TORONTO, July 15, 2019 /CNW/ - PRESS RELEASE - Flower One Holdings Inc. officially welcomes Kellen O'Keefe to the team as chief strategy officer. O'Keefe hails most recently from MedMen Enterprises, a cannabis retailer and brand. As the senior vice president of business development of MedMen, he was instrumental in capitalizing the business as well as sourcing, accessing and executing the company's M&A transactions. This news follows Flower One's announcement last week of its ninth brand partnership deal in seven months, which showcased the company's ongoing ability to bring cannabis brands to new markets through its large-scale product fulfillment and distribution.
"We are excited to welcome Kellen O'Keefe to our team and look forward to benefiting from his deep knowledge of the U.S. cannabis landscape," said Ken Villazor, president and CEO of Flower One. "Kellen brings a decade-long passion for driving the industry forward, not to mention a large, well-connected network. Having just announced our ninth brand partnership, we're looking forward to leveraging Kellen's proven expertise in business development as we continue to grow our Brand Partner network in Nevada and beyond."
"I'm thrilled to be joining the well-rounded, all-star team at Flower One," said O'Keefe. "I believe Flower One's execution is second to none. The company has proven its ability to not only leverage its extensive commercial agriculture experience, but also insert best-in-class processing and manufacturing. From a seed-to-shelf perspective, Flower One has established an industry-first, turnkey solution for cannabis brands seeking access to consistent and reliable high-quality cannabis."
Leveraging his knowledge of cannabis, strategic partnerships and brand development, O'Keefe will oversee Flower One's market strategies, including ongoing investor relations and the growth and development of the company's Brand Partner program. O'Keefe will also lend strategic marketing advice and implement best practices to ensure the company continues to be well-positioned in the eyes of the industry, public markets and investor audiences. Prior to cannabis, Kellen was co-creator of Oakley's groundbreaking experiential program "Learn to Ride," where he created and produced branded content, influencer and multimedia campaigns for a number of his former advertising clients including but not limited to Anheuser-Busch, Audi, Chipotle, Crown Imports, Wheels Up, T-Mobile, Starbucks and Virgin.
O'Keefe will be representing Flower One this summer, speaking at several of the nation's most notable cannabis events, including:
- Arcview, Chicago: July 17-19
- Trailblazers Summit Series, Utah: Aug. 2-4
- Canaccord Growth Conference, Boston: Aug. 7-8
