Cannabis Compliance Made Easy: Recent Episodes
Dede
Follow along as ProCanna Co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins hosts experts on a monthly basis to review a wide range of topics related to the cannabis industry, the regulatory landscape, and compliance best practices. For cannabis operators, license applicants and brands, maintaining compliant operations is a constant struggle. Navigating the complex matrix of local, state, and federal regulations can be a challenging, mind-numbing experience. Yet in the highly-regulated environment of cannabis, compliance is critical to building sustainable businesses.Tune in to learn more about how ProCanna is Cannabis Compliance Made Easy!
Building a successful cannabis business is hard. Learn from one of the best: Evan Kajander from Apogee Gardens, a vertical operator located in Montana. Listen to how he started his business and grew it into the profitable operation that it is. Evan shares secrets including how he raised money for his indoor grow, extraction, production and retail facilities and his strategy behind the strains he grows and products he manufactures and sells. He also shares stories about a few of the challenges he faced and how he overcame them.
Hate deficiencies? This one’s for you.
ProCanna USA’s Founder, Dede Perkins, talks with Mike Trowbridge, founder and CEO of Compliance Playbook, former compliance director for Mohave Cannabis, and current compliance consultant for JARS Cannabis, as they share best practice ways to 1) avoid deficiency notices, 2) respond when you receive them, and 3) ensure they don’t reoccur.
You’ll learn how to:
- Develop a proactive, comprehensive compliance plan that prioritizes highest-risk operations
- Prepare for all types of inspections and NOT scramble when an inspector comes knocking
- Use public data to shape and update your compliance plan and response
- Use a 3-step process to respond to deficiencies:
- Temporary plan to fix issue
- Permanent plan to fix issue
- Monitoring system to prevent issue from reoccurring
Money is tight most everywhere right now, but especially in the legal cannabis industry. So how does a legal operator maintain compliance in the face of compressed pricing, high tax rates, and low profit margins?
Join ProCanna USA’s Founder, Dede Perkins, talking with Amber D. Lengacher, CEO and founder of Purple Circle Consulting Services, former attorney at Vicente Sederberg and Licensing Manager—and later Corporate Counsel—for Trulieve Cannabis Corp., one of the top five multi-state cannabis operators in the industry, as they talk about cannabis compliance on a budget.
Learn how to:
- Set up a cost-effective cannabis compliance program
- Determine the minimum number of SOPs you must develop, implement, and maintain to satisfy compliance requirements
- At a minimum, control the top five regulatory risks no matter which state or states you operate in
- Keep up to date and adapt to changing rules and regulations
- Develop, implement, and maintain an inspection readiness program in your cannabis facility – and make sure everyone is on board
ProCanna USA's Dede Perkins and guest Brad Spirrison discuss the Burn 'Em Plan--an economic development initiative inspired by Daniel Burnham’s initiative to rebuild Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire.
They discuss the key to the successful future expansion of the cannabis industry: normalizing relationships between licensed cannabis operators and "canna-curious" corporations and financial services institutions who are scoping out the industry.
The experts also discuss how and why mainstream corporations that develop relationships with cannabis industry leaders will be better positioned to capture market share when laws change.
Economic development initiatives like Grown In's Burn 'Em Plan provide opportunities for mainstream corporations to engage with industry leaders along with civic, governmental, and higher education institutions. The speakers explain how this is the key to solving industry problems--while also initiating and nurturing long-term professional relationships.
Interested in learning more or getting involved with the Burn 'Em plan? Listen to this episode for more information!
It’s a tough world out there right now. Cannabis operators need to trim costs wherever possible to increase profitability and stay competitive.
Lowering energy costs is a sure-fire way to improve your facility’s bottom line.
ProCanna USA’s Founder, Dede Perkins, talks with Sam Milton, energy and sustainability expert from Enlighten Your Grow, a program of Climate Resources Group.
Sam Milton has decades of experience helping organizations and companies reduce their energy and environmental footprint. Since 2018, he has worked with dozens of cannabis companies to capture millions of dollars of energy utility and energy efficiency dollars and advocated on their behalf before many utilities.
If you fall into one of the six categories below, this webinar is for you:
✔️ New or existing operators interested in pursuing maximum energy performance in their cultivation facilities;
✔️ New or existing operators looking to reduce their capital expenses via financial incentives, such as utility energy efficiency rebates;
✔️ Early-stage operators interested in developing a solid business case for sustainability to their investors and stakeholders;
✔️ Cultivation facility owners in permitting and needing to share a sustainability plan with their internal teams and/or relevant permitting authorities;
✔️ New or existing operators needing to comply with state or local energy and environmental regulations or reporting requirements; and/or
✔️ Publicly listed companies needing to develop and execute a plan to comply with ESG reporting requirements.
Take a listen and leave with 5 action steps to reduce energy expenses in your facility!
Cannabis is an evolving industry. State legislators and cannabis regulators revise existing rules and add new ones. States with medical programs add adult-use cannabis programs and update regulations accordingly. Regulators leave and others take their place, sometimes changing the ways regulations are interpreted and enforced.
How do you manage compliance when the rules are a moving target?
ProCanna USA’s Founder, Dede Perkins, talks with Gabe Jertberg, regional director of compliance for one of Missouri’s largest vertical cannabis operators, as they share tips to help you navigate cannabis compliance in an unclear and/or shifting regulatory environment.
Learn best-practice ways to:
- Communicate with your regulators, both proactively and in response to deficiency notices or fines
- Find standards and frameworks that satisfy regulators and guide your compliance program and facility operations
- Mine disciplinary actions and secondary information sources for operational guidance
- Stay update to-date with changing regulations and state guidance documents
- Figure out which “hot button” items regulators pay particular attention to so you can evaluate and prioritize compliance risk in each area of your operation
**Are you considering opening a cannabis consumption lounge in your market? Struggling with where to start?
Don't worry; we've got an all-star cast of experts to help break it all down!**
In this episode, our host, Dede Perkins is joined by Sara Stewart, Josh Rembusch, and Andrew Meiure to discuss cannabis consumption lounges. The experts examine the current and future lounge landscape, possible challenges you may face, and tips and tricks for starting your own cannabis consumption lounge in 2024.
ProCanna's co-founder and CEO, Dede Perkins, is joined by Chris Budd from Isolocity QMS. Chris began working in corporate quality systems, then earned his MBA from the Rottman School of Management at the University of Toronto while launching his consulting practice: CJB Consulting Limited. Chris no works at Isolosity, which is a software used worldwide that eliminates paper and labor costs associated with quality compliance.
They explore good manufacturing practices (GMP) and why it is so important in the US cannabis industry, the five main components of GMP, the primary steps one should take when implementing good documentation practices, and measures to ensure a clean facility and good employee hygiene.
Dede and Chris speak about traceability in kappa for adverse events and why are they important, and finally, how one can become GMP certified.
ProCanna's co-founder and CEO, Dede Perkins, sits down with Jeremy Johnson--a cannabis industry expert. They chat about cannabis industry opportunities and complications in New York and the delivery and prepayment regulations that follow.
If you are familiar with selling in the cannabis industry, you may be asking yourself: How do I deliver my product safely, legally, and cost-effectively?
Dede and Jeremy dive into payment options in New York, ACH proprietary credit options and the limits that come with them, last-mile delivery and compliance, and responsibility allocation in cannabis delivery.
Dede Perkins, co-founder and the CEO of ProCanna, will be speaking with Ben Allmand, a cannabis regulatory and operations leader, who has worked in cannabis compliance since 2017, and was most recently the Senior Vice President of Compliance at Cresco Labs.
The two experts will be discussing & diving into the following topics:
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Understanding the difference between the concepts of little “c” versus big “C” compliance
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Understanding how the compliance team can best support the efforts of frontline workers to maintain day-to-day compliance with regulatory requirements as well as brand standards
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Determining and quantifying true risk using a risk rating tool
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Determining regulatory requirements and how they affect operational procedures and goals
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Establishing a foundational roadmap and partnerships with operational risk owners to drive improvement in their “keep me up at night” areas
Eric Schneider, managing director of AlphaRoot, a cannabis insurance brokerage firm licensed in all 50 U.S. states, joins us to talk about the types of insurance both new and established cannabis businesses should consider, how to properly structure an insurance program based on your company’s organizational structure, and how to evaluate whether your existing insurance program will protect your business as you expand into new markets.
What you’ll learn:
• How to properly insure your cannabis business
• Things to consider when you raise capital and are looking to expand
• How to structure a cannabis insurance program to support growth into new markets
• How to structure a cannabis insurance program when looking to expand vertically or horizontally
• How to consolidate insurance policies to minimize risk and expense while maximizing coverage and growth opportunities
In this two part event- Dede Perkins, co-founder and the CEO of ProCanna, will be speaking with Ben Allmand, a cannabis regulatory and operations leader, who has worked in cannabis compliance since 2017, and was most recently the Senior Vice President of Compliance at Cresco Labs.
The two experts will be discussing & diving into the following topics:
-
Understanding the difference between the concepts of little “c” versus big “C” compliance
-
Understanding how the compliance team can best support the efforts of frontline workers to maintain day-to-day compliance with regulatory requirements as well as brand standards
-
Determining and quantifying true risk using a risk rating tool
-
Determining regulatory requirements and how they affect operational procedures and goals
-
Establishing a foundational roadmap and partnerships with operational risk owners to drive improvement in their “keep me up at night” areas
Ask cannabis operators about industry challenges, and you’ll likely hear a litany of frustrations surrounding cannabis banking. Without federal legalization, banking continues to be a major obstacle for cannabis operators and entrepreneurs.
If you’re a new cannabis operator looking for guidance on how to tackle cannabis banking, or if you’re an established cannabis operator looking to streamline your company’s banking process, this event is for you.
Cannabis banking executive, Peter Su, joins us to unpack some of the most common banking challenges and provide solutions to streamline cannabis banking. Participants will to learn what a cannabis business should do to be the type of customer banking organizations (those that work with cannabis businesses anyway) are willing to work with.
So, you think you know what’s in your cannabis - or do you? With the rise of “lab shopping” practices, it’s possible that the products you purchase at dispensaries aren’t all they claim to be.
Josh Smith, President of Vardera Inc (Telic Labs LLC & ABKO Labs LLC), joins us to discuss what consumers and cannabis operators alike need to know about less-than-ethical cannabis testing labs, how to avoid them, and how we can all do our part to combat “lab shopping” in the cannabis industry.
What You’ll Learn:
- What “lab shopping is” and what dangers it poses to consumers and operators
- Why lab testing and transparency is important to the cannabis industry overall
- How cannabis retailers can ensure the best testing process possible for the
products they bring to market
Are you a cannabis cultivator and looking to level up your cultivation operations?
We're stoked to have Mike Bruno from Golden Ocean Solutions on our next LinkedIn live.
Mike Bruno is a 17 year industry veteran and the founder and principal consultant at Golden Ocean Solutions. His integrative approach to cannabis consulting is about bringing together proprietary cultivation instruction, design and market analysis that bridges the demands of the business owner, team members, consumer and the plant. The main goal of Golden Ocean Solutions is to make your plants and your bottom line happier.
What we will cover:
1. 5 expert approved cultivation practices
2. Improving and Streamlining your Seed-to-Sale Pipeline
3. Consider your COGS
4. Prioritize Employee Education in the “art” of cannabis cultivation
5. Developing a Business Model That Meets Your Needs
6. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel…Yet
BriAnne Ramsay is an industry veteran who oversaw and scaled a Denver based vertically integrated cannabis operation, previously served as a technology compliance officer, and currently the owner of two cannabis consulting firms. She’s known for building stronger compliance teams with her proven Launch Package method, supporting technology solutions in METRC API development, and accelerating the growth of cannabis consultants businesses through her online business accelerator.
We will cover:
1. How to implement a data-driven training plan to decrease employee turn over and promote standardization throughout the business.
2. Playbooks vs SOPs, what’s the difference? Why does it matter? And the major areas I see as a compliance officer that are missing in operations.
3. Internal auditors or third-party audits - and why they are important
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Adam Benko and Brian Mayfield.
Tired of wasting time and money looking for the proper technology partner for your cannabis business?
Between delivery, POS, HR, compliance, CRMs, customer rewards programs, and more, there are so many solutions to consider.
Adam and Brian are co-founders of the cannabis technology consulting company, MJstack. They provide cannabis operators with a complimentary audit and technology vendor evaluations to ensure operators build efficient and productive technology stacks to operate their cannabis business.
In today’s episode, Dede and her guests will discuss 6 Ways to Streamline your Cannabis Technology Vendor Evaluations.
Cannabis operators will learn:
-What an ideal tech stack looks like for specific cannabis license types: cultivation, manufacturing/processing, retail/dispensary, transport/delivery
-The expected average cost of the ideal tech stack for each license type
-Questions to ask prospective technology vendors about their solutions
-How to evaluate which solutions will work best for their company
-How to ensure the technology solutions complement one another
-All about contracts - what works and what to look out for
-All about scalability - how technology should support rather than hinder growth
Are you looking to raise capital and eventually exit from your cannabis business?
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Ken Grams, banking and investment expert.
Ken Grams has over 25 years of banking and finance experience, and diverse portfolio asset management expertise of $2 billion. He is a high-achieving executive, CEO and Board Member with experience in quality growth initiatives and asset management as a straight speak strategist in the financial services industry. Ken has spoken at Bank and Financial Institutions Special Assets Forums on Real Estate and Commercial Industrial in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. He was the senior manager supporting an IPO that raised over $115 million. As CEO and Managing Director at Kinetiq Group & affiliates and a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU in Dallas, Texas, Ken is experienced in working with the OCC, FDIC, SEC, and Federal Reserve.
Join us to learn:
The top three things investors look for when considering an investment in the cannabis industry
What to expect during a due diligence process with potential investors
The resources (cash-flow projections, business plans, etc.) cannabis businesses looking for investors need to have
How detailed a business plan do investors want to see? Should operators include detailed staffing and product plans?
Which is preferable to most investors looking to align with a new cannabis business: A rockstar cultivator or producer passionate for the cannabis plant or a seasoned business management team that knows how to hire and align with industry professionals?
Best practices and advice to someone looking for an investor(s) to fund a new cannabis plant facing or ancillary business
Red flags to watch out for when deciding whether or not to accept an investment or partnership
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomed Julie Dooley in our ninth installment of LinkedIN Live.
Julie Dooley began baking infused granola for a dear friend in 2007. By 2011, she was in her licensed kitchen in Denver, Colorado training the Health Department on how to make Cannabutter. It became the first Standard Operating Procedure filed in the state of Colorado.
Since then, she's responsible for making and selling over 500,000 edibles and has assisted several brands with their edible products in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut & Oklahoma. As a person with Celiac Disease, her expertise leans toward infused products that gluten-sensitive and health-conscious consumers purchase regularly.
Julie most recently served as Director of Products for Incredible Edibles. She is based in Wisconsin.
You won’t want to miss this exclusive webinar where we’ll discuss:
-What to consider when designing a cannabis kitchen for manufacturing.
-How to ensure your edibles are compliant to your region.
-What benefits cannabutter has as an edible option.
-Common mistakes to avoid when launching a new product.
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Brion Nazzaro.
Brion is the President of ACCCE (Association of Commercial Cannabis Experts) - accce.com
Our Cannabis Risk Management Framework helps our members solve the most important issues that impact their business to help them become more profitable while making risk-based business decisions with confidence.
These two compliance leaders will answer/discuss the following topics:
- Why are cannabis compliance tools important?
- What is the role of the compliance or risk officer/Trusted advisor?
- What tools are important for a compliance or risk officer when standing up or maturing a program?
- How do you get the most value out of your tools
- What is the Risk-Based approach
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes David Vaillencourt in our seventh installment of LinkedIN Live.
David is the CEO of GMP Collective. He is a standardization and regulatory expert that leads a world class team of experts to improve cannabis operators top line performance.
David and Dede will be discussing:
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Why does the cannabis industry need a quality and GMP program when most states let alone federally, do not require this?
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What makes SOPs effective?
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Where does GMP begin? When should I begin looking at GMPs? Where do I start?
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What about industry standards, how does this tie in to GMPs?
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Orna Bresler, cannabis packaging & labeling compliance expert in our sixth installment of LinkedIN Live.
Orna is Founder of CLC Regulatory Partners. Her team works with cannabis operators to commercialize cannabis products in compliance with state regulations. Orna & Dede will discuss the following topics in the podcast today:
- SOPs: License Applications to Operations
- Compliant Packaging - Product Strategy to Labeling
- Compliance Tools - Simple to Sophisticated
Building a National Cannabis Brand
ProCanna co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes cannabis branding specialist David Paleschuck in our fifth installment of LinkedIN Live Series.
David literally wrote the book on branding cannabis, “Branding Bud”.
Dede and David will discuss the following topics in their series today:
How can you build a successful, national cannabis brand?
- 4 pillars of success
- Form factors and challenges
How do rules and regulations make branding more challenging?
- For example, the amount of allowable THC in each serving size varies from state to state
What does this mean for operators?
What do we do about fragmented MSO brands?
Bottling plant analogy
And more!
ProCanna Co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Josh Rembusch and Dr. William Vizuete. Both work with Byers Scientific.
Josh Rembusch -
Based out of Byers Scientific’s Colorado office, Josh is the VP of Business Development and focuses his efforts on assisting clients in understanding how their facility’s malodor emitting sources can be managed with engineering controls and proven mitigation solutions to avoid compliance and social exposure liabilities. Although historically not deployed in the odor control industry, the use of science, engineering, and automation to solve complex odor and emissions challenges is now the standard and Josh works hand-in-hand with the product research and development team to help ensure that Byers Scientific remains on the cutting edge of technology and innovation.
Dr. William Vizuete –
Dr. William Vizuete, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, co-leads the Byers Emissions Analysis division and is a key member of the Byers Mitigation Technologies division product research and development team. Dr. Vizuete has over 20 years of experience in atmospheric chemistry, air-quality modeling, and research for various industries. For the past seven years, Dr. Vizuete has led a team of cannabis industry experts focused on site-specific research to increase overall knowledge of cannabis industry emissions, educate local communities, and improve the tools and methods that cultivators and policymakers use to evaluate the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation and processing.
Today's event will cover several topics that any cannabis professional or cannabis cultivator would find interesting! Participants will learn:
1) Why does cannabis have that classic "skunk" smell?
2) What is a thiol, and why should you care?
3) What is the proper odor mitigation technology for different cultivation and processing facility types?
4) How does odor mitigation technology support sustainability, and how can cultivators take credit for reducing environmental impact?
5) How does air quality impact plant health?
6) How can technology improve air quality in indoor facilities?
ProCanna Co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Green Paper Managing Editor, Matthew O'Brien, in our 3rd LinkedIN Live.
Matthew has unique insights on the American and Canadian cannabis markets and will share his unique perspective with you.
Dede and Matthew will be diving into the following topics:
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American vs Canadian companies
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Why building brands that matter is so under valued in cannabis
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The ongoing censorship of cannabis content
You don't want to miss this episode!
ProCanna Co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes cannabis regulatory compliance expert Leah Heise, in our second installment of LinkedIN Live. We will be hosting experts on a monthly basis to review a wide range of topics related to the cannabis industry, the regulatory landscape, and compliance best practices.
Do you own/run a cannabis business?
Have you been concerned about adhering to the complex regulatory environment, but just don’t know where to begin?
If so, you don’t want to miss this episode! As former CAO of Ascend Wellness, Leah Heise has seen the good/bad/ugly when it comes to compliance within cannabis. These two cannabis compliance professionals will dive into the following topics:
What is cannabis compliance anyway?
How to create an in-house compliance brand?
How can you create a more holistic approach to M&A? A failed integration is a major risk to a company, not just from a license standpoint
How can you create a cycle of continuous improvement for your cannabis brand?
How to know when it’s time to bring in a compliance expert?
How to make compliance a team approach; building partnerships between compliance teams and operators.
Meet the Experts: ProCanna Co-founder/CEO Dede Perkins welcomes Board Advisor and cannabis regulatory compliance consultant, Sheri Tarr, in our first podcast.
In today’s episode, our cannabis industry experts will dive into “Why establishing a culture of cross-operational compliance is so important for cannabis businesses,” and offer real-world insights and practical solutions to alleviate your pain.
- Get Up-to-Date on the Regulatory Landscape, FDA Scrutiny, Looming Litigation
- Learn How Compliance is the Segue to Sustainable Brand Equity™
- Cut Through the Regulatory Fog with Best Compliance Practices
Running a cannabis business is tough enough without also having to be a regulatory compliance expert!