Marijuana Business Magazine September 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2019 144 F areed Khan enjoyed a successful career that included an ascendant tenure at the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey and Co. and a long stint as CEO of USG Building Systems in Chicago, where he was responsible for more than 9,000 employees. Khan spent the past eight years as chief financial officer (CFO) of major interna- tional businesses that included The Kellogg Co. But Khan was ready for a change and open to new business sectors. “I wasn’t looking for a particular industry, I was looking for a particular situation,” he said. As it turned out, Surterra Wellness, the fast-growing multi- state marijuana company in Atlanta, was looking for a CFO, and it offered the kind of situation Khan wanted. “In terms of where the industry is in its life cycle and where Surterra is in its development, that is very compelling,” Khan said of the opportunity. “I’m excited to be in a small business setting and be in on the ground floor.” Khan, who met with CEO WilliamWrigley Jr. before taking the job, said his skills are well-suited for a company with Surterra’s ambitions. “I have consumer products experience, I’ve been around brands and global businesses, and I’m familiar with complex supply chains.” Khan said. He added that a good CFO doesn’t just crunch numbers but understands a company’s operations, branding, growth strategy and other aspects. That’s especially important for executives with companies in industries with evolving and often-changing markets and regulations. “You can’t do a good job as CFO without a high level of appreciation for those skills,” said Kahn, who started in August. “That’s relevant to Surterra because we are a growth company that wants to continue to expand, and there’s a need to be able to pivot.” Surterra also added Drew Stoddard as executive vice president of direct-to-consumer marketing. Stoddard joins from Xcel Brands, where he was the chief marketing officer overseeing brands such as Isaac Mizrahi, Halston, C. Wonder and Judith Ripka Fine Jewelry. Kellogg CFO Joins Surterra Fareed Khan Industry Players | New Hires & Promotions Acreage Adds Ex-MedMen Exec, Supply-Chain Pro New York-based multistate operator Acreage Holdings appointed former MedMen executive Alfred Miranda as chief information officer and sen- ior vice president. The company also hired Laurence Wolfe , a supply-chain specialist, as its senior vice president of manufacturing and distribution. Miranda most recently served as senior vice president of technology at MedMen Enterprises, where he devel- oped an integrated, compliant seed- to-sale platform and point-of-sale (POS) system. Miranda will report to Chief Operating Officer Robert Daino. Before joining MedMen, Miranda served as vice president of web tech- nologies and product management at California payment solutions business CashCall; he also was senior director of consumer-facing technology at Los Angeles-based Herbalife Nutrition. Wolfe joins Acreage from Gartner, a business-services and advisory firm in Connecticut. He also was senior vice president of Heineken USA, where he was responsible for end- to-end supply-chain management across the United States, and served as director of supply chain in the Americas for Pernod Ricard. Acreage also appointed Rhonda Kratz as general manager in Florida. Kratz’s past posts include leading store organization for LensCrafters in North America from 2013 to 2015. Former MedMen VP Lands in Canada Flower One Holdings, a Toronto-based cannabis company, appointed Kellen O’Keefe as its chief strategy officer. O’Keefe most recently served as senior vice president of business development at MedMen, where he was responsible for capitalizing the business as well as sourcing and executing the company’s mergers and acquisitions transactions. O’Keefe By Omar Sacirbey A look at some recent hiring moves in the marijuana industry