Acreage Holdings Adds Katie J. Bayne as Board Member
Bayne brings more than 30 years of consumer marketing and operations experience to her new position on the Board of Directors, including over two decades at The Coca-Cola Company.
NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Acreage Holdings, Inc. has announced that Katie Bayne has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.
Bayne brings more than 30 years of consumer marketing and operations experience to her new position on the Board of Directors, including over two decades at The Coca-Cola Company, where she served as President of North America Brands and Chief Marketing Officer for North America. The founder and president of strategic consulting and advisory firm Bayne Advisors, Bayne also serves as a Senior Advisor at Guggenheim Securities, and sits on the Board of Directors of Jessica Alba’s purpose-driven lifestyle brand, The Honest Company. She brings over a decade of public Board experience in varied industries, including retail.
“Achieving long-term success will require Acreage to continue building and nurturing a house of brands that has mass appeal,” said Acreage CEO Peter Caldini. “Katie’s exceptional background includes her stewardship of iconic U.S. brands and I look forward to the valuable insights she will provide to help take Acreage to the next level on our journey to achieving a true leadership position in this emerging market.”
“Katie is an outstanding addition to Acreage’s Board of Directors,” said Kevin Murphy, Acreage’s chairman and founder. “On the heels of announcing our new CEO, Acreage’s future growth will be driven by senior leaders with extensive experience in operations, brand-building, and a proven ability to drive sustainable, long-term growth.”
“I have watched the upward trajectory of the U.S. cannabis industry with great interest the past few years,” said Bayne. “I have come to understand the undeniable health and wellness benefits of the plant. As more states legalize cannabis and the addressable market continues to grow exponentially, I am excited for the opportunity to help shape Acreage’s strategy and direction at this crucial juncture.”
Bayne earned her MBA and undergraduate degrees at Duke University, where she continues to serve as a member of the Board of Visitors for the Fuqua Business School. She also serves on the Executive Board at the Cox School of Business at SMU. She is the sixth member of the Acreage Board of Directors, and will be a member of the Audit Committee.
Natalia Bratslavsky | Adobe Stock
Montana Lawmakers Reject Department of Revenue’s Request to Fund State’s Adult-Use Cannabis Program
The department asked the House Appropriations Committee for $1.35 million to pay for the employees, office equipment and operating expenses needed to launch the program.
Montana lawmakers have rejected the Department of Revenue’s request to fund the state’s adult-use cannabis program, according to an AP News report.
The department asked the House Appropriations Committee for $1.35 million to pay for the employees, office equipment and operating expenses needed to launch the program, the news outlet reported, but Rep. Bill Mercer declined the request, calling it a “huge tranche of money.” The committee then voted 23-2 in favor of Mercer’s amendment to refuse the funding, according to AP News.
Montana voters approved an adult-use cannabis legalization measure in the November election, and the Department of Revenue has announced that it will make business licenses available by Oct. 1, a timeline that was established by the voter-approved initiative.
Kurt Alme, the budget director for Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, has said that the money requested by the Department of Revenue is “needed” in order to ensure deadlines in the measure are met, AP News reported.
A spokesperson for the department told the news outlet that the agency is “committed to implementing the laws that are passed by the legislature."
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South Dakota Governor Allows Legal Challenge to Amendment Legalizing Adult-Use Cannabis
Gov. Kristi Noem has issued an executive order supporting a lawsuit that questions the constitutionality of the voter-approved amendment, which passed in the November election.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem issued an executive order Jan. 8 that allows a legal challenge to the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis legalization initiative to proceed, according to The Hill.
Noem’s order argues that the initiative process used by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the group behind Amendment A, to place the measure on the November ballot “was not proper and violated the procedures set forth in the South Dakota Constitution,” the news outlet reported.
In late November, Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom and South Dakota Highway Patrol Col. Rick Miller filed a lawsuit arguing that the voter-approved adult-use legalization measure violates the state’s one-subject rule and the amendments and revisions article of the South Dakota Constitution.
The plaintiffs argued that Amendment A has five subjects, which include legalizing cannabis, regulating cannabis, taxing cannabis, requiring the South Dakota Legislature to pass laws regarding hemp and ensuring access to medical cannabis.
Thom and Miller also asserted that the measure does not amend the South Dakota Constitution, but actually revises it, which requires a three-fourths vote from both chambers of the legislature.
South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws filed a response to the lawsuit last month, arguing that the case should be dismissed because voiding Amendment A would overturn the will of the people.
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has argued that the amendment only covers one subject, The Hill reported.
Noem’s order states that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have legal standing in their case against the amendment because they are acting on behalf of the governor, according to the news outlet. The amendment is set to take effect July 1.
Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness
Casey Kornoelje
Following Its Entry into Adult Use, Grand Rapids’ Pharmhouse Wellness Set to Expand
Once limited in opportunities by his criminal record of cannabis charges, including a felony for manufacturing, Casey Kornoelje now channels his knowledge of the plant into advancing his legal cannabis business.
For having just expanded his dispensary business to sell cannabis product for adult use in December 2020, Casey Kornoelje brings a lot of plant-touching experience to the industry. He’s wielding that knowledge as he and his team work to vertically integrate Pharmhouse Wellness, the first adult-use dispensary in Grand Rapids, Mich., that is owned by a resident of the city.
Kornoelje opened Pharmhouse Wellness as a medical provisioning center in March 2020. But prior to that, he had spent 10 years running a 30-acre cut flower farm north of Grand Rapids, where he also grew cannabis in pole barns.
“In 2008, the state of Michigan rolled out the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program,” Kornoelje told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “I immediately enrolled as a caregiver and patient, so I was a patient myself, plus a caregiver of five. That allowed me to grow 72 plants total—72 all in—and I rocked that out from 2008 to this day.” (While the state has ended caregiver sourcing to dispensaries, Kornoelje notes that he is still legally growing for himself.)
Going further back in time, Kornoelje was charged with felony cannabis manufacturing in 2001 and a misdemeanor cannabis possession in 2004.
“As soon as I could discover how to grow the shit, I started growing it,” Kornoelje reflects. “I just wasn't quite as good at concealing it as I was at growing it. That led to a big disruption in my life. The felony charge has always been on my record and stuck with me. It’s stifled many different opportunities for me throughout the years, both career-, professional-wise and trying to go into the military services.”
But things came around, as Kornoelje moved to the “cottage industry” of caregiver cultivation, then medical dispensing. His prior convictions, caregiver experience and residency in Grand Rapids scored Pharmhouse Wellness points through the state and city's social equity programs and allowed him to receive zoning priority and fee reductions for its adult-use operations.
“We’re going to reinvest that money back into the local neighborhood,” Kornoelje said. “That could include projects like home ownership training, expungement clinics, business and home façade block grants, public safety and transit enhancements in front of the dispensary. Those are all just things that are on the peripheral, but that's definitely not the end of it. [Those are] just some things that are hot on our agenda.”
Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness
Pharmhouse Wellness operates out of a building on Wealthy Street that was constructed in 1890.
COVID-Era Consumption
Pharmhouse Wellness opened as a medical-only dispensary in March 2020—in a standalone 750-square-foot structure that was originally constructed in 1890 as a home, later zoned for light industrial, and which architects and engineers helped Kornoelje facelift.
Within several days, Michigan government officials recognized the COVID-19 threat and prioritized social distancing over confined in-store customer experiences. Pharmhouse Wellness has only offered curbside and delivery for nearly the past 10 months.
A lack of historical data on Michigan cannabis sales made COVID’s impact difficult to examine, Kornoelje said, adding, “My take of it is that people are home more. … You can't go into the mall as much, you can't go to the movie theaters, to the gyms. People are home more, and I do believe that that has driven some increased consumption on cannabis.
“But we have noticed a definite slowdown in the fall, as the federal stimulus that was passed back in the summertime—the effects of that eventually ran out. So, we have seen demand be stable, but stable to declining in the fall time.”
Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness
The inside of Pharmhouse Wellness, a space closed to customers since March 2020
Setting Sights on Vertical Integration
Pharmhouse Wellness is in the process of expanding, both through increasing its customer base and vertically integrating.
In 2020, Grand Rapids began accepting and approving medical storefronts to expand into adult use. “The city, after [expressing] concern seeing very little local participation in the marijuana market, rolled out their social equity program in summer 2020 to increase participation by local and disproportionately affected individuals,” Kornoelje said.
Recreational sales began in Grand Rapids in October. Pharmhouse held a celebration for its first adult-use sales on Dec. 19, where it hosted a coffee truck, “did swag bag giveaways” and offered specials, Kornoelje said. In addition, Redemption Cannabis owner and former cannabis prisoner Ryan Basore and Grand Rapids city commissioners attended.
The company received a processor license and a Class 3 cultivation license (for 2,000 plants or fewer) in the summer and fall of 2020. It will cultivate and process cannabis in a 4,000-square-foot warehouse on a property located two parcels east of the dispensary. “We are trying to figure out how best to make all those licenses mesh in the relatively confined space,” Kornoelje said. “But the goal is to get the grow going first, and then once we have marijuana to process, then we’ll roll out the processor license last.”
At Pharmhouse, 23 employees are responsible for getting a variety of products into customers’ hands, from flower to concentrates to edibles, topicals and vape cartridges.
Mentioning his caregiver background and experience growing cannabis, Kornoelje said, “We love flower. We try to pride ourselves on having high-quality flower in the store. And knowing that people love flower, too, we've tried to link up with the best possible cultivators and people that we align ourselves with—not only from a quality standpoint but from a business-philosophy standpoint and a corporate culture standpoint.”
As it plans to reinvest into the local community, Pharmhouse has engaged in other philanthropic efforts. In October 2020, the dispensary donated a portion of proceeds from Fresh Coast Extracts product to Migrant Legal Aid. And in December 2020, Pharmhouse donated proceeds from Fresh Coast to the West Michigan Cannabis Guild.
Regarding demand for the team’s beloved flower, Kornoelje said, “People seem to want the highest-testing stuff, man, unfortunately, and that seems to be the recurring theme. Unfortunately, the terpenes and the flavonoids seem to fall to the back seat with most of our consumers. I would say some are heady enough to understand that THC is not the whole picture.” Some customer favorites include classics such as Wedding Cake, GMO, GG, Super Lemon Haze and various kush varieties.
In speaking with CBT and CD, Kornoelje offered one dose of civic pride and one of thankfulness to those with whom he’s worked. “Like they say, ‘it takes a village,’ and it truly does,” he said. “There was a huge team of people, from [Pharmhouse’s communications contact] to my planner, who helped me with working on the land-use process, to the architect and the engineers—all the people that I had to work with to make the applications a reality—and then of course the city of Grand Rapids—the city commissioners, the planning commissioners, the mayor—all of them have been super supportive of what is the only locally owned cannabis shop in town."
cendeced | Adobe Stock
Several States Call for Renewed Cannabis Legalization Efforts, New Jersey Makes Changes to Adult-Use Bill: Week in Review
Lawmakers in Missouri, Minnesota, New York, Virginia and Connecticut have renewed efforts to legalize adult-use cannabis, while an Alabama senator announced plans to reintroduce a medical cannabis legalization bill.
This week, lawmakers in Missouri, Minnesota, New York, Virginia and Connecticut renewed efforts to legalize adult-use cannabis during the 2021 legislative session, while an Alabama senator announced plans to reintroduce a medical cannabis legalization bill this year. Elsewhere, in New Jersey, lawmakers proposed changes to legislation to implement the state’s adult-use cannabis program in an attempt to meet the demands of the governor, who refused to sign an earlier version of the bill.
Here, we’ve rounded up the top 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Rhode Island: Regulators have received 45 applications for six new medical cannabis dispensary licenses in the state. If all applicants meet the requirements for a license, six will randomly be selected in a lottery to operate retail locations in different regions across the state. Read more
Missouri: Rep. Shamed Dogan has filed legislation that would place an adult-use cannabis legalization measure on the state’s 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, Missourians for a New Approach has announced plans for a separate 2022 ballot initiative after an unsuccessful signature campaign to get the issue before voters in 2020. Read more
Alabama: Sen. Tim Melson plans to reintroduce a medical cannabis legalization bill this year. Medical cannabis legislation passed the Alabama Senate during the 2020 session, but failed to clear the House. Read more
Illinois: Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced New Year’s Eve that he would expunge nearly half a million cannabis records and issue pardons for thousands more low-level cannabis convictions. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which passed in 2019 to legalize adult-use cannabis in Illinois, mandated that 47,000 cannabis-related arrest records between 2013 and 2019 be expunged by Jan. 1. Read more
Illinois lawmakers have proposed the creation of 75 new cannabis retail licenses to give disadvantaged and minority applicants a second chance at licensing following the controversial licensing lottery to issue an initial 75 dispensary licenses. A work group made up of lawmakers and members of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration met this week to finalize details of the bill, which will be introduced in a lame-duck session that starts Jan. 8, before new lawmakers are sworn in Jan. 13. Read more
Minnesota: House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is again renewing his push to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, announcing plans to reintroduce a legalization bill this year. Winkler told WCCO that he sees “Senate leadership as being the number one obstacle,” but said that if lawmakers agreed to place an adult-use legalization initiative on Minnesota’s 2022 ballot, “it would pass overwhelmingly.” Read more
New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is again calling for cannabis legalization this year, announcing an adult-use proposal Jan. 6 as part of his upcoming State of the State agenda. This is Cuomo’s third attempt in three years to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state; last year, Cuomo included a legalization proposal in his state budget, but the plan was ultimately cut in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
New Jersey: Lawmakers have proposed fines for underage cannabis use in a new version of an adult-use legalization bill in an attempt to meet the demands of Gov. Phil Murphy, who refused to sign an earlier version of the bill unless such penalties were added. The new version of the bill, A.5211, imposes a fine of at least $250 for those ages 18 to 20 who possess up to 6 ounces of cannabis, and a fine of $500 or more for those who possess more than 6 ounces, which is the legal limit under New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis law. Read more
Virginia: Del. Steve Heretick has reintroduced a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis. Heretick has proposed legislation related to decriminalization and legalization in the past, and this year’s bill would legalize the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis in the state. Read more
Connecticut: Gov. Ned Lamont renewed his push for adult-use legalization during his State of the State address Jan. 6, announcing that it is a priority for the new legislative session. Connecticut’s 2021 legislative session opened Jan. 6, and Lamont, a Democrat, kicks off the session with increased majorities in the House and Senate, which could increase his chances of passing an adult-use legalization bill. Read more
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Melissa Schiller
Patrick Williams
