Gain Valuable Insights to Accelerate Your Business

The IRS continues to aggressively assert IRC 280E in cannabis audits. This panel discussion will discuss best practices in preparing for and defending a 280E audit.  Join us for this lively panel discussion to learn how the IRS approaches a 280E audit, what members of the cannabis industry the IRS have exposure to 280E, how entity structure may help in defending against 280E, and what deductions the IRS may allow when 280E is applied. Bring your questions for the panelists!

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In agricultural verticals that utilize cloning practices, tissue culture is the predominant methodology. With the cannabis industry currently growing exponentially and plant numbers increasing at a rapid pace, the risk for massive disease outbreak is significant. The only way to prevent these catastrophes in a pesticide-free way is utilizing a tissue culture clean stock program, which provides cultivators with clean, disease-free clones backed by agricultural technology and produced in a sterile environment. The panel will discuss how tissue culture propagation works, and how cultivators can leverage it for various purposes, including efficiency, cutting down on space and labor, and allowing for short and long-term storage of varietals, which is critical for preserving genetics in a stable and secure environment. Additionally, we will explore the application of micro propagation in relevance to manufacturing cannabis oils and the quality of cannabis products developed.

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Building on ground-breaking consumer research and point-of-sale analytics from across the U.S., BDS Analytics and cannabis marketing agency COHNNABIS have partnered to identify and analyze some of the unique personas that make up potent consumer segments of the cannabis industry. Combining in-depth data analyses with deep marketing insight, BDS and COHNNABIS will explore the differing demographics, pricing preferences, product desires, and personality profiles across valuable consumer segments for both dispensaries and product manufacturers. The presentation will also explore the process of using data-based marketing personas to guide new product development, brand evolution, and marketing strategy.

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One of the most important facets of a cannabis business is its real estate needs. From Colorado to California, each market is unique. Understanding the cannabis real estate markets in various states provides invaluable information for strategic planning, growth, mergers and acquisitions and near to mid-term opportunities. By focusing on the real estate and business/licensing differences between states the panelists will provide insightful information from a micro to macro scale. This interactive discussion will outline the key steps of the real estate process, rules and regulations, mergers and acquisitions, current market status and future market trends and dynamics.  

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Across different technology categories including POS, CRM, Marketing, Digital Signage, and Product Reviews, the cannabis industry will see a continued evolution in 2018. Learn what dispensaries and brands can expect to see this year and how it can affect their sales, customer experience, data, and business management.

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Investing in Cannabis companies can present a unique set of investment challenges. With 20 years of Wall Street experience at UBS, Raymond James and J.P. Morgan, and 5 years of cannabis experience with The Arcview Group, Canopy, and Mazakali, Sumit will help you learn how to navigate the plethora of available investment opportunities. Having helped guide investors through the tech boom, the real estate boom, and the craft beer boom, Sumit will not only help you understand the commonalities amongst these but also pitfalls to avoid. You will learn how to screen investment opportunities, which sectors are poised for above-average growth, how to view public vs. private investments, how to adequately diversify your portfolio and how to navigate the volatility caused by the state-federal conflict.

Session Takeaways:

1. Cannabis as a true alternative asset class; the portfolio impact of low correlation
2. Understand deep cannabis investment due-diligence
3. Learn how to achieve adequate sector diversification
4. Sector hedging against future cannabis spot price movement
5. Investment, liquidity and exit opportunities

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More than almost any other industry, businesses in the cannabis industry need to be prepared for a crisis situation -- because it’s not a matter of if a crisis will hit; it’s a matter of when. Whether a loss of crop to wildfire, employees breaking the law, break-ins/robberies, pesticides in products, product malfunctions, facility raids or other anti-industry political actions -- the number of potential crises that can affect the cannabis industry is staggering. This session will provide attendees with the understanding of how to prepare for, anticipate and control any crisis situation. Attendees will leave being able to identify potential crisis situations, develop messaging strategies, response procedures and both internal and external communications protocols. Additionally, links to the NCIA Crisis Communications Manual (currently being developed), as well as a template crisis communications plan for use by members in their own businesses will be provided. We can’t always avoid a crisis. But responding in a strategic, honest, smart way will minimize the impact on the company’s reputation, bottom line and employee livelihood.

Session Takeaways:

1. How to prepare for a crisis situation: best practices, establishing procedures for managing a crisis and messaging do’s and don’ts for communicating with the media
2. How to anticipate a crisis situation: identifying the level and manner of the crisis, level of need for response, addressing liabilities and information sources
3. How to control the crisis: internal communication strategies and external communication protocols including developing a step-by-step action plan, identifying a spokesperson and establishing monitoring and response strategies 
4. Attendees will leave with a template crisis communications plan to implement for their own business
5. Attendees will leave “certified” as part of the NCIA Crisis Communications response team, and part of the industry’s community of influencers called upon to support the industry and association during times of crisis and negative stories

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This session will review lessons learned from the first four months of the new CA regulations. It will bring real world experience from operators and their lawyers. It will also focus on advice and guidance received from direct interaction with the state's regulators. The session will be relevant for operators in cultivation, manufacturing and dispensary businesses.

Session Takeaways:

1. An overview of the new CA regulations applicable to cultivation
2. An overview of the new CA regulations applicable to manufacturing
3. An overview of the new CA regulations applicable to dispensaries
4. What the CA regulators are saying about the new regulations
5. Changes that cannabis businesses may need to make to comply with CA regulations

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This session will explore the topics below in a panel format:

Varieties of Equity: Key distinctions between social justice and equity permit programs among California's 540 local governments, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and others.

Looking for Synergies: How creative thinking can be utilized to build mutually beneficial equity relationships (I.e., Who brings what resources to the table? How can the businesses mesh together to further each others success?), and why unlikely alliances are powerful and will allow the united cannabis industry to establish a strong equity base to exercise effective political capital and control local taxes and regulations.

Forming Political Alliances: Encouraging local governments to allocate money and other resources for equity startups to significantly increase their chances of success, and how political strategy is critical to survival in equity program jurisdictions where local governments often do not comprehend the unique challenges facing cannabis businesses.

Alternative Structures to Consider: An overview of the advantages and disadvantages of various options such as cooperatives, B corporations and worker-owned models.

Session Takeaways:

1. Understand that cannabis in California and other states is increasingly a highly regulated industry with a strong social justice or equity component.
2. Decide whether operating in a particular state or local jurisdiction with an equity program would be viable or beneficial for your business
3. Why you should think twice before trying to "game" an equity program
4. How to help build a superior, more workable, and more successful equity program through engagement with local policy makers
5. How to generate value from difference by understanding that creativity arises from difference, not from bland uniformity

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With the growth of the infused product industry and more brands entering the marketplace every day, budtender education is essential. Providing the gatekeepers to our industry with in-depth training on what our products are and how these products work in the body will empower sales associates to provide consumers with accurate and appropriate recommendations, ensuring consumers have the best possible experience when they leave the store. This also helps to ensure the brand’s message is being translated accurately at the point of sale. Today’s dispensary employees will have access to cutting-edge education platforms, including recently launched BUDTNDR. Leading brands need to set the gold standard for cannabis training and staff education if they want to set themselves apart from the competition, continue to propel sales, and move the industry forward. In this panel discussion, infused product manufacturers, dispensary owners and technology providers discuss the demand for more informed sales associates and the value of budtender training programs.

Session Takeaways:

1. Why do infused products manufacturers need to provide training on their products, and why do dispensary owners need to invest in training their budtenders? What is the value?
2. How do training programs differentiate your brand among its competitive set?
3. How are training programs effective for improving overall profitability?
4. What is the importance of training for dispensary owners looking to compete in the quickly expanding and changing retail cannabis market?
5. How do you create an informed culture of cannabis dispensary employees?

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Who should get invited to the cannabis regulation development table? Are you part of the conversation in your location? Should you be? As more states and municipalities legalize in one form or another, regulators are charged with developing the rules that govern the industry; many times with little experience in practical applications of those regulations for the businesses that must follow them. As members of the industry with intimate knowledge of what works and what doesn't, we must be a collaborative partner in the developments. This won't work in an adversarial environment and it is up to us as cannabis trailblazers to change the attitudes within our industry and with regulators crafting rules. We will discuss tools and approaches to work together with regulators as a unified voice ensuring sensible, effective and realistic policies now and in the future. Utilizing key steps of positive relationships for individual businesses as well as new locations.

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This interactive panel discusses practical tips cannabis companies can use when entering contracts to avoid future disputes – and to position themselves to win if such disputes arise.  The four attorney panel, a deal lawyer, an experienced mediator and arbitrator, and two business litigation attorneys all with experience working with cannabis companies will share their perspectives, using real-world business hypotheticals to illustrate their tips.  The panel will focus on (i) disputes that may arise from agreements among founders, claims over intellectual property ownership, letters of intent, financing terms, and leases; and (ii) how provisions regarding alternative dispute resolution, indemnification, limitations on liability, and attorneys’ fees factor into the analysis.

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This session will review how pharmaceutical and food manufacturers use data capture at different stages of production to track inventory, plan production, and insure traceability, and how these practices can be applied to manufacturing cannabis infused edibles.

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As states and localities continue to legalize cannabis for recreational use, accessibility to venues where cannabis users can legally consume has lagged. This panel will discuss why that may be, including an exploration of the inherent risks of operating an onsite consumption business. It will further discuss the ways in which these risks can be mitigated through conscientious business practices, effective insurance coverage, and scientific advances.

Session Takeaways:

1. Detail current status of nationwide ability to consume cannabis in commercial locations
2. Explore different types of public consumption businesses (i.e., at dispensaries, cannabis consumption clubs, hotels, restaurants, etc.)
3. Flesh out why a number of states and localities that have legalized recreational cannabis have nonetheless been reticent to allow public consumption areas
4. Identify operational risks inherent in providing access to onsite consumption areas and how these risks can be mitigated through insurance, scientific advances, and otherwise.
5. Develop a set of best practices for those engaged in onsite consumption businesses

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Your brand is your best asset and it is even more important for businesses without a storefront. This presentation led by award-winning industry leaders will focus specifically on how dispensary owners, manufacturers and cultivators can market and brand their business from day one. At the foundation is a strategic marketing plan and strong messaging to create a product that resonates with customers. Manufacturers will learn how to utilize wholesale channels to develop alliances and maximize brand visibility before it reaches dispensary shelves. Cultivators will discover how to drive brand awareness so they don't fall into the commoditized market when prices are driven down. Dispensary owners will learn how to integrate branding into overall facility design and create a unique and memorable retail experience.

Session Takeaways:

1. Learn best practices for building your brand and how to tailor it for retail or wholesale markets (hint: it doesn't start with your logo).
2. Creating relationships with vendors and cultivators that align with your brand and retail vision.
3. Leveraging store environment to your competitive advantage by designing a unique and memorable retail experience.
4. Discover how to integrate and execute brand positioning through company visuals, wholesale channels, and design.
5. Understand how to incorporate original educational content and resources into your branding and design, as well as services that might not be directly related to cannabis.

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Leaders of successful cannabis businesses are significantly outnumbered by potential investors and partners who want into the industry. Unfortunately, there is very little information available to support cannabis business-leaders making difficult decisions about which investors and partnerships to accept. On top of that, accepting money from the wrong investor, or licensing your brand to the wrong partner, could sink your business. This session will educate business owners about industry-specific risk factors to consider when making this important decision, and provide tips on how to approach due diligence on potential investors and partners.

Session Takeaways:

1. Attendees should understand how to go beyond a basic background check
2. Attendees should learn how to identify business risk, financial risk and reputational risk
3. Attendees should walk away with a comprehensive checklist of the types of questions and information they should be asking potential partners
4. Attendees should understand key due diligence activities
5. Attendees should understand what to expect from a due diligence process and how long it takes

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This session is an in-depth discussion regarding the optimization of production processes and parametric equipment tuning to improve yield of target compounds and products. This discussion will begin with a primer on the chemical mechanisms of dissolution with solvents such as carbon dioxide, butane, and ethanol. This will include a quantitative demonstration of the primary parameters with any solvent extraction. We will proceed to an exercise in meaningfully defining production and extraction across a range of product types, from bulk production processing to high-purity fractionated compounds. Finally, we will cover basic techniques for computationally modeling the parameters of extraction and post-processing for optimal efficiency. This presentation will be geared towards production scale processes but will provide valuable insight for all producers and patients with interest in solvent extraction.

Session Takeaways:

1. How compounds are dissolved and what the parameters involved in the rate and completeness of the dissolution of individual compounds.
2. How extraction processes can be modified to produce different products, and how we define the optimal methods for producing those products.
3. The efficiency goals that should be considered when planning to produce one or many products.
4. The process considerations beyond yield, and how operational costs, contamination risks, and safety concerns can be mitigated.
5. How to set up a trial to maximize efficiency and minimize negative factors quickly and accurately.

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This session will review the unique opportunities and benefits of implementing an intellectual property business model in the cannabis industry. The panel will provide valuable insights in launching biotech companies, developing a national cannabis brand and establishing and managing patent portfolios. Panelists will discuss how an IP holding company can establish a national brand, maximize shareholder value, and execute a multi-state expansion strategy, and why that structure is so important in the cannabis industry.

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The legal status of hemp and CBD is complex, evolving, and mostly misunderstood. This session will clarify important distinctive aspects of hemp and CBD, review the positions of federal agencies such as the DEA and FDA, and discuss banking and merchant processing issues.  

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This panel will discuss two cutting-edge business, technological, and legal issues of the day: cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. As both are on the verge of reaching mainstream appeal and cryptocurrencies may play a significant role in the future - it is a relevant topic for cannabis business owners and investors. Federal and state legislators and agencies are playing catch-up with these topics, and current laws are way behind the market. Consequently, there are many practical, business, and legal issues that are ambiguous and unestablished. Panelists will share real-life case studies, including business acquisition transactions where the purchase price was paid in cryptocurrency. This panel will share information on cryptocurrencies and smart contracts, and how they impact the cannabis industry.

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