CWCBExpo Helps to Build East Coast Cannabis Market
CWCBExpo New York 2022 highlighted industry icons, trail blazers, visionaries,
The Honorable Mayor Eric Adams, and The Office of Cannabis Management
at its 8th Annual conference and expo at the Javits Center.
Show Floor Highlights
Exhibitors, sponsors, attendees and speakers networked on the show floor and at after-hour events, keeping the business discussions going and flowing.
Education Pavilion
Continuing the commitment to support education, the show floor featured an environment for those colleges that have cannabis curricula to exhibit their offerings. This show floor feature has helped to further tear down the stigma of cannabis and help highlight the most progressive learning opportunities. Many of these colleges are seeking to attract and partner with exhibiting companies and business owners who were at CWCBExpo to educate their workforces and communities.
Women Grow Pavilion
In keeping with helping to build the marketplace and industry, the Women Grow Pavilion featured 30 entrepreneurs who are leading female-owned cannabis-related businesses who exhibited their new products and innovations.
Proud Mary Lounge
We proudly celebrated Pride Month with the Proud Mary Lounge. Co-founded by Brie Brewer, Proud Mary advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the cannabis industry. Proud Mary exhibited for the first time ever in a cannabis trade show and created the Proud Mary Lounge where everyone was welcome to relax and network in an inclusionary environment.
She Blaze Podcast
Hosted by Dasheeda Dawson and Ice Dawson, the award winning podcast went live from the show floor and interviewed our exhibitors, attendees and speakers.
Conference Highlights
Headliners, Keynotes, and Roundtables
The conference was kicked off with an informative industry update, “Trends and Opportunities in Marijuana and Hemp,” presented by Amanda Reiman, Vice President Policy Research, New Frontier Data. It was a great start to the first-day’s theme which was focused on investment.
The two investment-focused roundtables were presented with trailblazers and pioneers in the industry. One was, “Roundtable: Investors – Weed Meets Wall Street.”
Business leaders included: Terry Booth, CEO, Audacious/Australis Capital (AUSA); Steve Abraham, Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, The Blinc Group; Jay Czarkowski, Founding Partner, Canna Advisors; Chip Daniels, Founder, State Stox Group; moderated by Carl Cameron, Journalist.
The other roundtable was, “Beverages – Where is the Greenest Grass Growing and Flowing?” with industry business leaders: Tracy Mason, Co-Founder and CEO, House of Saka; Ron Shapira, CFA, Founder, Mosaic Advisory Partners; Ken VandeVrede, CEO Hillview Med; moderated by Christopher Smith, American Cannabis Report.
The attendees were captivated with the discussion about the future that beverages and cannabis have and how it can flourish.
CWCBExpo New York continued our Keynote, “In Conversation With…” series with Weedmaps CEO, Chris Beals, who spoke with Mona Zhang, States Cannabis Policy Reporter, Politico. They spoke to a packed audience about the history of Weedmaps and its success across the nation in promoting safe consumption and inclusion, and what’s next.
We also heard from Hip-Hop icon, actor, author and co-founder of the National Cannabis Party, Redman. Redman’s Keynote, “In Conversation With…” was with Steve Bloom, Publisher and Editor of CelebStoner.com, former Editor of High Times and former Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Leaf. The discussion was energetic and riveting as Steve and Redman discussed Redman’s climb in music, pop-culture and activism. We learned about Redman’s most recent journey as co-founder of the National Cannabis Party.
The Keynote Conversations continued with Nick Kovacevich, CEO of Greenlane Holdings talking with Tim Seymour, Co-Anchor of CNBC’s Fast Money. The audience heard about Nick’s pioneering journey as co-founder and chair of KushCo Holdings and his rise to Greenlane Holdings, which merged with KushCo Holdings in 2021. Nick’s leadership has led to the success and growth of Greenlane Holdings.
An Historic Year for New York
Honorable Eric Adams, 110th Mayor of New York City
In this historic year of legalized cannabis in New York, Mayor Eric Adams came to CWCBExpo and brought greetings and special remarks to attendees.
The audience heard first-hand about Mayor Adams’ support of the emerging cannabis and hemp industries.
Update on Licensing from Tremaine Wright, Chair of the New York Cannabis Control Board
Gia Moron, President of Women Grow and Founder of GVM Communications, spoke with Tremaine Wright, Chair of the NYS Cannabis Control Board. The audience received an update on NYS cannabis licensing. An enthusiastic Q/A period was had. Chair Wright walked the floor afterward and visited exhibitors.
Licensing and the Illicit Market
City and State Collaboration
Social Equity in Cannabis
The session, “Roundtable: Social Equity – Progress & Needed Change,” featured industry business owners, executives and professionals who have been working toward an equitable and fair cannabis industry for people of color, women, and all minorities. While progress has been made, much more needs to be done and all eyes are on NYS to implement a cannabis program that is the model for the entire nation regarding social equity provisions.
The audience heard from Jerel Registre, Fund Managing Director, Curio Wellness; Faye Coleman, Founder and CEO, Pure Genesis; Leo Bridgewater, Co-founder, Collective 60 New Jersey; Carlyn S. Buckler, Associate Professor Cornell University, School of Practice School of Integrative Plant Science, Chair of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Diversity and Inclusion Committee; moderated by Tanya Osborne, Founder CannaDiva, LLC, Director of Community Engagement and Digital Production for Women Grow.
Master Session Workshop: Dispensaries
With the wave of legalization across the USA for medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis, owning a dispensary has become a desirable goal for many as it can be quite lucrative. This workshop went through the entire real-life experience of owning a dispensary. Attendees heard from east and west coast dispensary owners, retailers, and designers about getting a license and owning, maintaining, expanding, and selling a dispensary.
The workshop was moderated by Calvin Frye, Cannabis Pioneer and Entrepreneur, Founder Cloneville, while the speakers included: Faye Coleman, Founder/CEO, Pure Genesis; Nichelle Santos, Founder/CEO, Canna Coverage; Angela Wright, Founder/CEO, National Botanical Company; Neil Kaufman, Managing Member, Kaufman-McGowan, PLLC; Mitzi Keating, Citrin Cooperman; Harry Carpenter, Citrin Cooperman; Colleen Higgins, RPh, Pharmacist; Bob Kassoff, VP, Sales and Marketing, Wilson Safe Company; Norman Chevlin, Founder and CEO, Plant Your Financial Seed; Dario Boyce, Project Manager, Anderson Porter Design; Greg Miller, President of Retail, Curio Wellness.
Cannabis and Lifestyle
We were proud to provide a platform for several roundtables and sessions that highlighted living a healthy life with cannabis, as well as making good and responsible decisions when consuming cannabis. Roundtables on sustainability, health and wellness and cultivation were featured. The panelists included business owners, cultivators, industry experts, and technologists.
The sustainability session, Roundtable: Eco-Conscious Cannabis, discussed the important questions such as: How was your cannabis grown? Did it get produced, grown, harvested, extracted, packaged, stored and sold with sustainability and eco-safety in mind? Do you care and do you know about the safety standards and the supply chain of how that cannabis you bought was grown and how it was handled all the way through to sale for consumption?
Attendees heard from knowledgeable panelists about the importance of maintaining a sustainable environment: Matthew Broxterman, Director of Sales, Boulder Creek Technologies; Jason Thomas, Founding Partner, Precision Quality Compliance; Kyle Georges, VP Sales and Business Development, Maratek Environmental; George Stantchev, CEO, COMERG; moderated by Carl Cameron.
A Health & Wellness session, Roundtable: Living a Healthy Life with Cannabis, heard from business owners and supporters of a healthy lifestyle while incorporating cannabis. The discussions focused on regimens of infused products, edibles, food preparation, CBD oils, vaping and exercise.
Panelists included Jenny Argie, Founder and Owner, Jenny’s Home Baked Goods; Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, Co-Founder/CEO The Blinc Group; Rob Mejia, Adjunct Professor, Stockton University, Cannabis Studies Department; moderated by Christina DiGiovanni, Founder and CEO, The Emerald.
The session, Roundtable: Cultivation, highlighted important topics that must be considered in cultivation, such as artificial intelligence, genetics, quality control, and effective and intelligent grow methods.
Speakers included, Ian Seiferling, CEO, Adaviv; Calvin Frye, Founder, Cloneville; moderated by Gretchen Gailey, Chief Strategist, CWCBExpo.
Networking Events
Attendees, speakers, and exhibitors took part in networking events that allowed the business-building to continue after the show floor closed. CWCBExpo’s Cannabis Week, which ran from May 31 – June 5, allowed the New York business community to take part in numerous special events that sparked mind-share, education, fun, and business opportunities.
Congratulations to NORML and Curved Papers for another successful NORML FORML. Advocacy is an important part of our industry and this is always a wonderful event to kick-off CWCBExpo.
Our Networking Mixer, sponsored by Weedmaps, the Spleef after-party and the Industry Yacht Party were well attended events. CWCBExpo thanks all participants!
Thank you to our Sapphire Sponsor, and to our Networking Mixer, After-Party, Yacht Party and other sponsors:
