored his company to specialize in Organic and Hydroponic growing methodology to help maximize yields at commercial cultivation centers. Over the course of four years, Mr. Hunt grew his business from one location to five and significantly increased revenue over each year of leadership, building it to four million dollars in annual revenue before selling the business to GrowLife, Inc. where he served as both the President of the retail division and a director until the early part of 2014.
As an expert in and an advocate for the cannabis industry, Mr. Hunt has been a panelist for the National cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the Medical Marijuana Business Journal’s annual national summit and the Weedstock National Conference. He has been interviewed by: Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Men’s Health, The Boston Business Journal, NBC News, ABC News, The Boston Herald, MMJ Business Daily, CNN Money, Businessweek, Mainstreet, Ozy, The cannabis Financial Network as well as numerous other publications and media outlets. He has authored articles for publications as diverse as Hydrolife Magazine, Urban Garden and the Medical Marijuana Business Daily (MMBD). He is often quoted in articles as a professional in both the hydroponics and the medical cannabis industry, including publications such as: The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Boston Business Journal, CannaBusiness Magazine, The Phoenix and Wicked Local.
Mr. Hunt was formerly the Chairman of the Coalition for Responsible Patient Care, based in MA, where he spearheaded the initiative to help develop and implement the fledgling medical cannabis market in the Commonwealth. He was the principal developer of cannabis.org, a website focused on changing the scheduling of cannabis away from being a schedule I drug on the Federal Government’s list of controlled substances. Rob still authors all of the written commentary on the cannabis.orgFacebook page where he has an audience of close to 20,000 readers.
Mr. Hunt graduated Suffolk University Law School in 2007 where in his final year he completed a semester long independent study about the disparity between the Federal classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug while simultaneously 13 U.S. States had medicinal cannabis laws on their books. Rob graduated with a B.A. from the University of Vermont in 2003 where he was the Speaker of the Student Senate and active in fighting against laws that prevented students with prior arrests for drug possession from being able to obtain Federally-backed student loans.
Rob Kampia co-founded the Marijuana Policy Project in 1995 and has served as its executive director ever since. Rob is the architect of most of the state-level marijuana laws that have been enacted in the United States since 2000. Most importantly, MPP legalized marijuana in Colorado in 2012. As a result, Colorado has the best marijuana law in the world. MPP also decriminalized marijuana possession via a ballot initiative in Massachusetts in 2008. Since then, MPP passed similar laws through the Rhode Island and Vermont legislatures.
Hoban & Feola is Colorado’s original canna-business law firm (since 2008). Bob Hoban is an AV® Preeminent™ rated attorney and seasoned full-service commercial practitioner – serving both THC and CBD business models. Bob is recognized as one of the leading commercial cannabis practitioners nationwide; representing private and publicly held clients in numerous states and abroad. He was identified as one of the, “Five Pot Lawyers to Watch in 2015” by MarijuanaStocks.com.
Bob has litigated nearly every aspect of Colorado’s Marijuana Code and closed over 300 marijuana-related business transactions across the country. Marijuana and hemp-based business operations, related litigation and regulatory counsel are a specialty.
He is also a professor at the University of Denver in the Law and Society Program and regularly instructs regarding government regulations, public policy and research-based policy courses. These courses have been marijuana-policy-centric. In 2014, Bob led a University-sanctioned research practicum concerning the efficacy of marijuana regulation; the first of its kind in the U.S. He is teaching an international travel course in Uruguay this summer concerning the cannabis regulatory framework. Furthermore, Bob has drafted more than 30 bills for the Colorado General Assembly (eminent domain/land use, hemp/marijuana and transportation).
Ryan Hurley is a partner at Rose Law Group in Scottsdale, AZ and heads up the firm’s Medical Marijuana Practice Group. He has a background in land use and zoning law, environmental and water issues and a wide variety of regulatory compliance and administrative law issues. Ryan and the MMJ Practice Group assist clients with all aspects of AZ’s MMJ law including employment and criminal issues but primarily focus on the business of MMJ and helping clients apply for and secure dispensary licenses from the AZ Department of Health Services. Mr. Hurley has been working on AZ’s MMJ law even before it was passed and had significant input on the ultimate Rules that AZDHS developed. He is a frequent presenter at MMJ seminars and conferences throughout the West and is a tireless advocate for AZ MMJ in myriad interviews and appearances on AZ tv and radio. Ryan and Rose Law Group have been committed to the industry from day one and remain the go-to attorneys for all MMJ needs in AZ. Rose Law Group is a Founding Member of the National Cannabis Industry Association.
Sarah Kaiman has 15 years of experience providing environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) program support in a variety of work environments, including manufacturing, laboratory research, cleanup of contaminated sites, transportation projects, federal government facilities, and the marijuana industry. She has a passion for developing and implementing continual improvement programs aimed at improving environmental sustainability and worker health and wellness. Sarah is passionate about seeing marijuana infused product (MIP) manufacturers be industry leaders and gain competitive edge by achieving the healthiest and most environmentally-friendly workplaces possible. Sarah has a BS in environmental health from Colorado State University and a M.B.A from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Scott is a Principal with GRÜN Strategic LLC, a leading medical marijuana public affairs consulting firm, with offices in Boston and San Francisco. Scott has spent his career focused on public relations, food and farming, communications, non-profit management, and strategic development issues. His Santa Cruz-based fresh produce buying brokerage and consulting firm, Hawkins Associates, was a primary contributor to the growth of the organic produce industry in its formative stages during the 1980s and 1990s. He eventually sold the company to Whole Foods Market. He has devoted much time to community health care issues, volunteering as a hospice bedside and grief support volunteer for over a decade. Scott was a member of the NCIA Board of Directors from 2011 until 2013, and GRÜN Strategic is a Sustaining Member.
Scott J. Van Rixel is the Founder and CEO of Bhang Chocolate Company and PURECBD Inc. He has been involved in the wholesale manufacturing of food products for over 20 years. Scott is a Certified Chef d’Cuisine and a Master Chocolatier. He has been proud to serve on several boards for the betterment of the cannabis Industry, including a current term with NCIA. Bhang Chocolates has raised the bar in the cannabis edibles category since being founded in 2010. They are proud to be the first company in history to have acquired full product liability insurance on a consumable containing cannabis. Their products are currently available through five different states and two countries. PURECBD Inc. is their newest venture, focusing principally on hemp and high-CBD product development. Bhang has been a proud member of NCIA since its inception and has been honored to sponsor several NCIA events.
Scott Proctor has been involved in the printing and graphic arts world for more than 30 years. He is a rare commodity in printing, combining extensive background in all aspects of print production with sales leadership. Throughout his career, Scott has pushed the envelope by working with bleeding- edge technologies in the printing arena, then finding ways to incorporate them into the client experience by adapting and exceeding all expectations.
Most recently, he joined Lightning Labels – a division of Cenveo, a printing industry leader that operates more than 50 print manufacturing locations throughout North America and Canada. Pooling these resources, he services edibles and dispensary clients with a diversified array of printing solutions. Scott is laser-focused on the rapidly changing cannabis business world. He applies expertise with new technology to the ever-evolving labeling and packaging needs of cannabis clients—finding practical, cost-effective and efficient solutions that meet demanding deadlines. He works hard to create true partnerships that strengthen long-term trust and loyalty in this fast-changing industry.
Scott Zeramby is a well-known consultant in the medical cannabis industry with more than 30 years of experience in organic horticultural methods. He is the owner of Mendocino Agricultural Products LLC (mendoag.com) a manufacturer of potting mixes and fertilizers, and a retail garden store, Dirt Cheap Garden Supply, both based in Mendocino County, California. He is also a partner in the consulting group EntityX, Inc., whose clients are among the few companies that won permits for medical cannabis production and processing facilities in Connecticut and Illinois.
Scott’s 2011 collaborative work with Nobel Laureate, Dr. Evan Mills, scientifically quantified indoor cannabis production methods and the resulting carbon footprint. This peer reviewed study, “Energy Up In Smoke” has been reprinted in articles featured in hundreds of newspapers including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, The Huffington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, MSNBC, Forbes, CNN Money and many others. Scott has also been interviewed on the subject of cannabis production methods in numerous radio programs in both the US and Canada, including KCBS Radio, The Rutherford Report and SeaChange Radio as well as a number of NPR affiliated stations. Scott continues to work closely with policy makers in California, Colorado and Washington State in order to help craft public policies that encourage cannabis growers to use the most environmentally sustainable and economically efficient agriculture methods in order to keep cannabis production green and clean.
Sean T. McAllister is the founding partner of McAllister Law Office, and along with his team of six other lawyers, the firm focuses their practice on marijuana industry work. The Firm handles a myriad of legal issues on behalf of its marijuana industry clients all across the country, but specifically in Colorado, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Maryland, Arizona, California, and Illinois.
Sean and his Firm’s practice focuses on all aspects of marijuana law including, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, business transactions, real estate, civil litigation, and marijuana criminal defense matters. In Sean’s role as counsel to dispensaries, he has sued state and local regulators over enforcement actions, litigated pesticide standards for marijuana grows, negotiated settlements to rules violations allegations, and drafted licensing/endorsement agreements with celebrity personalities. Sean has also represented several dispensary owners and employees charged or accused of criminal violations in state and federal court. He also played integral role in assisting in the drafting of the 2012 marijuana legalization initiative Amendment 64, which was ultimately approved by the voters of Colorado in November 2012. From 2000 to 2003, Sean served as an Assistant Attorney General with the state of Colorado. Sean is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law, class of 1999.
Richard “Tick” Segerblom was first elected to the Nevada Assembly to represent Assembly District 9 in 2006, and was elected to the Nevada State Senate in 2012 to represent Senate District 3. Tick is also a Las Vegas employment lawyer, a Nevada native, and a fourth generation Nevada representative.
Shabnam Malek is a partner at Brand & Branch LLP and President and Executive Director of the National Cannabis Bar Association. She advises clients on domestic and international trademark clearance, rights, registration, and enforcement. She also represents clients in disputes, develops worldwide expansion strategies, and negotiates and drafts agreements, including settlement agreements, co-existence agreements, trademark license agreements, and interstate license agreements. In addition to trademark law, Shabnam practices promotions law, privacy law, and all things internet.
Shabnam’s professional affiliations include the International Trademark Association and California Bar Association, where she serves on committees, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Queen’s Bench. She regularly speaks about intellectual property issues pertaining to the cannabis industry, and co-authored an article title, “Likelihood of Confusion – Three Areas of Uncertainty in Trademark Law,” IP Litigator, September/October 2010. Shabnam has been named a Northern California Rising Star three years in a row by Super Lawyers Magazine.
Shayne Lynn founded the non-profit Champlain Valley Dispensary (CVD), Inc. in 2011. He assembled a community network of local government representatives and business leaders to help position and finance CVD. The State of Vermont awarded its first medical marijuana license to CVD in 2012. Mr. Lynn designed, sourced, and managed the construction of CVD’s cultivation facility. Mr. Lynn has provided recommendations and public testimony to state regulators in Vermont for the past four years. He now serves as both executive director and cultivation director for CVD. Mr. Lynn was awarded another license, the fourth and final dispensary license from the State of Vermont. Mr. Lynn opened Southern Vermont Wellness, Inc. in Brattleboro on February 20, 2014.
Shea Gunther serves as Publisher and Executive Editor of 4Front Publishing. Before joining 4Front, Shea worked as a writer for the Mother Nature Network, the top environmental news site on the internet, and as a media and social marketing consultant. He has worked as an entrepreneur for most of his career, starting with Zoom Culture, a video-centered dotcom that he founded in 1999 that raised $10 million in venture capital, as well as Renewable Choice Energy, now one of the leading providers of wind power in the country. Shea is the executive producer of “Marijuana Today,” the top business and politics podcast covering the legal marijuana industry. He founded the very first chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in 1998 at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
A life-long tinkerer, Stephen Keen salvaged his first 4-wheeler at 7 years old. Keen attended Texas State Technical College, where he learned the ins and outs of complex mechanical systems. In 2003, he began his entrepreneurial career with a successful construction business remodeling existing and building new commercial and residential properties. In 2007, Keen co-founded Hydro Innovations with one goal: to improve methodology and energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture. To this end, Keen developed an impressive IP portfolio and manufactured many unique products that have set a new standard for climate efficiency in this market.
As a 14 year veteran of the industry, Keen has gained unique expertise as a controlled environment agriculturalist. He has served as the chief cultivation expert for one of Colorado’s largest MMC operations and has been published in various prestigious industry magazines including Max Yield and Urban Garden. Keen’s mechanical acumen, vast construction experience, and intimate knowledge of indoor agriculture uniquely qualifies him as Surna’s VP of Research and Development.
Steve DeAngelo has almost four decades of activism and advocacy in the cannabis reform movement. In 1998 Steve played a key leadership role in the passage of Washington D.C.’s medical cannabis initiative, Initiative 59. In October 2006, Steve launched Harborside Health Center (HHC) to bring a new model of professionalism and integrity to the industry. Harborside quickly gained recognition for its free holistic care clinic, laboratory tested medicine, low-income care package program, and wide array of other patient services. In 2007 Steve was involved the creation and development of Steep Hill Labs, California’s premier medical cannabis analysis laboratory, and Steve is the founder of the Arcview Group investor network. Harborside Health Center is a Sustaining Member of NCIA and Steve is a member of the Board of Directors.
Steve Fox, Esq., director of VS Strategies and of counsel at Vicente Sederberg LLC, is one of the leading figures in the movement to create a legal, regulated marijuana market in the United States. Since 2002, he has been deeply involved in marijuana-related lobbying, ballot initiatives, and communications work. He is a co-founder of the National Cannabis Industry Association, which represents more than 800 state-legal businesses, and serves as a strategic advisor to the organization. While at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) from 2002-2005 and 2009-2013, Steve lobbied Congress and guided numerous ballot initiative campaigns, including the Amendment 64 campaign in Colorado, which made marijuana legal for all adults. He also guided a lobbying team through the Amendment 64 implementation process. In 2005, Steve conceptualized and co-founded Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) in Colorado for the express purpose of educating the public about the fact that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. The goal, eventually realized, was to change the mindset of voters in order to make marijuana legal through a ballot initiative. He is the co-author of Marijuana is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009, 2013), which is based on the strategy that proved successful in Colorado.
Steve White has been practicing law in his native Arizona since 1999. In 2005 he founded White Berberian PLC and has achieved an AV rating from his peers, representing the highest rating in legal ability and ethics. He successfully litigated important medical marijuana matters including challenges to Maricopa County’s zoning ordinance and Arizona Department of Health Services’ medical marijuana dispensary license renewals rule. Steve is a Board Member of Harvest of Tempe, a successful medical marijuana dispensary in Tempe, Arizona. Steve’s oversight of the dispensary includes both the dispensary and cultivation facility. Steve graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State’s Honors College with a degree in political science and attended law school at Washington and Lee School of Law.
Susan has been an entrepreneur since 1972. This includes owning 5 restaurants, an international and private alternative healing practice, a health and wellness center, being a practicing minister and performing sacred ceremonies including weddings, christenings & memorials, opening a natural insecticide company, achieving top national leadership status in an international health care company, engaging in small business consulting, and speaking in numerous occasions on the radio and national seminars & workshops. Susan is committed to helping people heal in a way that works for them. Most importantly she currently operates the oldest and the first-cleared and compliant marijuana harvest and trim company, Green Mountain Harvest. Green Mountain Harvest is based in Colorado and has been open and serving marijuana businesses nationally since 2010. Susan is a national expert on harvesting and the harvesting business. Susan is committed to helping people heal in a way that works for them.
Suzanne Harank, Co-Founder and CEO of MRM Systems, is a cannabis industry expert and pioneer in the field of regulatory compliance. Nicholas King, Co-Founder and CCO, and Suzanne were the first consultants in the world to perform on-site field compliance assessments in 2011 within the regulated cannabis industry. Suzanne has testified as a compliance consultant at Marijuana Enforcement Division court hearings. She ran the day-to-day operations of a dispensary and cultivation facilities and ensured all compliance requirements were properly implemented, updated, and maintained.
As one of the pioneer owner/operators of a premier Colorado dispensary, Alpine Herbal Wellness, in 2009, Suzanne understands the critical importance and complexities of ensuring full and maintained compliance, at all times, to protect your business investment. Suzanne has over 33 years experience in operational and executive business management, leadership, human resources, and business ownership prior to entering the cannabis industry. She is a published author and a professional business and life coach.
Taylor West is the deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. She has spent more than a decade in communications and leadership positions in the political, policy, nonprofit, and business arenas. Taylor came to Denver after four years in Washington, D.C., where she worked first as a strategist for a variety of policy and regulatory reform efforts, and then as communications director for National Journal, a highly respected national media organization. She is also a veteran of several high-profile political campaigns and has appeared as a commentator on MSNBC, Fox News, and CNBC. Taylor first became involved in drug policy reform 15 years ago with an internship at DRCNet, now known as StoptheDrugWar.org.
Terry Anderson graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Mechanical Engineering. Anderson
Started Omni Tech Corp in 1978 as manufacturers representative. In 1983 Terry designed and sold PC security enclosures for those fearing theft of their PC’s. In 1986 he assembled and sold desktop PC’s. Later, in 2000, Terry started designing and selling custom computing engines to drive an OEM’s equipment with proprietary software. Once these divisions reached their peak they were sold off and another was started. Terry has received many awards, such as: In 1995, Terry was the Entrepreneur of the Year from Wisconsin, and in 1996, Terry was the Small Businessman of the Year from Wi and No. 2 in the nation for the U.S. Small Business Association.
Tim Hochman has spent the last 17 years working in Information Technology in a variety of roles that range from Outsourced CTO to Network and Systems Engineering. He founded Lark Information Technology in 2003 in response to the demand in for quality service providers in the Denver Metro area. Tim has focused a large part of Lark’s workload around privacy and compliance (PCI, SEC, HIPAA) and has drafted the corresponding Information Security Policies for these clients. As CEO of Lark he enjoys working in the junction of business and technology strategy and observing the positive effect it has on companies when these elements are in harmony. Tim also has been performing as a professional bassist for 20 years. He plays with several local bands and supports many national acts when they are on tour in Colorado.
Tony Gallo is the Senior Director of Sapphire Protection with over 30 years experience in the Security, Audit, Safety, and Risk/Emergency Management fields. Tony has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University and is a member of National Cannabis Industry Association, Americans for Safe Access, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Business Association and the American Society for Industrial Security.
Tony is a published author on cannabis security and has spoken at various cannabis business conferences across the United States. Tony is considered one of the leading authorities in cannabis and financial loan service retail loss prevention, armed robberies, smash and grabs, and burglary investigations.
This site uses cookies. By using this site or closing this notice, you agree to the use of cookies and our privacy policy.