THE ARKANSAS TIMES MEDICAL CANNABIS WELLNESS EXPO A Networking Event with Industry Experts
INDUSTRY DAY SPEAKERS 11-11:40 a.m.
1:20-2:05 p.m.
The Bud Agency Cannabis Communications: Your Five Fundamentals
Financial Planning and Management Considerations for Cannabis Business
Martin Thoma, throughout a three-decade-long career in marketing communications, Martin has developed and implemented a diverse array of projects, ranging from new product initiatives for global technology companies to public information and safety campaigns for state agencies. He has represented local, state, regional and national organizations in the tourism, healthcare, energy, financial services, transportation, retail, hospitality, government, insurance and food service industries. Martin is author of Branding Like the Big Boys and is a recognized industry leader through his articles, white papers and case studies on branding, marketing strategy and communications.
Curtis Winar, CPA, CVA/CFF, Frost, LLC, began working in the cannabis industry in Colorado late 2011, representing multiple operators ranging from individual dispensaries to full-scale vertical operators. Curtis now represents cannabis companies in over 14 states. His practice primarily includes providing strategic business planning and corporate structuring, tax planning, business valuation and litigation matters. Curtis is frequently engaged to represent clients in litigation on either a consulting basis or as an expert witness relating to contract disputes, intellectual property infringement and other economic damages matters. He is also a frequent speaker on strategic business and industry matters impacting the cannabis industry.
Elizabeth Michael, MBA. An entrepreneur at heart, Elizabeth grew up in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, in Lake Village, Arkansas, working at her family’s home decor and furniture company, Paul Michael Company. After helping grow the company to five retail stores in three states and opening the online store, Elizabeth moved on to a large ad agency, where she headed up social media and content strategy. There, she worked on several cannabis industry clients. Michael has worked with a number of cannabis companies in Colorado and Arkansas through her decade-long career. She is a 2021 40under40 honoree and holds numerous awards from the AdFed and PRSA.
11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Lunch 12:15-1:10 p.m. An Update on Regulatory and Legislative Issues in Cannabis
Erika Gee, Wright Lindsey Jennings. Erika Gee has been actively involved in the implementation and licensure process for medical marijuana businesses since December of 2016, including regulatory and legislative lobbying and drafting of applications for cultivation facilities, dispensaries, licensed transporters and other related businesses. She is a recognized expert and sought-after speaker on the legal and regulatory aspects of medical marijuana in Arkansas, with multiple articles on the topic for Arkansas Business and appearances on Arkansas Week, Talk Business and Arkansas Public Media. She is also representing clients seeking licensure to grow and process industrial hemp in the pilot program that was recently authorized by the Arkansas General Assembly.
2:15-3:10 p.m. FY2022, A Q&A Session with Doralee Chandler Director of Alcohol Beverage Control Division Doralee Chandler, Director, Alcohol Beverage Control Division. Doralee Chandler, a lifelong resident of Arkansas, has served as the first General Counsel for the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory since :Arkansas and her law degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville. In 2017, the Speaker of House appointed Chandler to a five-year term on the Arkansas Parent Counsel Commission. In November 2018 she was appointed to the Director’s position at Alcoholic Beverage Control. As Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control she is slated with the oversight of not only alcoholic beverages manufacturers, distributors, and retailers but also medical marijuana cultivators, dispensaries, processors and transporters. In January 2021 she was also assigned to oversee Arkansas Tobacco Administration.
3:20-4:00 p.m.
Life after SAFE Banking: The Future of Cannabis Commerce Dan Roda, ABACA, ACIA Vice President. Dan Roda is co-founder and CEO of Abaca, a North Little Rock-based financial technology company that provides banking, payment processing, and lending services to the cannabis industry. Educated at Tulane University and Villanova Law School, Dan entered the professional world as a corporate attorney. He first experimented with the cannabis industry in 2017, helping clients with dispensary license applications in Arkansas. During this process, Dan was exposed to the cannabis banking problem, which led him and three partners to found Abaca. Dan represented Abaca in the CanopyBoulder accelerator program in fall of 2018 and is a founding board member of the Emerging Markets Coalition. Dan is also vice president of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association and is on the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Hemp Committee.
4:10-5:00 p.m. Processing Partnerships: The Benefits to a New Way of Thinking Casey Flippo, CEO, Natvana & Dark Horse Medicinals. Casey is a graduate of the University Of Arkansas Bumpers College School Of Agriculture where he studied Business Administration and Marketing. Along with Casey’s years of management experience, he also brings extensive knowledge from his years acting as Natvana LLC’s CEO. Natvana LLC is Arkansas’ premiere hemp extraction facility and through Casey’s leadership, it has blossomed into a nationally recognized option for high quality extracts. To accompany his CBD experience, he also totes a number of successes in high-risk marketplaces, which afford both Dark Horse and Natvana strategic advantages in markets that are desperately trying to establish themselves as viable. Casey was born and raised in Northeast Arkansas and is a true Arkansan. His experience, consumer-centric approach, and passion for progress in his home state position him firmly as one of Arkansas’ cannabis industry experts.
About our sponsor Dark Horse Medicinals Dark Horse Medicinals mission to provide Arkansas patients with the highest quality cannabis concentrates on the market. Through our years of specialty experience in the cannabis space, emphasis on our core values, and our patient-centric approach we strive to always exceed the acceptable and transcend the norm. Much like the dark horse, we will continue to work in silence and let success be our noise. Dark Horse Medicinals is an Arkansas based Medical Marijuana Processor. As the second license holder of such a certificate, we constantly strive to transcend the norm and set new precedents and expectations within this budding industry. Through our years of expertise and patient-centric approach, DHM will strive to not only provide the highest quality products on the market but we will also work closely with our dispensary partners to ensure cannabis medicine is affordable to all of those that need it. DHM is led by an All-Arkansan team of cannabis professionals and with our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in the heart of Arkansas, we feel that being true to our roots will allow us to best serve the AR patient population. Our Core Values include; transparency, quality, and a patient-centric approach during every step of our manufacturing process. We believe strongly in our journey and we hope to do our part in bettering the Arkansas cannabis market as a whole.
Arkansas Times Medical Cannabis Wellness Expo Participants : • Curaleaf • Good Day Farm • Greenlight Dispensary - Helena • Delta Cannabis Company • Plant Family Therapeutics • Natural Relief Dispensary • Native Green Wellness
• Natvana • Arkansas NORML • Buffalo Co CBD • Healing Hemp of Arkansas • Dr. Brian Nichol • Liberty Defense Group • Drippers Vape & Hemp
• Face2Face Therapy • The Murphy Clinic • Ozark MMJ Cards • Frost, PLLC • Wright Lindsey Jennings
SPONSORED BY:
LUNCH PROVIDED BY
COCKTAIL PARTY SPONSORED BY Dark Horse Medicinals &