Business Innovations

Rooted in Compliance

By Rachelle Gordon A New Education Platform Gives Retailers an Edge

Calling cannabis compliance “complex” would be a major understatement. Navigating the everchanging regulatory landscape while adhering to strict and often subjective rules can be extremely difficult and frustrating, especially when an operator’s license is on the line.

Many cannabis companies have been subjected to serious fines or license revocations due to violations. Mistakes can vary from lacking proper security to disregarding customer privacy at the retail level. Improper labeling, selling over the legal limit, or failing to keep accurate records are also common, yet preventable errors that could spell certain doom for a cannabis business.

Rootwurks is a new learning experience platform that raises the bar for cannabis education while ensuring operators remain compliant as the industry changes. Developed with Vicente Sederberg — industry leaders in law and policy — the comprehensive Rootwurks platform goes above and beyond to help businesses thrive through its holistic approach and innovative training methodology.

A deep passion for the plant and an honest desire to see the market succeed inspires the Rootwurks team to keep striving for excellence and collaboration. Chase Eastman, founder and CEO, saw his mother find relief with cannabis while she battled cancer. It was an experience he would never forget but would not revisit professionally for two decades.

“Cannabis was not anything that I experimented with when I was young, but I saw it in that instance, and it changed my perception of cannabis as a psychedelic drug to cannabis as a medicine,” he recalled.

“Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by the plant, and have been watching the industry from afar.”

Eastman initially followed in his father’s footsteps, joining his dad’s food safety compliance and training company Alchemy Systems early in his career. A few years ago, Eastman re-connected with childhood friend Shawn Hauser, a partner at Vicente Sederberg. After careful consideration, the pair decided to join forces, launching Rootwurks in July 2021.

“We took 20 years of lessons from the food industry and applied it to what we built, tailoring the solution from the ground up to support the unique intricacies in the cannabis market,” Eastman said.

The initial content offered by Rootwurks was curated partially by the compliance team at Vicente Sederberg, leaning into its impressive array of expertise. To provide the most value to its clients, the company worked meticulously to conduct additional research on what it really needed to know.

“Anytime an operator had been dinged on an audit by a regulatory body, we pulled all that information and the corresponding fines, and then use that to prioritize the topics we cover,” Eastman explained.

“We spent nine months doing industry data scraping and public records requests to build a consolidated database of all the nonconformities that have been issued in the industry.”

Lessons run the gamut of manufacturing and retail compliance, including workplace safety, sanitation, and the proper way to verify customer IDs. High-level, overarching courses, as well as deep dives into subtopics are offered, covering every detail an employee across the vertical would need to know.

The Rootwurks platform provides initial compliance training along with reinforcement through three different modules. Operators can deploy an awareness module, which provides all the pertinent information required by state law. A “micro” module provides bite-sized sessions laser-focused on specific components of the awareness modules.

Long-form certification modules are designed for supervisors or those on a cannabis career path that may call for more advanced knowledge.

Eastman and the team developed the multipronged approach to combat the so-called forgetting curve, a theory arguing the vast

RootWurks CEO and Founder Chase Eastman

majority of adults will lose nearly 8% of the information they learned within 30 days of training.

Rootwurks also allows operators to build jobspecific training checklists and offers assessment tools to monitor retention. Supervisors can deploy corrective action modules, ensuring staff mistakes are corrected and well-documented should the issue arise again.

“Our philosophy is that your path to compliance is your people, way more so than your SOPs being appropriately documented,” Eastman said. “At the end of the day, if your employees are not doing the job correctly, then you’re not compliant.”

Despite being a fairly young company, Rootwurks has an impressive array of solutions in its toolkit, with more on the way. The team is currently building an additional audit module for custom scheduling, as well as automated onboarding plans and custom career paths for customers wanting more specialized coursework for their staff.

Rootwurks hopes to become a role model for others in the industry while helping remove the stigma surrounding cannabis. By helping to establish safe and effective practices within plant-touching operations, the company believes overall consumer confidence and trust in the nascent marketplace will increase.

The list of training topics is also constantly evolving, remaining up-to-date with regulatory shifts as the space continues to expand. With nationwide legalization approaching, Rootwurks is prepared to tackle legislation on federal and state levels.

For Eastman and the rest of the team, the goal is to ensure operators have everything they need to reduce compliance headaches and dedicate their time to what matters: running a thriving company.

“We’re trying to build a solution that is very nimble so that we can react to the complex challenges that the cannabis industry faces,” Eastman said. “The ability to help operators navigate that complexity so they can focus on growing their business is something I think is really important.” ❖

By Aron Vaughan

For distributors and retailers, cannabis packaging can be a headache. There are myriad compliance issues to contend with including labeling and tracking, and logistical challenges such as shipping units from other countries during a time of COVID-related supply chain chaos.

Packaging must also be child-resistant, yet easy enough for patients with physical ailments such as arthritis to open. Cannabis is a welldocumented and efficacious anti-seizure medication, and patients experiencing seizures need to have immediate and easy access to their flower or concentrate..

An industry secret that the average medical cannabis patient may not be aware of is that traditional packaging such as Mylar bags or plastic containers let oxygen and light into the product, resulting in a loss of flower and net weight. Retailers often have to insert additional flower into the package to meet the standards of compliance regulations and customers.

N2 Packaging Systems LLC is addressing some of these obstacles that retailers experience every day. N2 uses a proprietary technology that injects nitrogen into its packaging. This process preserves the balance of moisture and weight of the product while removing the ambient oxygen and moisture that is in the container.

“You are sealing hermetically, the native moisture that exists in that product that sits in the can,” said N2 CEO Thom Brodeur. “So, one of the biggest challenges for the cannabis industry is once you open, once you’ve packaged it, if there’s any presence of oxygen at all, it begins to degrade the product.”

N2 also uses pull tabs and child-resistant,

senior-friendly lid apparatuses that combine compliance with accessibility. Most of the 13 patents N2 holds in the U.S., Canada, and 11 other countries center around the locking and connecting mechanisms for the actual lid adherence to the can.

“What we are responsible for is building the better mousetrap,” Brodeur said. “For us, making it difficult for small hands, or young hands, or unsophisticated hands to be able to put pressure points on the lids in the right places and the twists and alignment moments that are needed has been core to the technology that makes our packaging one of the safest options.

“But what we’ve also been mindful of is that pressure for adult or senior hands when it comes to pressure points and clicking and locking mechanisms also has to be fluid. And so, we’ve created rim systems inside of the cans that allow for easier slides for folks who understand how to use childresistant lids to make it easier for them to access them.”

Many industries have had to play catch-up when it comes to sustainability. The cannabis industry, however, has largely been a leader in the field.

Cannabis companies like N2 are making commitments to organizations like the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition, Sustainable Packaging Technology Group, and the ASTM, which decides standards on packaging across a variety of industries.

“We are engaged with those groups because we really do think it’s important that the more voices there are to help shape the policy and the guidelines going forward, A, the regulations don’t become so onerous that we can’t move and do the things we need to do commercially,” Brodeur said. “But B, that there’s some unification and some standardization ultimately in the way that packaging is treated since it is both a first impression for the consumer and their first experience with a product.”

Brodeur explained that N2 was founded with sustainability in mind from the beginning. Each 2Can with N2 nitro inside is made from recycled aluminum and tin alloys. All raw materials are sourced from recycled or recyclable materials. Anything that has to be manufactured from scratch comes through a composite process.

“One of the biggest things for us is reducing the use of single-use or even multi-use plastics,” Brodeur said.

—Thom Brodeur

boat from China became infinitely slower, and companies had to adapt or die. N2 chose the former option, moving more than half its manufacturing facilities to the U.S., a decision that has allowed the company to continue thriving in the harshest of economic ecosystems.

And if you think reorienting a massive part of a company’s operations to another country is a challenge, you would be right.

“I will tell you it wasn’t easy, and it certainly sounds a lot easier on paper until you get started,” Brodeur said.

One of the most unexpected challenges was managing branding and consumer perception. Nuances in color on the cans from Chinese to American manufacturers are recognized by customers, so a small issue like color-matching can take up more time than anticipated — something to which we can all relate.

The benefits have ultimately outweighed the logistical issues, though, as customers never have to worry about running out of supply or whether or not it’s close and can get to them quickly.

“The good news is we have retained 100% of our customers in this turnaround, and we’ve grown the business by 47% since last July when I joined it,” Brodeur said.

In the next 45-60 days, N2 will roll out its “value line” which will not yet have the nitrogen-infused component like the cans, but will give the company a broader wingspan of offerings for customers.

“We want to also have a broader option for those of our customers who have what I would describe as multiple lines and multiple brand personas they want to put forward,” Brodeur said.

The next generation after that will focus on developing equipment that will allow for nitrogen infusion with Mylar bags and glass jars.

“Even with your commodity packaging solution, you will have a nitrogen-infused option, like you would with our recyclable, repurposable cans,” Brodeur said. ❖

The COVID-19-related supply chain crisis hit the world hard over the past few years. The slow

By Patricia Miller

As the leaves change from deep greens to hues of yellow and red, New York State will open the doors to its first conditional adult-use cannabis dispensaries. Lulu Tsui will experience the historic shift from her neighborhood in Brooklyn. She splits her time between her home on the East Coast and her community in Oakland, California. She’ll likely visit New York’s first legal shops wearing a chic scarf and a wide-brimmed hat, her piercing brown eyes seeking opportunities to build community and connections.

Tsui (pronounced “Sway”) is the co-founder and chief experience officer at On The Revel, a company centered around education, networking, and community-building for the cannabis sector. It hosts a recurring in-person event called Revelry and offers an online membership community, Dope People, which creates podcasts and virtual experiences.

Tsui launched On The Revel out of a passion for education, people, and technology. She spent 15 years working in experience design and user experience for companies like Bloomberg, Mastercard, John Hopkins University, and Pearson. She’s using that background to democratize information for those looking to learn more about the new industry.

One way she’s approaching cannabis education is through her work as president of the Cannabis Media Council.

“Think ‘Got Milk?’ but for the cannabis space,” she told Cannabis & Tech Today during a recent interview. The female-led council will launch its first cannabis-friendly public service announcement this fall to coincide with New York’s adult-use legalization timeline.

Tsui’s personality hints at the kind of intellect that intimidates at parties and inspires awe in a boardroom. Multifaceted and dynamic, she’s central to several emerging businesses. As the user experience and research advisor at Oakland Hyphae, she’s changing the narrative around psychedelics as well. The group founded the Oakland Psychedelic Conference and the Psilocybin Cup.

Launching a business in the cannabis sector is akin to building an engine based on a picture of a car. You know what the final product should look like, but putting all the pieces together requires more expertise. Cannabis is competitive. People who manage to start a canna-business aren’t often keen on sharing the secrets to their success. Tsui aims to change that.

“What we noticed the first couple of years in cannabis was everybody was learning, but there was also a little bit of gatekeeping of information,” Tsui said. “Very specific people were allowed access or had the ability to fundraise. We thought it was important that if people were interested they would have real

information, transparent information, and access to good vendors, lawyers, and all the folks in our community that we’ve built in the past six years within New York, as well as other markets.”

It’s not wildly insightful to say New York is likely to become a cannabis mecca in the United States. The Empire State has been setting trends for, well… Was there ever a time when New York wasn’t America’s cultural center? The East Coast has its own cannabis culture and legalization will let people out of their “green closets,” as Tsui remarked, so they can publicly consume. Governor Hochul’s executive budget estimates New York could earn more than $1.25 billion in cannabis tax revenue over the next six years. Those numbers will draw established cannabis operators from other states and Tsui believes they’ll be met with a surprise.

“New York is a different beast altogether,” Tsui said. “You have to have your person, your guy, your connections to make anything work in New York.”

She feels an abundance mindset and a collaborative atmosphere is central to creating a strong, inclusive industry. “It’s still very local and community-driven. It’s what’s beautiful about the opportunities here — there’s something for everybody.”

Something Tsui learned from user design is why it’s crucial to know one’s audience. She engages with her community to understand their questions, goals, and motivations. This approach will help Revel hold its footing in New York’s unfolding marketplace. More so, it will help Tsui deliver the information New Yorkers need to build successful businesses. “I’m not an expert in different industries. I’m an expert in understanding how people want to work in these different industries,” she said.

Tsui is listening to her community and building programming around their needs. Many businesses are built backward, creating a product or service and then finding a market for it. Tsui takes the opposite approach when crafting Revelry events.

“[Revelry] figures out the programming based on information and questions and what’s happening in the New York market,” Tsui said. “Then, we create programming. We go through the Rolodex and

decide who would be the best speaker for that.” Each speaker is selected from On The Revel members.

This approach keeps Tsui’s community tight, validates the work of Revel members, and prevents bad actors from infiltrating events. She feels people are too quick to trust in this industry. Without due diligence, it’s easy to fall for a “snake oil salesman,” she noted. Background checks and calling references can prevent bad investments before they happen. Revel aims to create networking events that facilitate reliable business connections built on trust.

It’s no secret this industry has a diversity problem. It needs more women, people of color, indigenous operators, and minority ownership. One of the overarching goals of On The Revel is to create opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Tsui’s commitment to a diverse industry is born from a desire for better functionality.

“We need different ways of thinking,” Tsui said. “We need collaboration.” Women are the missing element to unifying the industry and arranging the “messy stuff” plaguing the sector, according to Tsui.

“More women please, on the tech and science side. Please come over to cannabis. We really, really need you.”

Perhaps with the help of Tsui and organizations like On The Revel, more women will find resources and connections to approach one of this decade’s most exciting business opportunities. ❖