Cannabis companies ramp up hiring

Welcome to Cultivated, our weekly newsletter where we're bringing you an inside look at the deals, trends, and personalities driving the multibillion-dollar global cannabis boom.

Sign up here to get it in your inbox every week.

If you want a discount to BI Prime to read our stories, sign up here!

Happy Friday everyone,

We've got a quick edition for you all today. This week, I got an exclusive on a new report from Vangst, Leaflink, and Flowhub about the cannabis industry's outlook for 2020 and beyond, my colleague John Lynch scored an interview with Magic Johnson about his new CBD partnership, and more.

Hope you all have enjoyable weekends!

Jeremy

Here's what we wrote about this week:

Cannabis companies that weathered the pandemic are staffing up to prepare for huge shifts to the industry. A top recruiting firm shares the 3 skills that will be key to landing a job.

Cannabis companies say they plan on ramping up hiring, according to a new report from Vangst, Leaflink, and Flowhub.

For companies that have weathered the pandemic, sales, marketing, and IT roles will be a priority, as the industry shifts toward e-commerce rather than in-store sales.

Magic Johnson on his new partnership with a CBD retailer and the start of the NBA bubble

This one's from my colleague, John Lynch, who scored an interview with Magic Johson about his new partnership with Uncle Bud's Hemp.

Johnson talked about why he's making moves into the CBD-and-hemp space, the NBA bubble, and his thoughts on the rise in COVID-19 cases in California.

Executive moves

• Greenlane Holdings has made a slew of changes to its executive team. William Mote, previously the CFO of Basic Fun, joins as CFO, and William Bine, previously an SVP at Crocs, Inc, joins as COO, among other appointments.
• Briana Dougherty Chester has joined cannabis PR shop Mattio Communications as a partner in Los Angeles. She joins the company after a stint at MedMen and Cove PBC.

Deals, launches, and policy moves

• The US House of Representatives approved an appropriations amendment by a vote of 254-163 to protect state-legal cannabis businesses from federal interference. Specifically, the amendment would prevent the federal government from using any funds to prosecute individuals or businesses operating cannabis businesses in compliance with state law.
• Jushi Holdings is upsizing its debt financing to $33.3 million from an initial close of $15.25 million.
• Canadian Securities Exchange-listed iAnthus Capital is recapitalizing in a move that will mostly wipe out shareholder value, reports The Deep Dive. The two scenarios laid out would leave shareholders with either 2.75% equity in the cannabis company or none at all.

What we're reading

Fake businesses are fooling real banks into processing online drug purchases (Wall Street Journal)

As new pot licenses delayed indefinitely, global accounting firm pockets $7M from state to rank applicants (Chicago Sun-Times)

SEC complaint: 400 investors defrauded of $25M for supposed marijuana farm, CBD extraction facility (Hemp Industry Daily)

Critics of "Big Weed" fret over retail cannabis slotting fees (WeedWeek)