Schedule

Paris Ballroom Foyer

Paris Ballroom

Paris Ballroom

Versailles I/II

Join Marcel Koole from Priva as he presents on why water recirculating systems and water-use efficiency in cannabis cultivation is essential. Advance your knowledge of irrigation recirculation infrastructure, best practices for water management, and how data-driven solutions can increase production efficiency while minimizing your water footprint.

When recirculating irrigation water, you reuse expensive fertilizers and perhaps elements that you do not want to release into the environment. And in areas where good quality fresh water is a limited resource, reusing the water is good for the environment and good for the bottom line. Pressure from society, and from governments in the form of regulation to stimulate growers to start recirculating their water is partly based on reducing emissions but also considers the availability of fresh water. And getting all of the potential out of the water is a sustainable and smart way of growing.

Key session take-a-ways:

• Key components to ensure the safe re-use of return water
• Precision fertigation and irrigation for healthier plants and maximum yield
• Intelligent water management with the plant in control

Champagne I/II

Mitch Baruchowitz, the founder and managing partner of Merida Capital Holdings, has more than a decade of experience investing in cannabis and calibrating his team to the nuances of the emerging corporate ecosystem in this business. He knows how to navigate the delicate balance of short-term and long-term in the industry. He knows this because he’s founded plant-touching companies himself and has spent years empowering his team at Merida to zoom in and zoom out on the rapidly changing context of what it takes to build a successful cannabis business. In this candid keynote presentation, Mitch will share those team-building tenets, and he will share his passion for building companies that are structurally prepared for wherever the cannabis market goes next.

In this session, you’ll come away with:

• High-level macro trends in cannabis investment in 2022
• How to conduct a “self-awareness check” that determines your company’s ultimate goal (and the steps to build a process to achieve it)
• What it takes to create an internal culture of “happy warriors” who can address the industry’s constant challenges head-on with solid ethics and confidence—and why this is important
• Reasons why information gathering at all levels of your business will give you a competitive edge
• The role investment firms play in operations – and how to build a better working relationship

Paris Ballroom

Versailles III/IV

National Cannabis Risk Prevention Services (NCRPS) part of the NCRMA family of companies, will present its innovative and disruptive risk management platform. This technological advancement combines a business framework SaaS Risk assessment tool (Cannabis Risk Prevention Platform -CRP2) with custom corrective action syllabi and live risk manager support. Risk scoring of the many areas of the business framework provide a tangible and measurable report card that is effective in securing rampant business improvement as well as vital financial services such as insurance, banking and capital investment.

Champagne I/II

The Biden Administration has not yet prioritized the federal legalization of cannabis. And with legislative efforts mostly falling short of any substantive relief for today’s state-legal cannabis businesses, operators continue to be burdened with stringent tax and banking restrictions, lack of governmental support and resources, and prohibition of interstate or global commerce.

In this session, experts with an intricate understanding of federal regulatory and financial structures will provide valuable insights into:

• An overview of the temperature and recent efforts from the White House and Congress;
• The relief that could come for cannabis operators in a federally legal market;
• The potential market slowdowns under federal regulations;
• How federal oversight (including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) would impact compliance and related costs;
• How plant-touching businesses can influence decision-making in D.C.; and
• How legalization could dynamically shift the competitive landscape and what that shift would mean for your business.

Champagne III/IV

Cannabis cultivation, extraction and dispensary operations are getting savvier when it comes to taking advantage of marketing trends. Ideas such as product drops, mood marketing, experiential marketing, celebrity and influencer partnerships, as well as a focus on cannabis culture are coming to the forefront as brands look to establish themselves and engage and build loyal consumers in an ever-competitive marketplace.

In this session, you will hear from plant-touching operators who are having success with these and other marketing trends. They will provide lessons learned, share regulatory considerations, and explain how to evaluate the success of any marketing campaign to help decide whether to bolster or pivot your efforts.

Versailles I/II

Building (or retrofitting) a greenhouse structure for cultivation provides tighter environmental control than an outdoor operation, but also maximizes the use of natural resources, like sunlight. Learn from seasoned cannabis greenhouse operators the intricacies of building a structure that is highly efficient yet keeps production costs low.

In this session, you’ll take away tips on:

• Climate location factors;
• Materials selection (e.g., glass, polycarbonate, aluminum, galvanized steel, etc.);
• Designing for tight environmental controls and workflow efficiency;
• Automated equipment and technologies to consider (e.g., HVAC, odor control, supplemental lighting);
• and much more.

Versailles III/IV

Your dispensary’s design is often your company’s first impression, and therefore it must be impressive. Not only is it important to attract patients and customers to your store, but it can evoke emotions, engage and direct shoppers through product options, facilitate expedited customer service and even increase sales.

In this session, dispensary owners and design experts will share important insights and strategies in any retail buildout, such as:

• Keys to budgeting and setting timelines;
• Critical elements to store layout and design aesthetic/branding;
• Merchandising-planning musts;
• Security and surveillance that is effective but not intimidating;
• Hiring the right contractors;
• and much more.

Champagne I/II

There are essentially two routes to multi-state expansion in the legal cannabis industry: acquiring a license for a plant-touching business, or licensing your products/intellectual property (IP) to companies already established in legal markets. In this session, experts will weigh in with the pros and cons of both paths to market, from understanding business structure and cost to operations requirements, partnership considerations, regulatory compliance and more. They will also share their tips for successfully navigation both paths, as well as predictions for how cannabis branding strategies will evolve under federal legalization.

Champagne III/IV

“Businesses that fail to budget ultimately fail themselves,” wrote Merida Capital Operating Partner and Cannabis Conference Advisory Board Member Colin Kelley in an article for Cannabis Dispensary.

Your pro forma budget serves as a roadmap to your cannabis or hemp business’s success, so it is critical to understand the fundamentals of creating a budget, as well as understand how business budgets ebb and flow as your customer base, sales, staff, and overall business grow over time.

In this session, we’ll detail how to create a budget that yields financial success—from capital and operating expenditures to commonly overlooked expenses—as well as the unique nuances of the cannabis industry. You’ll also learn about the importance of setting minimum profit margins and bottlenecks, and hurdles to profitability.

Versailles I/II

Cannabis growers go to extreme measures to ensure their crops are healthy, but one plant pathogen associated with stunting and low-trichome production has become increasingly prevalent in the industry: hop latent viroid (HpLVd). Last year, 90% of California facilities researched tested positive for HpLVd with 200,000 tissue samples analyzed, according to the team at Dark Heart Nursery.

In this session, Mojave Richmond of BioAgronomics Group Consultants will make a special introduction about HpLVd and the impact it has had on cultivators and the industry.

Then, Dr. Sadanand Dhekney of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore will provide a behind-the-scenes look at his current research—conducted as part of a two-year funded Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program—on identifying and preventing HpLVd in cannabis plants. He will share insights into the science, background and technology being used for virus detection, elimination and mass propagation of plants for clean plant production through tissue culture.

Versailles III/IV

Data can tell retail cannabis companies a great deal about patient and consumer preferences, as well as help you project trends to better serve the market. But reviewing data without the proper analysis can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and sometimes even misleading. Here, data and operations experts will help you sort through the numbers that can take product development and inventory management to the next level.

Learn how to:

• Understand the types of data that are most important for your business;
• How to properly analyze data, and what technologies to utilize, so that your data doesn’t become a wasted asset;
• Better balance supply and demand; and
• Boost sales through integration with marketing techniques.

Champagne I/II

In what ways can businesses step up to use their own platforms and build partnerships to create equity in the cannabis industry? This powerhouse panel will share programs that their cultivation, dispensary and hemp businesses are implementing right now—from free expungement clinics to franchise opportunities to education workshops, hiring strategies, internal resource groups, political activism, and more, that work to create space for minority communities disproportionally impacted by the war on drugs.

In this session, you’ll take away insights and strategies to help you examine your own social equity priorities and develop meaningful, short-term and long-term initiatives.

Champagne III/IV

By utilizing decades-old tissue culture propagation methods, growers can reproduce and preserve genetically identical clones on a significant scale with less space required by mother and cloning rooms. As the technology and infrastructure to support tissue culture in the cannabis industry has strengthened, so has its popularity with today’s cultivators and breeders.

In this session, experts will explore the benefits of tissue culture and help you determine whether a tissue culture lab could be a fit for your own organization, with considerations such as:

• Genetic advantages in plant health and storage;
• Lab build-out requirements and timelines;
• Cost analyses of build-out and operation;
• Supplies and equipment needed;
• Sanitation and labor workflow SOPs;
• Variables affecting shoot growth and tissue health;
• and more.

Versailles I/II

In this session, you will learn how to hone your extraction processes, improve the quality of your output, and make the most of your investment.

Experts will walk you through crucial steps such as how to increase extraction throughput and efficiencies, minimizing unwanted materials (lipids, waxes), maintaining equipment, pesticide screening and best practices when it comes to safety.

Versailles III/IV

Bringing your business to a recreational market is a substantial route to company growth. However, many factors are at play that can hinder or ensure success with such a major business change. Get ready to pivot your dispensary to serve recreational consumers with these considerations from experts who’ve already made the leap (and learned the hard lessons along the way).

In this session, you’ll learn about:

• Regulatory and compliance considerations for adult-use markets;
• How to ensure you continue to serve your patients while expanding your customer base;
• Inventory management for maximizing sales to patients and consumers;
• Logistical essentials, such as parking, in-store traffic flow, staffing needs and added security needs;
• Marketing to adult-use consumers;
• and much more.

Paris Ballroom

Versailles I/II

Plant-touching cannabis operators must adhere to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits a business trafficking a controlled substance from deducting typical business expenses when filing yearly federal taxes. This presents a number of accounting challenges for cultivation, dispensary and extraction professionals, and mistakes can lead to significant legal and financial consequences.

In this session, experts from Jones Tax Group will explore:

• The inherent risk and additional burden of a cash businesses;
• How misunderstanding IRC 280E can break cannabis businesses;
• Why using the correct inventory method is critical; and
• Why having proper accounting, controls and record-keeping is the key to success.

Paris Ballroom Foyer

Paris Ballroom

Paris Ballroom

Champagne III/IV

How do you set up a multi-tier indoor cultivation facility for success? In this session, experts from Pipp Horticulture will outline the important considerations behind space planning and design, as well as: environmental control needs, key traits to consider for genetics selection, and how to improve workflow, ergonomics and safety with accessibility and labor optimization.

Champagne I/II

Lots of overlap exists between the worlds of hops and cannabis, particularly when the two are combined. Weaver knows this all too well from his experience at Boston Beer Co. (the maker of famous craft beer brands Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Dogfish Head), as he launched the company’s first cannabis brand, TeaPot, and THC-infused beverage, Good Day Iced Tea, into the Canadian market.

In this special fireside chat, Weaver, former director of innovation at Canopy Growth Corp., will talk about lessons he’s learned from the cannabis industry. He’ll also share insights into what Boston Beer Co. has learned from its past product innovations, its foray into cannabis, and how steadfast dedication to producing top-quality product has helped the company make critical decisions when it comes to its beer and its cannabis-infused beverages. 

Champagne III/IV

Whether you're growing indoors or in a greenhouse, the environment is critical to a successful harvest. If your facility’s environmental controls are off, your crop could not only be at risk for pests and diseases, but you could also be risking lower yields—all of which can significantly affect your cultivation business' bottom line.

In this session, controlled-environment experts will share strategies for achieving the ideal relative humidity (RH), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), CO2 supplementation, HVAC requirements and more—as well as how to aggregate and analyze valuable data points from these controls to make proper adjustment decisions.

Versailles I/II

Solventless is often thought of as one of the purest forms of extract production; however, it can be a tedious, expensive, and labor-heavy process compared to other, more popular processes on the market. When it comes to solventless production, the key is in your forward-thinking build-out and planning of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Some of the biggest names in solventless cannabis production will share their insights into how they’ve increased the value of their product offerings (such as rosin, kief, hash, and more) by building robust solventless programs.

Paris Ballroom

Champagne I/II

In this session, join Ben Britton and Mike Maibach from Agrify who have experience designing, building and operating state-of-the-art extraction facilities. They’ll explore the trends in extracts and concentrates and let you know what consumers want today. They’ll also explain which equipment is needed to create today’s top-tier formulated products and outline what to look for when choosing a supplier.

In this session, attendees will:

• Examine the current market trends for extracts and concentrates and which products appeal to which consumer demographics
• Understand the technical equipment required for extracts and concentrates, as well as the economic considerations for choosing equipment such as time, quality and output
• Analyze how to choose the right supply partner who understands your full end-to-end process

Champagne III/IV

What does it take, from a lighting perspective, to create optimized conditions for cannabis flowering? Fluence research project manager Brian Poel will unpack Fluence’s cannabis lighting research and provide insights into choosing the right lighting spectrum to increase production at high light intensity levels. This session will also delve into other considerations, including yield, potency, spectrum efficacy and photobleaching, to help cultivators understand the lighting conditions that will maximize their production goals.

Champagne I/II

M&A activity continues to ebb and flow in the cannabis industry. Acquiring another company can be a viable way to expand into new markets, diversify or vertically integrate your business and/or expand your product offerings. Being acquired or merging with another company can also give you access to much-needed capital and resources. But there are many essential considerations to weigh to ensure a successful deal and transition for both companies and their teams.

In this can’t-miss session, you’ll learn about:

• How to find and evaluate potential partners—from a strategic perspective to cultural synergies and beyond;
• What deal options exist (e.g., cash, equity/stock and payable notes) and their pros and cons;
• Lessons learned from successful deals and those that fell through; and
• Seamless financial and operational transitions through the merger or acquisition closing process.

Champagne III/IV

The post-harvest process is one of the most important in cultivation, and many seasoned cultivators even call it an art form. Whether you’re a small-batch producer or a larger commercial grower, it’s critical to fine-tune your process to protect your cannabis moisture levels and terpene and cannabinoid expressions to come away with a desirable and compliant product.

In this session, you’ll take away valuable insights to help you:

• Properly build-out your space for drying and curing;
• Understand the drying and curing methods today’s operators are using to achieve their product goals;
• Establish climate-controlled temperature, humidity, and airflow set points to avoid over- and under-drying your cannabis flower; and
• Develop a plan for continual fine-tuning and improvement to your post-harvest process.

Versailles I/II

Come prepared to take down dozens of merchandising takeaways from retail and cannabis industry experts in this quick-fire tips session.

Experts will help you build a well-thought-out merchandising strategy to boost sales by outlining:

• How to set up your dispensary for ideal traffic flow and directing consumers’ attention;
• Strategies for running specials;
• How to pull levers on increasing sales (overall gross and increasing units per transaction);
• Positioning products in the store; and
• How to optimize sales for lower-selling product categories.