Canna Connect

From Duluth to Minneapolis: The Conversations Shaping MN Cannabis cannaverse-newsletter.beehii…

“Native nations don’t just belong in this industry. We’re foundational to it.” That line from Caleb Dunlap set the tone for our Cannabis & Community gathering in Duluth. Caleb, Communications Director for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, joined Tim Gordon of Gordon Cannabis Group to open the day with a conversation about sovereignty, stewardship, community and the future of Minnesota cannabis. For Fond du Lac, cannabis is about more than entering a new market. It is about self-determination. It is about the land. It is about building something that serves the community. 🎙️Catch the first episode from Cannabis & Community right here on X #CannaConnectMN #MinnesotaCannabis #TribalCannabis

Last week we were in Duluth celebrating the people building Minnesota cannabis. This week, we’re talking about one of the harder parts of actually building a cannabis business. Brian Bartley has spent more than two years working toward opening Green Lane Express in Brooklyn Park. His original vision was cultivation + manufacturing + retail. Then access to capital became critical. Brian says he entered a Minnesota microbusiness financing process expecting help getting across the finish line. Instead, he describes months of waiting, repeated requests for information, a changing business plan, and ultimately a denial. One line stuck with me: “I’m not asking for a handout. I was asking for the hand up that was promised.” There are serious frustrations in this episode, and they are Brian’s experience and perspective. But the bigger question is worth asking: How fast do small cannabis businesses need government-created support programs to move for those programs to actually be useful? Six months means something very different when you are paying rent, holding permits, losing investors, redesigning a buildout, and watching the market open around you. Brian ultimately shifted Green Lane Express toward a lean retail-first opening. And he is still going. Still building. Still opening. The corrected Brian Bartley episode of The Canna Connect Show is live now on X. #CannaConnectMN #MinnesotaCannabis

Minnesota cannabis was supposed to create opportunities for small operators. Brian Bartley has spent more than two years trying to turn Gren Lane Express into a real cannabis business in Brooklyn Park. @greenlaneexpress He had plans. He had a building permit. He had a vision for a vertically integrated microbusiness. Then financing became the problem. In our next episode of The Canna Connect Show, Brian walks through his experience applying for a Minnesota cannabis microbusiness loan and why he believes the process failed him. This is not a conversation about theory. It’s about what happens when an entrepreneur is trying to open the doors while time, money, and opportunity keep moving. 🎙️Brian Bartley joins The Canna Connect Show Wednesday morning. #CannaConnectMN #MinnesotaCannabis #CannabisBusiness

When trails collide, good things happen. Connections between Canna Connect, the Ganjier Guild, and Trailhead Cannabis Company turned conversations into collaboration and helped support an award-winning product at Legacy Cup VII. One introduction can set a lot in motion. Read “When Trails Collide”: cannaverse-newsletter.beehii… #CannaConnect #MNCannabis #LegacyCup

Pine County showed up. Operators, OCM representatives, workforce resources and industry professionals came together in Hinckley for real conversations about building Minnesota’s cannabis industry. Thanks to everyone who joined us. Next stop: Duluth. 🌿 #MNCannabis #CannaConnect

We’re excited to welcome DJ Jesse Jaze to the Official Canna Connect Duluth After Party, sponsored by Thrive Agritech. Enjoy food, refreshments, great music and a chance to win a Storz & Bickel Volcano! 🌋 Budtenders, you’re in for free! Use code MNBUDDY when registering. Because we’re all buddies here in Minnesota. eventbrite.com/e/cannabis-co…

The first Canna Connect Show interview we ever recorded. November 2025. Brad Obermueller with @MnCEE sat down with me to talk about energy efficiency, cultivation lighting, rebates, and what Minnesota cannabis businesses should be thinking about as they build. Then the conversation went somewhere I wasn't expecting. Brad opened up about being diagnosed with blood cancer. He talked about treatment, being a father, learning to accept help, and having a doctor at Mayo Clinic suggest he explore cannabis for some of the symptoms he was experiencing. Cannabis became personal. And so did his work in this industry. Brad told me something during that conversation that has stuck with me: "This plant, she can help people." A lot has changed in Minnesota cannabis since we recorded this. A lot hasn't. That's why we're bringing this one back out of the vault. The video has lived on YouTube since our early days, but we've never released it as a podcast. Now it's officially becoming Season 2, Episode 15 of The Canna Connect Show. It feels right that the first interview we recorded finally becomes part of the podcast feed. If you've never seen this conversation, here it is in full. And if you've been following Canna Connect since those early episodes, thanks for continuing to build this thing with us. 🌱 #CannaConnectMN #MNCannabis

Cannabis businesses already have a visibility problem. Kyle Sattler of So Good thinks going silent because marketing is difficult only makes it worse. We sat down at #CannaCon Midwest and Kyle told me about a #Texas dispensary that couldn't afford to hire his company. So he gave them four things to fix on their #Google Business Profile: 1. Get the category right. 2. Ask for reviews consistently. 3. Keep adding images. 4. Post updates. Kyle says foot traffic increased 94.6% over the next three months. The owner called him back and said he could afford their services now. That story opened up a much larger conversation. We talked about AI, Google, YouTube, FAQs, blogs, cannabis marketing restrictions, age-verification gates, and why educational content can help a cannabis business become known for answering questions rather than constantly pushing products. Kyle also said something I appreciated. He's a marketing expert. He's not going to pretend he's suddenly an expert on every part of cannabis. He's here to learn too. That feels especially relevant in Minnesota right now. We're all bringing different expertise into a market that's still taking shape. The people willing to share what they know and learn from the people around them are going to make this ecosystem stronger. #cannaconnectmn #mncannabis

Minnesota cannabis businesses are moving from plans on paper to actually building. Tomorrow, Munir Haque joins me on The Canna Connect Show to talk tech, security, compliance, infrastructure, and what he's learned working across different cannabis markets. New episode in the morning. #CannaConnectMN

Minnesota cannabis doesn’t come with an instruction manual. That became pretty obvious during our conversation at CannaCon St. Paul. We had people on stage looking at the same emerging Minnesota market from completely different perspectives. Jacob Affeldt brought the reality of actually opening and operating a dispensary. Jonathan Hunt brought decades of cultivation experience and lessons Minnesota doesn’t necessarily need to learn the hard way. Brytany Melville brought the operations perspective. The people, processes, training, and systems that have to work after the plans are written. Munir Haque brought technology and infrastructure into the conversation. Security, networking, cameras, data, and the things that can get very expensive when they aren’t considered early enough. And Natalie Campion helped guide the conversation and connect those different perspectives. Nobody on that stage had every answer. That was kind of the point. #Minnesota is building something new, and there’s a lot we can learn when retailers, cultivators, operators, technology providers, and other people working in the industry actually share what they’re seeing. Different backgrounds. Different answers. Same emerging Minnesota market. That’s why we keep creating these conversations. And we’re going deeper with one of these voices next week. Munir Haque joins us next on The Canna Connect Show. #cannaconnectmn #mncannabis

Starting a cannabis business in Minnesota? Spend 48 minutes listening to people already doing it. Jonathan Hunt of Leech Lake Cannabis, Jacob Affeldt of Frostbite Dispensary, Brytany Melville of Forte Ops & Munir Haque of @Cure8Tech get into the stuff that doesn't fit in a pitch deck: Cultivation. Seed-to-sale compliance. Dispensary buildouts. Vendor vetting. Cybersecurity. SOPs. Employees. Margins. Price compression. Expansion. Jonathan also offers an important perspective on where Minnesota cultivation is today and what happens as this market matures. No hype. Just lessons from people doing the work. Full episode below 👇 #cannaconnectmn #mncannabis #cannacon

Minnesota’s hemp beverage industry has a voice in Washington. Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined MN Hemp Beverage Producers at Bauhaus Brew Labs to speak directly with the businesses and people whose livelihoods depend on the future of hemp. Her @amyklobuchar message: Minnesota has built a regulated market that supports small businesses, creates jobs, generates tax revenue, and prioritizes consumer safety. That progress deserves a sensible path forward, not a blanket federal ban. Canna Connect MN is proud to be a member of MN Hemp Beverage Producers and to help amplify the conversations shaping what comes next. Watch Sen. Klobuchar’s remarks below. #mnhemp #hempbeverage #mnhbp #cannaconnectmn #cannabispolicy – at Minneapolis, MN

Canna Connect is coming to Duluth. Join us October 15 at Clyde Iron Works for Cannabis & Community: A Cultivation Celebration. Cultivation. Dispensaries. Tribal enterprises. Brands. Food. Art. Wellness. Community. Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/cannabis-co…

NEW EPISODE: The State of Energy Rebates in Minnesota Before you choose the lights for a cultivation facility, there may be a more important question: Who is your utility? Live from CannaCon St. Paul, Alexis Dubourdieu of @WhatRebates and Tony Beman of the Center for Energy and Environment break down how #Minnesota cultivators should be thinking about energy before a grow comes online. We get into: - Why facility location can affect rebate eligibility - Why electrical capacity should be checked early - How grow-light efficiency and PPE factor into incentives - The difference between simply buying equipment and planning for long-term operating costs - Real project examples showing what rebates and energy savings can mean for a cultivation build - Why some Minnesota operators are building in phases instead of trying to max out a facility on day one The bigger conversation here isn't just about getting a rebate check. It's about building a grow that makes financial sense after the lights come on. If you're planning, building, financing, or operating a cultivation facility in Minnesota, this is one worth watching. 🎙️ The State of Energy Rebates in Minnesota with Alexis Dubourdieu & Tony Beman is live on X today on The Canna Connect Show. Watch. Learn. Ask better questions before you build. #CannaConnectMN #MinnesotaCannabis #CannabisCultivation #EnergyEfficiency #CannabisBusiness

Most growers obsess over lighting. Benjamin Matsuda says the real conversation starts with system design. Our newest episode covers HVAC, VPD, automation, facility planning, vertical integration, and the future of commercial cultivation.

Thank you to @LakelandNewsPBS for covering our event this week in Brainerd at the NP Center! #cannaconnectmn

New episode drops Saturday. Spencer Ploessl joins me for another State of the Show as we unpack Canna Connect Brainerd, Community Pods, Duluth, and why we're building a different kind of cannabis community in Minnesota. If you've ever wondered where Canna Connect is headed, this one's for you. #CannaConnectMN #MNCannabis

New episode with @WhatRebates COO, Alexis Dubourdieu is available now. In this episode, we recorded live from @canna_con alongside Tony Beman, CEE. Let us know if you've worked with #whatrebates and how the experience has been. We're always looking to learn more from our network. #cannaconnectmn #cannaconnectshow