Cannabis money is out there

Photo: Proactive Investors

Ascent Industries' Philip Campbell will be a keynote speaker.

It is almost time for the legalization of retail marijuana in Canada, and Pretium Group realizes there is plenty of opportunity on the business side of the industry.

That’s why the Vernon-based business firm will be hosting the Okanagan Cannabis Business Symposium on Tuesday at the Delta Grand Okanagan Conference Centre in downtown Kelowna. It is nearly sold out.

Pretium president Sherman Dahl knew something needed to be done when he noticed one recent morning that more shares of Canopy Growth, a cannabis industry leader from Smiths Falls, Ont., had been traded than those of Canada’s five major banks combined.

“The cannabis sector has exploded,” Dahl said. “The investor interest in this is stunning, and we sort of recognized there was no event of its kind in the Okanagan.

“We just thought there was an opportunity to get investors together with the individual companies, both public and private.”

Pretium has tried to cover every angle of the cannabis industry for Tuesday’s symposium, and it has a long list of distinguished and respected players lined up to attend. Some of the participants include Philip Campbell, the co-founder of Ascent Industries, Darcy Bamford, the CEO of True Leaf Medicine, and Cintas, a global player in the uniform and laundry business.

“The addition of Cintas highlights the economic impact legalization is going to bring to not only cannabis producers but also the broad spectrum of cannabis-related suppliers across a range of services and sectors of the economy,” conference director and Pretium marketing vice-president Paula Harned said.

For more on this story, visit Okanagan Edge.