MJBizMag November-December 2020 - 126

IndustryPlayers | New Hires & Promotions
By Omar Sacirbey
A look at some recent
hiring moves in the
marijuana industry
Dual Degrees
W
hen
attorney
Riana
Layke
Martin
Durrett departed
her post after five
years as executive
director of the
Nevada Dispensary
Association, the group
sought a replacement
who had the legal and
educational expertise
to navigate ongoing
regulatory changes
to the state's cannabis industry and help members
better understand the market's compliance rules.
An NDA board member contacted Layke Martin,
a practicing attorney and the assistant dean for
external affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
law school. At the university, Martin oversaw alumni
relations, communications, events and fundraising.
She taught courses at the law school and at UNLV's
School of Public Policy and Leadership.
Martin, who practiced business litigation for nearly
five years with local law firm Marquis Aurbach Coffing,
saw NDA as a good fit for her skill set and accepted an
offer to become the groupʼs new executive director.
Since she started Sept. 8, Martin has been busy
working with a new state Cannabis Compliance Board
that is soliciting comments on proposed rules about
employee training and public companies.
As a professor and former dean of external
relations, Martin is well-versed in drafting and
disseminating educational and informational
resources as well as building relationships and
organizational infrastructure. She's now applying
those skills at NDA.
" My past experience comes in with really
strengthening the infrastructure of the organization, "
said Martin, who was awarded Young Lawyer of
the Year by the State Bar of Nevada in 2015 and
recognized in Vegas Inc.'s " 40 Under 40 " in 2016.
" There's a lot of member demand for compliance
topics-everything from inventory control to
recordkeeping to packaging and labeling to
employment law and HR to security. ... Our effort is to
promote best practices. "
NorCal Tag Team
Douglas Cortina stepped down as CEO of San
Francisco-based NorCal Cannabis Co., a vertically
integrated operator he co-founded in 2014. Cortina
will remain with the company as board member and
strategic director.
Jigar Patel, co-founder and
president, and David Hofflich,
who most recently served as chief
financial officer, were appointed
co-CEOs of NorCal. Earlier in his
career, Hofflich was a controller
with financial services giant UBS
and an auditor at Arthur Andersen. In
addition to co-founding NorCal, Patel is president of
Jigar Patel Wines, which he founded in 2008.
Jigar Patel
Connecticut Grow COO Now Also President
Rino Ferrarese, co-founder and chief operating
officer of CTPharma, one of four licensed medical
marijuana cultivators in Connecticut, now also holds
the title of president. He succeeds Tom Schultz, who
was killed in a bicycle accident in August. Ferrarese
and Schultz co-founded CTPharma in 2014.
Baltimore Marijuana Firm Gets Retail Specialist
Culta, a vertically integrated cannabis firm based
in Baltimore, hired Jonathan Lassiter as its vice
president of retail sales. In this role, he will be
responsible for direct-to-consumer sales at the
company's flagship dispensary in Baltimore.
Before Culta, Lassiter was a sales veteran at
Guitar Center for 17 years, rising through the
ranks from store manager to district manager at
increasingly high-volume stores. In his previous
post as district manager, he oversaw 12 music
retail locations valued at more than $50 million
in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. He
developed core skills in store design, planograms,
inventory assortment, logistics and supply chains.
Cronos CEO Out
Cronos Group, an international cannabis company
based in Toronto, replaced former CEO Mike
Gorenstein with Kurt Schmidt, an experienced
consumer packaged goods executive.
Schmidt's appointment was the result of a
yearlong search for a " consumer-focused executive
who shares the company's values and can help
take us to the next level, " Gorenstein said in a news
release. Gorenstein was appointed executive chair of
Cronos' board of directors.
126 Marijuana Business Magazine | November-December 2020
Layke Martin
MJBizMag November-December 2020

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