Marijuana Business Magazine November December 2018

Mohamed, Acreage’s senior process engineer and trainer, and Prichard, the company’s senior talent and brand ambassador, also are co-founders of Live Resin. Mohamed is a veteran lab designer and builder, while Prichard was a co-host of Viceland’s award-nominated show “Bong Appetite” and has advised well-known cannabis brands. MedMen's Board of Directors Grows Los Angeles-based MedMen appointed Benjamin Rose as nonexecutive chairman of its board of directors. Since 2012, Rose has served as chief investment officer of Wicklow Capital, an active, early stage investor in cannabis, blockchain technology, biotechnology and other sectors. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also joined MedMen's board. The board is now comprised of nine members, six of whom are independent directors. Cresco Labs Adds Communications Chief to Staff Illinois-based Cresco Labs, a medical cannabis company present in six states, hired veteran communications strategist Jason Erkes as its first chief communications officer. Erkes, a former journalist and entrepreneur, has served as a consultant to the company for three years. US-Focused Acquisitions Company Hires Communications and Branding Specialist C21 Investments, a Vancouver, Canada-based acquisi- tions firm that focuses on U.S. marijuana companies, hired John Dempsey , a communications and branding specialist. Dempsey spent the past three years at Wieden + Kennedy, a full-service global creative agency based in Portland, Oregon, that oversees digital strategy for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Old Spice, Anki Robotics and others. Board Taps Investment, State Department Vet Financial services executive Maliz Beams joined the Cannabis Investment Network Advisory Board. Beams will help the Bellevue, Washington, investment firm with its growth and investment strategies. Beams most recently served as a U.S. State Department counselor and adviser to former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She was responsible for strategy and implementation of the redesign and restructuring of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. Previously, Beams served as CEO of Voya Financial Retirement Solutions. Before joining Voya Financial, Beams was the president of individual and institutional businesses at the financial services giant TIAA-CREF, today known as TIAA. Former Wellness of Maine Exec Takes CEO Post at Software Firm The board of directors at Strimo, a software company that offers manufacturing tracking, accounting and sales management tools for the cannabis industry, appointed Jacques Santucci as CEO. Santucci, one of the founders of Wellness Connection of Maine, formed Strimo in 2016. Steep Investment Merida Capital Partners increased its stake in California- based testing company Steep Hill and selected Dr. Andrew Rosenstein as interim CEO. Rosenstein replaces Jmîchaele Keller , who has retired for health reasons. Rosenstein, a physician from Maryland with experience building and operating cannabis testing laboratories, has served on the Steep Hill board and is a licensee of the company. He currently operates Steep Hill Maryland, Steep Hill Pennsylvania and Steep Hill Washington DC. As part of Merida’s increased investment, Jeffrey Monat, a partner at Merida, has joined the Steep Hill board of directors. California Grow Leader Gets New Gig Hezekiah Allen , who took the reins of the California Growers Association in 2014, when it was still known as the Emerald Growers Association, stepped down to spearhead a new holding company to promote cannabis cultivation cooperatives. Allen, who was appointed chair of the Emerald Grown board, wants cooperatives to account for 30% of the Golden State’s cannabis market. Maliz Beams Jacques Santucci Hezekiah Allen 164 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November/December 2018