“When we look at compliance in cannabis, there is a direct correlation between strong businesses that have a focus on compliance and their long-term profitability,” says Lake Smith, co-founder and Head of Growth at QCI Solutions. “For many cannabis licensees, ‘keeping up with it all’ is a costly, stressful challenge and can detract from an operator’s core business and strategic objectives,” adds co-founder Benjamin Warner, Head of Services at the company, which provides the critical link between compliance and profitability for cannabis business operators.  QCI Solutions provides cannab ..read more

“I have a passion for people,” says Gerry Dumani, co-founder of the cannabis Enterprise Resource Planning platform Figgro, “I love to talk to business owners and operators. We are not in the business of just selling software, we are building solutions.” Gerry combines compassion and empathy with his skills as a technology specialist to put the needs of cannabis businesses at the forefront, something that he, along with co-founder Marc Wells, has built right into Figgro’s business model. The company was created in 2020 based on what Gerry and Marc had seen unfold in the cannabis industry in C ..read more

“What is social equity?”  On its face, this question, and the efforts that come along with answering it, may seem well-intentioned. But ask yourself: through which lens are you viewing it?  In recent cannabis trends, policy and legal experts spent countless hours crafting carefully worded legislation to identify and empower targeted communities to participate in the industry. But posing questions like “What is Social Equity” and implementing complex legal structures to achieve it can often delay processes and create barriers to entry.  States with competitive and limited licens ..read more

“Cannabis happened at the right time.” When a patient of Ohio-based Dr. Bridget Cole Williams, MD admitted to her that she had been using cannabis and had found relief from her medical symptoms from it, the doctor’s first inclination was to discourage its use.  However, when she started looking into medical studies on cannabis for herself, Dr. Bridget’s mind began to change drastically about the plant’s medical potential. “Why didn’t I know any of this?” the Ohio-based physician asked herself after reading several credible studies, “I felt like I had gone into the dark web or something ..read more

“There is a space that needs to be held for [BIPOC cannabis farmers] so that they know that they are being taken care of and met at their level,” says James Arrington III of the hemp/CBD, cannabis, and consulting company Tohiyusdv Cavalry.  The Black-owned company, located in Virginia, is not only concerned with cultivating quality hemp and cannabis products but providing education, training, and support to minority farms and small brands who are new to the cannabis industry or are transitioning their farms into it via their Precision Craft Farmer program. “Connected to a Journey” “I go ..read more

Cannabis Social Equity Mentorship Program Launches Earlier this year, the Cannabis Business Office (CBO), a division of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT), awarded $750,000 in funding through its Cannabis Business Grant to social equity licensed cannabis businesses that have, or are actively pursuing, a regulated business license from the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. The Cannabis Business Grant was launched as a pilot program in 2022, and it supports the ongoing growth of Colorado’s small cannabis businesses and fosters equity and diversity ..read more

Elevating BIPOC Owned Cannabis Brands   On April 12, BIPOCann’s founder, Ernest Toney (far left), moderated a panel conversation titled Invest in Emerging BIPOC Owned Cannabis Brands at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami, Florida. The panel featured three BIPOCann members: Timeka Drew, CEO of California-based Biko Flower (second from left); Jarell Wall, CEO and Creative Director of Colorado-based Gentleman Quinn’s Blunt Co. (second from right); and Carlondo Mitchell, Owner of Washington-based 5th House Farms (far right). Drew, Wall, and Mitchell spoke about the ..read more

This is the second of a monthly blog post where the topic of canna-business intersects with public relations. What a pairing! My hope is that you will learn something valuable that can be helpful as you grow your canna-business. I am delighted for the opportunity to collaborate with Ernest Toney and the BIPOCann platform he’s created with you in mind—Lori Shepherd For many more years than I care to admit to, I’ve managed PR accounts in tech, nonprofit, and many other spaces, but in cannabis I’ve discovered a riveting industry unlike any other. There’s no industry today quite like the fast-em ..read more

Welcome to BIPOCann’s PR corner. This is the first of a monthly blog post where the topic of canna-business intersects with public relations. What a pairing! My hope is that you will learn something valuable that can be helpful as you grow your canna-business. I am delighted for the opportunity to collaborate with BIPOCann on the platform they created with you in mind—Lori Shepherd Whether working with new licensees with multiple dispensaries, people with cultivation plants, or even cannabis accounting professionals, I’ve learned how incredibly quickly the cannabis industry is growing. And ..read more

“It’s still early enough that you can be become a cannabis entrepreneur, and the resources are there to learn.” Medical cannabis patient, mother, corporate leader, partner, teacher, visionary, organizer, connector, social equity applicant, coach, and advocate are just a few of the words that describe the dynamic founder and CEO of Biko Flower, Timeka Drew. With brand presence across California with goals to go national, Timeka sees Biko Flower and cannabis as a tool to drive social change, culture, and connection, and is using her story to inspire other BIPOC cannabis entrepreneurs to help sh ..read more