Entrepreneurs

Milan Patel is the founder and CEO of PathogenDx, the biotechnology innovator behind the leading microbial testing kits available to cannabis testing labs.

Keith Burkard is the founder and CEO of Last Leaf, a gourmet cannabis-infused foods company in California.

Holistic Solutions — the first Black woman-owned cannabis dispensary in New Jersey — opens this week in Waterford.

New York’s emerging adult-use cannabis industry is the most anticipated new market since California and even non-cannabis companies — like the Koffee Kat cafe in Plattsburgh — are adapting to the changing tides.

In the second installment of our 2023 predictions series, we asked experts in cannabis science, cultivation, and agricultural technology — as well as industrial hemp and psychedelics — to weigh in with their industry expectations for the next year.

Welcome to the first installment of our 2023 Cannabis Industry Predictions series, featuring the voices and opinions of experts in cannabis retail, branding, education, and consumer packaged goods.

Caroline Yeh is the co-founder and CEO of TSUMo Snacks, which offers savory infused snacks in California.

Longtime cannabis advocate, author, entrepreneur, and investor Steve DeAngelo published an op-ed this week that decries the cannabis industry’s drive for “scale” and calls for the widespread return of small, artisan operators.

While 19 states have opted to legalize adult-use cannabis, those states still cannot guarantee regular access to safe and regulated cannabis products thanks to controversial industry opt-out clauses for municipalities, towns, and counties.

As cannabis industry operations become more and more costly, female-led cannabis companies are finding it more difficult to raise capital than male-owned firms.

Gentlemen Smugglers is a new Massachusetts cannabis brand co-founded by Barry “Flash” Foy, a smuggler-turned-entrepreneur who served 11 years in prison under federal drug kingpin charges.

Lilli Keinaenen is the Founder and Designer at Changemaker Creative, a sustainability-focused cannabis branding and packaging firm.

Arshad Lasi is CEO and co-founder of The Nirvana Group, a vertically integrated Oklahoma cannabis company.

Martine Pierre is the Founder and CEO of Cannalution, a community platform built to support and connect Black and brown cannabis entrepreneurs.

Berner, CEO of Cookies, is the first cannabis industry executive to grace the cover of Forbes magazine.

TaJanna Mallory is CEO of CannAssistants, a virtual assistant agency that provides support to midsize cannabis companies, founders, and executives.

Mattie Mead is co-founder & CEO of Hempitecture, a Public Benefit Corporation and sustainable hemp building materials company based in Idaho.

Judy Yee is the CEO and co-founder of K-Zen, a cannabis beverages company based in California.

Tammy Pettigrew is founder of The Cannabis Cutie — an online, education-focused cannabis platform and community — and co-host of 106 & Spark, a cannabis-infused hip-hop countdown show.

Cara Wietstock meets with Kim Myles, host and designer for the new reality series High Design on Discovery+, where she travels around the country bringing her interior design wisdom to independently-owned cannabis dispensaries.