INCEPTION ADVISORY GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Board Advisor
- Legal Counsel
- Board Advisor Legal Counsel / Owner, Rain Legal Owner, Endurance Strategies Group Independent Board Member, Empower Clinics ( CSE: CBDT ) Partner, Inception Advisory Group Growth Strategist.
An attorney and entrepreneur with decades of experience guiding companies in heavily regulated industries, Andrejs acts as chief legal officer, senior advisor and board member for a variety of enterprises, with an emphasis on the cannabis industry and high tech. Since 2013, his primary focus has been on supporting transactions, licensing support, business development and providing overall guidance in the complex and evolving cannabis industry.
He is either general counsel, board member or advisory board member for cannabis enterprises in California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, Canada and Mexico. He is the founder and owner of Rain Legal, with offices in San Diego and Phoenix, and is Of Counsel for Nimbus Legal.
He is also president of Endurance Strategies Group LLC, a national, strategic business advisory firm that focuses on corporate regulatory and procurement strategies. The firm advises emerging clients in the $5M to $100M range throughout the U.S. and internationally.
From 2009 - 2013 he was GC, Corporate Secretary and VP Government Affairs for Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc., at the time world leader in traffic camera enforcement systems (ASX:RDF). He also sat on the Board of Redflex's Canadian Subsidiary.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Co - Founder and Owner of Pure Labs
Barb is the co-founder and owner of Pure Labs (www.purelabsaz.com), a premier cannabis and hemp testing lab based in Phoenix. Pure Labs' emphasis and mission is to provide state of the art testing solutions, with the fastest turn-around time in Arizona. This includes comprehensive testing of moisture content, water activity, potency, terpenes, residual solvents, microbials, pesticides, mycotoxins, and heavy metals.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Barb has lived on multiple continents and has owned numerous businesses. She and her husband Scott are actively involved with multiple local charities including Girls on the Run, the Saint Mary's Food Bank, Fresh Start, and Plastic Bank. She also sits on various boards including the Yarnell Water Board and the Arizona State University Art Museum Board.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner of Canna Real Estate Group
- Real Estate
Bill Betts is the Managing Partner of Canna Real Estate Group which represents cannabis business owners providing commercial real estate, design/build and finance strategies on a national platform
EXECUTIVE COACHING AND MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS CONSULTING. Carolyn is a certified business and executive coach. Her business experience ranges from Fortune
MEDICAL ADVISORY. LABORATORY TESTING. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Courtney's education and medical experience has led to knowledge of prudently using legal cannabis
Don Carstens has been creating total environments for the hospitality industry nationally by satisfying a broad spectrum of custom functional and innovative needs. Carstens goes far beyond conventional design strategies by orchestrating the architecture, interiors, lighting, surface materials, and signage into a cohesive and harmonious sense of place unique to each client and project. Carstens background in fine art is apparent in all of his projects by his visibly incorporating the balance of space and light. Custom furnishings and fixtures, implementing modern interpretations on old classics, and a highly attuned sense of propriety in materials and design direction comprise Carstens design philosophy: a truly great restaurant design must support the chef and proprietors intentions, menu, and philosophy on entertaining.
Carstens renown comes from his innate sense of successful branding and taking clients to new levels and multiple units within the independent high-end dining and nightclub sector. Carstens has completed projects from Beverly Hills, California to Washington D.C. and in many cases named the projects as well as designed many logos that further instill the design and branding.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Professor of Chemistry
Dr. Yarger received a Ph.D from Arizona State University.
Dr. Yarger's biography can be found at: ASU Yarger
Dr. Yarger is Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry & Physics at Arizona State University (ASU) and Director of the Magnetic Resonance Research Center (MRRC) at ASU.
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS. LABORATORY TESTING. MEDICAL ADVISORY. Dr. Opie is a serial entrepreneur having co-founded three CLIA/CAP accredited, high-complexity laboratories and
Job Titles:
- Associate
- CO - Founder of Sun Valley Health, Director
Mr. Klein is the CO-Founder of Sun Valley Health, Director & SVP of Empower Clinics, and a founding board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. Established in 2013, Sun Valley Health has operated in seven states performing over 165,000 patient certifications. Based in AZ, the Sun Valley team have amassed a 20% market share of all patients in the Arizona medical marijuana market, the third largest medical market in the US. Nationally recognized for his research and accountability, state officials in AZ, MO, NV, FL, MS, and NJ have consulted with Mr. Klein on the drafting of their medical marijuana regulations. As a fixture in the cannabis community, Mr. Klein has been called on as a speaker for countless engagements for his intimate knowledge of medical marijuana regulation.
In May of 2019 Mr. Klein performed an Acquisition Merger of Sun Valley Health with Empower Clinics Inc, a Canadian Public Company. This merger made Empower Clinics a vertically integrated health and wellness company serving a database of 165,000 patients through clinics in the southwest United States with a robust telemedicine platform, and a recently acquired world-class medical diagnostics laboratory. As a Director and S.V.P. of Empower Clinics Inc, Mr. Klein has brought his accountability to a global platform while under the strict regulations of the Canadian public markets.
Mr. Klein has more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience in establishing emerging markets in the telecommunication, automotive, and cannabis industries. He has held corporate management positions with Verizon, T-Mobile, Centurylink, Infiniti, and ADP. Dustin has managed thousands of people across these industries with a reputation for building strong teams and independent leaders. Holding a B.S. in Performing & Visual arts, Dustin has cultivated a popular media presence for Sun Valley. Mr. Klein has extensively traveled the US building relationships, speaking at cannabis expos, and has been interviewed by NBC, ABC, Leafly, Weedmaps, and was featured on Season Two of ‘The Marijuana Show'.
Job Titles:
- Zhejiang Starco Lighting CEO
Job Titles:
- Associate Fred Carinci Is past President of Carinci Burt Rogers Engineering. His Firm Was Acquired by Stantec in 2006. Fred
Fred Carinci is past president of Carinci Burt Rogers Engineering. His firm was acquired by Stantec in 2006. Fred was Engineering Lead for Stantec and later started his personal consulting firm specializing in peer review and value engineering services to the construction industry.
Fred's recent experience with Katerra in Phoenix as Electrical Engineering Manager was responsible for multiple projects in the southwest all the way up the north west coast.
Fred continues to bring his experience with lighting, design, and power distribution to his industry network upon request.
Fred understands construction time lines and budgets and focuses on delivering client satisfaction by ensuring that documents are clear, concise and complete thus avoiding delays and budget overruns.
As a serial entrepreneur, John Smolic has extensive knowledge starting, building, and selling multiple companies in multiple industries.
As a Director, President and CEO for multiple decades with multiple companies, Smolic brings the right leadership to gather the right people together to create and build new ideas into new realities.
In 2016 Smolic founded PennAlt Organics, Inc. with the goal to obtain a medical marijuana Grower/Processor license in the state of Pennsylvania. Serving as the company Director, President and CEO, he spearheaded PennAlt's effort in obtaining a license. Over 1,500 highly qualified organizations applied for only 25 licenses, and he not only won a license, but PennAlt received the highest score of all the applicants in the entire state. The only company to score over 800 points on its application, PennAlt also won with a commanding lead having a larger point spread between first and second place than any of the other remaining 24 licenses.
Smolic then led the team to build from the ground up, one of the largest, most sophisticated Grow/Processing facilities in Pennsylvania that became operational in less than a year of winning its license.
Prior to forming PennAlt, Smolic founded Electronic Game Solutions, Inc. (EGS) in 2002, and served as its Director, President and CEO until he resigned in 2016. EGS operates in the highly regulated charitable electronic gaming industry. EGS is a leading manufacturer and distributor of software and hardware systems throughout the United States and in certain international jurisdictions.
Smolic has decades of experience working with state, federal, and international licensing agencies. He has led EGS through the rigorous process of securing and maintaining 18 separate gaming licenses in 14 separate states for nearly three decades. In this regard, he has annually passed extensive background checks for these jurisdictions. His personal compliance history is documented by each state. He has also led EGS in obtaining and maintaining multiple software and hardware product approvals and achieving and maintaining different legal and audit requirements as required by each individual state. He has professional relationships with state legislators and regulators dating back to 1993. He has also been instrumental in the drafting of numerous laws and regulations affecting the electronic gaming industry in numerous states.
Education: Marquette University School of Journalism, B.A.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- PARTNER / REAL ESTATE
- Real Estate Agent With Remax Excalibur
. FINANCE. MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES. Kurt Nishimura is a licensed real estate agent with Remax Excalibur and has distinguished
Kurt Nishimura is a licensed real estate agent with Remax Excalibur and has distinguished himself as a top agent in Commercial and Luxury Real Estate in the Greater Phoenix market. He has worked in the real estate industry for more than 20 years. He served as the Vice President of Acquisitions for one of Phoenix's most successful real estate development and investment companies prior to starting his own real estate brokerage and consulting practice in 2009. His background includes residential, commercial and hospitality operations.
Kurt founded the greater Phoenix chapter of the Asian Real Estate Association of America in 2014 and served as President for two years. He currently serves on the AREAA Global board as the Treasurer and is the Commercial Chair for AREAA National for 2018. Kurt Nishimura has a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in real estate development from DePaul University and Bachelor's of Business from Western Illinois University.
CONSULTING. FINANCIAL ADVISORY. REAL ESTATE. Preston has a wide breadth of experience in operational leadership, strategic planning, financial management,
Melissa works hard, but she also works smart. She combines strategy, skillful execution and the latest accounting technologies to oversee cash flow management, outsourced accounting services, budgeting, due diligence, and audit readiness.
A Certified Public Accountant, Melissa provides valuable financial guidance and expertise for cannabis companies of all sizes and structures, expertly driving company goals with confidence. She takes the anxiety out of the audit process, working closely with leaders to organize, prepare and complete any necessary processes and reports.
Melissa's accounting experience spans numerous industries, both domestically and internationally, including healthcare, insurance, hospitality and, of course, cannabis. In addition to co-founding and serving as CFO to Rebel Rock, Melissa is CFO and Partner for High Rock Accounting, which places an emphasis on utilizing technology to strategically make day-to-day and long-term financial decisions, while pursuing company goals and compliancy. At High Rock and Rebel Rock, Melissa helps companies remain competitive and efficient in increasingly high-pressure and high-stakes environments.
Before launching successful accounting firms from the ground up, Melissa served as the Manager of Global Revenues and Receivables at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. She performed in-depth reporting and analysis and worked closely with senior management to develop comprehensive financial analysis that influenced company direction.
Melissa also served as an Audit Supervisor for McGladrey and Pullen and RSM, providing assurance services to clients including for-profit, government and non-profit institutions. In these roles, Melissa quickly staked a reputation as a trusted advisor, delivering in-depth variance analysis as well as complete audit plans and procedures.
Committed to giving back and advancing her industry, Melissa serves on the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce board, a strategic group of entrepreneurs, attorneys and other cannabis industry leaders. She's presented at MJBizConINTL, sharing insights on due diligence for cannabis investors. She is also widely published, including contributions for Green Entrepreneur, Cannabis Business Times, and the Phoenix Business Journal.
Melissa earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from University of Arizona, and a master's degree in Accounting from Arizona State University. Always seeking out new experiences, Melissa enjoys traveling, hiking and staying active. She also adores spending time with family, including her husband, two step-children and two Boston Terriers.
Melissa Diaz Melissa works hard, but she also works smart. She combines strategy, skillful execution and the latest accounting technologies
Michael Amaya was born and raised in the Southwest of Yaqui/ Apache, Mexico. In 2010, he moved to Humboldt County, where he learned the ins and outs of cannabis.
Michael's experiences and expertise are in the following:
Genetics procurement
Farms and facilities build out
On/off site management
Cultivation
Processing of all plant material
Curing
Extraction of all aggregate
Packaging, Manufacturing
Marketing/Branding
Brokering
Distribution
With decades of experience, Michael has partaken in every aspect of the cannabis industry, from small craft to large scale agricultural farming. He is extremely passionate about art, cultivation, sustainability, activism and giving back to the land.
Michael "Dose" Amaya Michael Amaya was born and raised in the Southwest of Yaqui/ Apache, Mexico. In 2010, he moved
Job Titles:
- Associate
- C.O.O
- Chief Operating Officer of Starco Lighting
Mukhtar (Muk) Radwan Musleh is the Chief Operating Officer of Starco Lighting, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based market-leading innovator of linear LED retrofit solutions for commercial and industrial applications. His company has made great advances in the use of LED lights for horticulture, particularly for the growing of marijuana. Muk's unique skill set has the ability to save companies millions of dollars; not only in the cost of lighting, but also in the cost of power consumption.
Musleh has served as C.O.O. since September 2016. He is responsible for overseeing daily operations and driving optimization and growth in the company. Starco Lighting handles sales, distribution, marketing, and some product design. Musleh plans to grow its R&D group very rapidly in the year 2020. At any one time, Starco lighting has 2-3 million dollars' worth of inventory at its Buffalo location.
He reports on a quarterly basis to Zhejiang Starco Lighting CEO Eric Xu in Dongyang, Zhejiang, China where Starco's manufacturing takes place. Xu is responsible for developing Starco Lighting's overall mission strategy. Zhejiang Starco Lighting is a part of the Starco Group which includes Starco Supercapacitors and Starco Plastics. Unlike other lighting companies, Zhejiang Starco Lighting owns its factory, equipment and other resources. It designs and manufactures its own electronics and utilizes the competencies of its sister companies, providing it with competitive advantages that set it apart in its own league.
Prior to joining Starco Lighting, Musleh worked for Ford Motor Company as the Energy Technology Supervisor for their facilities globally. From June 2013 until Sept. 2016, he oversaw the lighting for the facilities where he directly managed over 50 million dollars' worth of energy saving performance contracts. He changed Ford Motor's Global Lighting Specification to exclusively require LEDs as early as 2013. Working directly with manufacturers and streamlining Ford's lighting procurement process, he enabled adoption of the technology very quickly. Muk also managed three Subject Matter Experts for Lighting, Controls and Metering.
Musleh was a Project Engineer at S3J Electronics for four years before advancing to the Ford Motor Co. and he previously spent two years as Co-Owner and President of RET Consulting Group.
Muk earned a B.S. degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo in 2009 and belongs to IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) and IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Principal
- Architect in Arizona
Navin Pathangay, an architect in Arizona, started his own firm, Pathangay Architects LLC in 2005. In parallel, he started the Inception Advisory Group in late 2018. He has been an architect for dozens of cannabis facilities. In addition, he has worked on architectural projects ranging from residential to commercial developments. He is highly skilled in design, management, and construction management.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Vice President of Dominion AG
Neil Hammack is Vice President of Dominion AG, a division of privately-owned Dominion Builders a national commercial general contractor based in Coral Gables, Florida. The company as a whole draw on more than 40 years of extensive experience with a diverse portfolio encompassing agriculture, hospitality, healthcare, senior living, retail and corporate office sectors.
Ritu Rani Pahwa currently serves as the VP of Commercial Properties and Investments for International Sales Group (ISG) based in Florida. She specializes in off-market hotels, land and mixed use projects. Ritu has previously worked on the corporate side of hospitality for the Walt Disney Company and Kerzner International Resorts and has extensive experience in the media/entertainment industry at Time Inc. She earned her MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and Bachelors from Tufts University in Boston, MA. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors Miami Chapter, and serves on the Miami Board of Directors of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA)(2018 & 2019), the National Commercial Committee for AREAA (2018 & 2019) and was the Commercial Chairperson for AREAA's Miami Chapter 2018. She is on the 2019 Board of Directors Miami Council of FIABCI -International Real Estate Federation.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER / PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. REAL ESTATE. After serving in the Marines for 6 years, Ron spent ten years at Bolt,
Mr. Saad's primary focus is to advise and assist high growth and middle market companies in the technology, healthcare and
Job Titles:
- Environmental Health & Safety
Sree has over twenty five years of progressive experience in the Safety, Environmental and Health field. He has provided expert
Thomas Izdebski represents the third generation of his family in the global healthcare sector. As a young scientist and prospective medical student, Thomas started his first medical device company at 17, playing a key role in the financing, design, and development of over 15 medical devices - several of which were licensed to industry leaders, Medtronic and Atrium. As the author or co-author of over 20 patents and publications, Thomas continued to innovate global healthcare delivery for nearly two decades. Under the framework of the One Belt One Road initiative, Thomas led technology transfer and commercialization efforts in the medtech and biotech sectors, through the formation of joint ventures (JV) with European and Middle Eastern enterprises. Most notably, Thomas was involved with the centralization of a JV between Israel's Clalit Health, the second largest HMO in the world, and China's Suzhou Industrial Park, in Jiangsu Province, China.
Thomas works to improve the standard of care through strategic alignment of key financial partners, technologies, healthcare systems, and pharmaceutical companies. As healthcare systems around the world become increasingly stressed by high utilization and a rapidly aging population, Thomas is focused on the delivery of care outside traditional hospitals and medical facilities as well as optimizing the care delivered in traditional hospital settings.
LABORATORY TESTING. MEDICAL ADVISORY. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Thomas Izdebski represents the third generation of his family in the global healthcare sector.