The Cannabis Cultural Shift with Nick Tennant, Part 2

Agrify’s Chief Science Officer David Kessler invited Nick Tennant, founder and CTO of Precision Extract Solutions, for a two-part episode of The Future of Growth podcast. On the second installment, Kessler and Tennant discuss how multi-state operators (MSOs) can scale successfully and what those moves may mean in a future where federal legalization and international growth are real possibilities for U.S. operators. Read the recap below and tune in to the episode on your preferred podcast streaming platform.

They discuss cannabis genetics, brand building, and how to maximize your brands presence with unique strains.

Supporting healthy growth for MSOs

As an internationally sought expert on cannabis facility operations, Tennant and his company work with MSOs to standardize processes that prioritize consistent, quality product at a larger scale.

“What [MSOs] are trying to accomplish is a nationwide rollout of their processes, their production, and ultimately their retail locations,” Tennant said. “To [grow] a business at that scale, yes you can do it by acquisition, but even integrating all the acquisitions is a monumental task.”

That “monumental task,” Tennant explained, comes from the need to scale quickly, assembling an expert team as fast as possible. One area that makes scaling so hard for MSOs is keeping processes and product quality consistent company-wide, with varying laws and requirements in each state or even by region influencing the process. Whether they expand on their own or buy out smaller companies, the main goal of an MSO must focus on standardizing cultivation and other standard operating procedures (SOPs), Tennant said.

“When we [help a company], we become more than just somebody that sells them equipment — not only do we become very close friends, but we also become trusted advisors, confidants, consultants, that [happen to also be] solutions providers,” Tennant said. “They know that they can call on us…and if we’ve got to get on a plane and be there tomorrow, we’re on a plane and we’re there tomorrow to fix whatever they’ve got to fix.”

What about the international cannabis industry?

Though much focus remains on cannabis industry growth in the U.S., investment in foreign markets has not been ruled out. Tennant said federal legalization will eventually pave the way for cannabis companies to partner with operations in international markets, where cultivation is more favorable.

To illustrate this, Tennant explained that Canadian companies wishing to expand regularly looked to other “cooperative jurisdictions” to cultivate cannabis in a more favorable atmosphere.

Even though that’s the case in some areas, Tennant is still skeptical that federal legalization could happen in America anytime soon.

“I think [federal legalization] going to be pretty hard pressed once you get all these individual state programs in place for it to just be uprooted,” Tennant said.

Listen to more episodes of The Future of Growth

On the full podcast episode, tune in to a wide-ranging discussion that covers much more than MSO scaling and international cannabis industry collaboration and growth. Listen to The Future of Growth on your preferred podcast platform, including Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Radio Public, and Pocket Casts.

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