Cannabis Movers & Shakers: BevCanna, Clear Cannabis, Green Hygienics, Turning Point, High Tide, GrowGen, And More

BevCanna Enterprises Hires 2 CPG Senior Sales Leaders

BevCanna Enterprises Inc. BEV BVNNF, a CBD-focused health and wellness, beverage and natural products company, has welcomed Raffael Kapusty and Bill Niarchos to its team to boost its expansion in the consumer packaged goods sector.

Kapusty, who was named vice-president of sales and insights, brings over 25 years of retail experience. Prior to this, he oversaw sales and marketing at Age Glacial Water Company.

Niarchos, who has over two decades of experience in the CPG goods industry, was named vice-president of sales and sales operations.

Previously he was director of sales with Bayer Consumer Health. He also spent over 14 years at Colgate Palmolive CL.

"As we continue our transformation into a diversified beverage and natural products company, we're adding capabilities in a number of key areas, and Raffael's and Bill's extensive experience across the North American retail sector will be invaluable to us as we move ahead with our expansion strategies," President Melise Panetta disclosed Tuesday.

Last month, the Vancouver company closed the acquisition of Naturo Group Investments Inc. The transaction resulted in improving BevCanna's balance sheet by more than $55 million in assets.

Clear Cannabis Promotes Seth Wiggins President

Clear Cannabis, Inc., a cannabis brand company and the licensor of The Clear concentrates has promoted Seth Wiggins to serve as president.

Prior to this, Wiggins served as CCI’s vice president of sales. He joined the company in 2017.

CCI covers both medical and adult-use markets. It licenses The Clear line cannabis concentrates and vaporizer cartridges across California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oklahoma.

CEO Tom Brooksher said Tuesday that Wiggins has been “part of our executive team since the company’s founding.”

“If Clear Cannabis were a car, Seth would be the engine,” Brooksher noted.

Brooksher was appointed to serve as the company’s CEO in May.          

Green Hygienics Appoints Ian Subel As Chairman Of Advisory Board

Hemp company Green Hygienics Holdings Inc. GRYN confirmed Tuesday has appointed Ian Subel to chair its new financial advisory board.

The San Diego-based company also welcomed David Mapely and Dylan Piccolo to the board.

Subel has been serving as managing director of Fogel Capital since 2011. Prior to this, he served as chief financial officer and treasurer at LifeFirms Group of Companies.

Mapely has over 35 years of finance experience, having worked at several international investment banks in New York, Hong Kong, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.

Piccolo brings over 15 years of capital-raising experience. His expertise includes the structuring and syndication of private placement products.

CEO Ron Loudoun believes that the newest additions to the team will "provide valuable guidance on the financial management of the company, including debt and capital market activities, as well as managing banking relationships and corporate financing strategies required to bring Green Hygienics from the development stage to large-scale commercial production.”

Green Hygienics recently strengthened its advisory board by appointing Daniel Claycamp, an expert in hemp extraction, refinement, crystallization, and remediation technologies.

In September, the company tapped investment banking firm Boustead Securities LLC to provide help on matters related to mergers and acquisitions, and capital raises, and restructuring assignments.

Turning Point Brands Promotes Louie Reformina To CFO

Turning Point Brands, Inc. TPB has promoted its current Chief Business Development Officer Louie Reformina to serve as its chief financial officer.

The decision is effective May 1, the company said Tuesday.

Reformina, who joined the company in 2019, replaces Bobby Lavan, who opted to part ways with the Louisville, Kentucky-based company to pursue other opportunities.

He has more than two decades of finance experience.

“The cannabis industry is an ever-evolving space," Reformina told Benzinga. "In my new role as CFO, at an NYSE-list company that is well capitalized, I look forward to seeing through new acquisition and investment opportunities that increases our exposure to this dynamic, high-growth industry." 

Simultaneously, the company confirmed promoting its Chief Accounting Officer Brian Wigginton from vice president to senior vice president.

According to its fourth-quarter earnings report, Turning Point generated $105.28 million in revenue. That’s an increase of 31.24% year-over-year.

The company said it expects its sales in the first quarter to range between $97 million-$102 million and between $412 million-$432 million for the full year.

High Tide Appoints Sean Geng As CTO Amid Merger With Smoke Cartel

Canadian cannabis retailer High Tide Inc. HITI HITIF confirmed Wednesday that Sean Geng, founder and CTO of Smoke Cartel, is poised to join the company as chief technology officer.

The appointment is connected with the recently announced acquisition of Smoke Cartel Inc. SMKC.

The Calgary-based company has purchased the e-commerce platform for consumption accessories, for $8 million, as a "part of our strategy to aggressively pursue M&A targets that can be immediately accretive to shareholders," High Tide's President and CEO Raj Grover disclosed.

At his new position, Geng will supervise all IT and e-commerce initiatives for High Tide on a global level.

Open Book Extracts Hires 2 Science Experts As Corporate Advisors

Open Book Extracts hired Dr. Emmanuelle Schuler, Ph.D., MBA, and Dr. John Weatherspoon, Ph.D., JD, to develop, protect, and commercialize IP as strategic corporate advisors.

Dr. Schuler is a founding member of the OBX scientific advisory board. She focuses on providing strategic management services to biotech and life science companies. Prior to this, Schuler led Johnson & Johnson's life science incubator, JLABS@TMC.

Dr. Weatherspoon, who will serve as an intellectual property advisor for the Roxboro, North Carolina-based company, is a registered US patent attorney. Prior to this, he served as Morgan Lewis and Winston Strawn's patent attorney. Weatherspoon is also co-founder of Affirmed Pharma, as well as an advisor at Mili Pharmaceuticals.

Dave Neundorfer, co-founder, and CEO explained Wednesday that "each appointee joining OBX comes from sectors outside the cannabis category and is a testament to the broad appeal of the industry and the unique opportunity to make an impact through OBX."

GrowGen Welcomes Jeffrey Lasher As CFO

GrowGeneration Corp. GRWG has tapped Jeffrey Lasher to oversee its financial department.

Lasher replaces Monty Lamirato, who opted to retire after serving as CEO since 2016.

Prior to joining the Denver-based company, Lasher worked at Crocs CROX for over five years, as well as Car Wash Group, Inc., now a division of Driven Brands Inc. DRVN. He was also CFO at Coravin Inc.

"As GrowGen continues to scale its business, with $1.0 billion in sales in our sights, Jeff brings to the Company the experience of a CFO who has managed several multiple billion-dollar companies," Lampert said.

GrowGen recently revealed it has achieved record full-year revenues of $193 million, representing an increase of 143% compared to 2019.

U.S. Cannabis Council Appoints Board To Support Federal Cannabis Legalization

U.S. Cannabis Council has formed its board of directors to fight federal cannabis prohibition.

The board consists of 48 cannabis CEOs as well as government relations experts and advocates.

It will act on behalf of cannabis consumers, supporters, and constituents across the country.

“Focusing on uniting voices from all parts of the cannabis industry and advocacy community, USCC is a unique catalyst of change,” the board member Rachel Knox disclosed.

Knox, who is an endocannabinologist and cannabinoid medicine specialist and Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine’s board chair, will serve as USCC’s interim treasurer.

Christina Lake Confirms Previously Announced Appointment Of Salvatore Milia

Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. CLC CLCFF has confirmed the previously announced appointment of Salvatore Milia to its board of directors.

In January, Milia obtained Health Canada’s clearance to assume the role of the board member.

Currently, Milia is overseeing the company’s recently formed research and development committee.

He brings vast experience in building large-scale information technology systems.

CLC’s CEO and Director Joel Dumaresq is “thrilled” to welcome Milia.

Dumaresq disclosed Friday he is looking forward “to tapping into his technological and systems management expertise to optimize and automate certain aspects of our crop development to consistently produce top-quality sun-grown cannabis.”

Kanabo Welcomes Michal Ben Moshe As General Manager

Medical cannabis company Kanabo Group Plc has hired Michal Ben Moshe to serve as general manager.

Ben Moshe agreed to oversee the operational execution of Kanabo’s business plan.

She has over two decades of leadership experience. Previously, she was senior director of Finance & Commercial Affairs at S.L.E. Ltd, the Israel-based company that’s part of Teva Group.

“The additional management bandwidth that she provides will enable us to accelerate the evaluation and roll-out of new market entries, distributor network expansion, and strategic partnerships,” CEO Avihu Tamir stated Friday.

Eric David Joins Streaming Television Channel Cannacted Ahead Of Premiere

Advertising expert Eric David has joined Cannected, a new streaming television channel focused on cannabis programming that launches on April 20.

During his career, the award-winning creative director has worked for a number of household names, including Aflac, Liberty Mutual, Napa Auto Parts, Chase, Outback Steakhouse, Burger King, and Heineken, to name a few.

“Advertising has historically been accused of selling things to people that they don’t need,” David stated.

“Learning about the extraordinary health benefits of cannabis through this channel will change that paradigm forever,” he added.

Besides David, other television executives and streaming media professionals opted to join Cannacted, including Kerri Accardi, founder of 420MEDIA.

Cannected will be featured on several television streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV, and LG Channels.