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Today on The Green Rush, hosts Anne Donohoe and Lewis Goldberg are sitting down with Bill VanFaasen, interim Chief Executive Officer and Glen Leibowitz, Chief Financial Officer of Acreage Holdings, one of the best known multi-state operators in the U.S. cannabis industry. Following the recent transition of Kevin Murphy from CEO to Chairman of the board, The Green Rush team wanted to sit down with the new leadership to get an in-depth on where the company stands today and its growth strategy going forward.  

In the conversation, Bill expands on how his experience has prepared him for his new role as interim CEO and filling Murph’s shoes, the recent restructuring of Acreage’s deal with Canopy Growth and offers updates on the Company including its entry into New Jersey. Additionally, both Bill and Glen expand how the restructuring will affect Acreage shareholders, the Company’s plans for its hemp holdings and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the business.

Acreage is considered one of the bellwether MSOs of the American cannabis industry and investors monitoring the space will not want to miss this conversation. 

So don’t sit back, lean forward and enjoy! 

Glen Leibowitz, Chief Financial Officer of Acreage Holdings 

Mr. Leibowitz has over 20 years of finance and accounting experience with expertise in building and scaling operations, improving controls, enhancing IPO readiness and working to manage an organization through accelerated business growth. During his 9 years at Apollo, Mr. Leibowitz  held various key roles within the finance organization including the accounting lead in taking the organization public in 2011. Under his tenure, he Implemented the public reporting framework, accounting policies and directed the company-wide Sarbanes-Oxley program. Prior to Apollo, Mr. Leibowitz spent almost 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers focused on multiple complex foreign registrant financial statements and client IPO documents across sectors including: alternative asset managers, Internet/software, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and mining. Mr. Leibowitz serves on the board of directors and is the audit committee chair for PowerPlay NYC, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating girls through one-of-a-kind sports and academic enrichment programs.

Bill’s VanFaasen, Interim CEO of Acreage Holdings

Bill VanFaasen first served as Chairman of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts from 2002-2007. He served as interim President and CEO from March-September 2010. In 2010 he was elected Chair of the Board of Directors for the second time, retiring in March 2014 when he was named Chair Emeritus. Bill joined Blue Cross in 1990 as EVP and COO. He served as President and CEO from 1992-2004 resigning as President and served as CEO until 2005. He was SVP of Operational Services at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, serving in operational, marketing, and health care capacities over 20 years

Links to guest’s social media:

• Glen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenleibowitz/
• Acreage Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcreageCannabis
• Acreage LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acreageholdings/
• Acreage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acreageholdings/

Links and Mentions:

• Acreage website: https://www.acreageholdings.com/about-us/
• Canopy/Acreage update: http://investors.acreageholdings.com/file/Index?KeyFile=404447631

Show Credits:

This episode was hosted by Anne Donohoe and Lewis Goldberg of KCSA Strategic Communications.

Special thanks to our Executive Producer Nick Opich and Program Director Shea Gunther.

You can learn more about how KCSA Cannabis can help your cannabiz by visiting www.kcsa-cannabis.com or emailing greenrush@kcsa.com. You can also connect with us via our social channels:

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