This Week's Cannabis Career Moves: Khiron, Flora Growth, Agrify, Hempsmart And More

As Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference returns (September 13-14) in Chicago, gathering top CEOs, investors, and leaders in the cannabis industry, let's scroll through the latest leadership changes within the space.

Khiron Taps Helen Bellwood To Be Interim CFO

Khiron Life Sciences Corp. KHRN KHRNF confirmed Monday that Helen Bellwood has been appointed Interim CFO. Bellwood, who previously served as head of finance for the company's European operations, replaces Swapan Kakumanu of RTB LLP, effective immediately.

Bellwood, who is based in London, currently oversees Khiron's finance department in Europe.

Alvaro Torres, Khiron CEO and Director, welcomed Bellwood to the role.

"Having worked closely with Helen, we have full confidence in her experience, financial leadership, and business acumen to assume this important role at Khiron, as we continue to grow our operations in Europe and Latin America," he said. "The UK has become and continues to be more significant to Khiron´s overall revenue and profitability, with more than 1 million CAD in revenue just in the first quarter of this year, and a clear path towards short-term EBITDA positivity."

Flora Growth Names New CFO

Finance expert Elshad Garayev is joining Flora Growth Corp.’s FLGC leadership team as the new CFO. Garayev will take on his new role following the company's mid-year financial results announcement. Until then, he will serve as vice president of finance. Garayev has more than 25 years of experience in finance. Prior to joining the Flora team, he served in a variety of financial leadership roles at companies such as Amazon.com, Inc AMZN, Boeing BP and RPK Capital.

“Mr. Garayev is a deeply talented and experienced individual, and I am thrilled to welcome him to the Flora team at this exciting time in the company’s evolution,” Luis Merchan, the company’s chairman and CEO, said.

Agrify Strengthens Leadership Team With New Appointments

Agrify Corporation AGFY recently announced several leadership changes to further support its growth initiatives. The Billerica, Massachusetts-based company tapped Ocean 14 Capital’s Max Holtzman to serve on its board of directors as an independent director. He previously served as senior advisor to the United States Secretary of Agriculture.

Stuart Wilcox, a former Curaleaf Holdings Inc.'s CURA CURLF executive, agreed to serve as Agrify’s new chief operating officer. Wilcox previously served as the company’s board of directors and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.

Chris Benyo, who is part of Agrify’s management team since January 2022, has been promoted to the newly created role of a chief revenue officer. Prior to this, he served as senior vice president and general manager for the company’s extraction division.

Thomas Massie, the company’s former president and chief operating officer opted to resign from Agrify’s board of directors in order to pursue other business opportunities.

“We are excited to announce these important leadership changes as we continue to make significant progress on our growth strategy and achieve our goal of becoming the most vertically integrated solution provider in the cannabis industry,” Raymond Chang, the company’s CEO and chairman of the board, said.

Marijuana Company of America Names Marco Guerrero HempSMART Advisor

Marijuana Company of America Inc. MCOA has tapped former director Marco Guerrero to serve as special advisor to its hempSMART South American division. Guerrero stepped down from MCOA's board of directors on July 1 to work with the company as a non-executive advisor to the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Hempsmart Global Inc., the parent company of MCOA's Latin American hempSMART joint venture serving medical users in Brazil.

“Brazil, with a sales potential of hundreds of millions of consumers, is central to our vision for expansion,” Jesus Quintero, CEO, and CFO of MCOA, said. “While the US CBD market has matured and is saturated with brands, we believe there is an early market entrant advantage for us entering the market with our established hempSMART brand.”

Open Book Extracts Names New CFO & VP of HR

Open Book Extracts has appointed Ryan Schroeder as chief financial officer and Steven Ferrell as vice president of human resources.

Schroeder brings the experience of scaling small and mid-size companies, from Medterra to Full Swing Golf, with strong financial planning and analysis experience from a decade in finance with Callaway Golf ELY. Ferrell is a seasoned human resource professional with a proven background in supporting the cannabis industry since 2017. Most recently, he served as the senior HR director with Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TRUL TCNNF.

"Schroeder and Ferrell will serve key roles as we position OBX for sustainable, long-term value creation – their diverse backgrounds will undoubtedly play a key factor in our future growth," Dave Neundorfer, OBX CEO, said. “They are both high-impact executives who bring a compelling blend of strategic and capital allocation discipline, well-honed operating skills, and transformational leadership abilities."

Meet Flora Growth’s Luis Merchan, MCOA’s Jesus M. Quintero, and a slew of other cannabis execs, entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, etc. at the September Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, Sept. 13-14 in Chicago. Get your tickets HERE and reserve your spot at the Palmer House Hotel HERE.

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