Legalized Marijuana

A Market to Get High On?

Please join Wharton Alumni in Portland, along with local area alumni from many other fine B schools on Monday October 19, 2015 from 6-9pm for a memorable evening with industry experts as they discuss the newest legal industry in Oregon. Our panel discussion will focus on the financial potential and challenges facing the commercial marijuana industry as it expands beyond the medical market in Oregon.

Here are event details:

• Monday evening, October 19th. 6:00pm-9:00pm (6-7 registration, cocktails & networking; 7-8:30 panel)
• Location: Moda Center
• Complimentary Covered Parking in the Garden Garage at the north end of the Moda Center
• Ticket Prices: $20.00 Early Bird discount (until Oct 9th); $25.00 General Admission after Oct 9; $30.00 at the door

According to a recent report by New Frontier, a big data provider for the cannabis industry, the Oregon marijuana market will nearly double in size over the next five years. By the end of 2015, New Frontier says, Oregon will have brought in a total of $257 million in pot sales. The company predicts that figure will increase to nearly $500 million by 2020. That will make the state a worthy rival to Colorado, a now-well-established market where $700 million worth of marijuana was sold last year.

Facilitator:

• Professor John Quelch, the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, will come to Portland to facilitate this conversation. He has recently published a case study called “Marketing Marijuana in Colorado”, which took a look at the lessons from the first six months of legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Colorado to see what they may tell us about eventual trends. (Read more at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7623.html.) Professor Quelch is a popular and prolific author. His case studies have sold over 4 million copies, the third highest in HBS history.

Confirmed Panelists:

• Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings in Seattle, a private equity fund in Seattle that is investing in marijuana operations, a graduate of the Yale School of Management.
• Tom Burns, formerly the top marijuana regulator at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, now a consultant to the cannabis industry.
• Beau Whitney, a Thunderbird grad and Intel alum who is now COO of Golden XTRX – a cannabis oil extractor. Beau is also an economics professor with the University of Phoenix and has been a resource to the state in estimating the potential size of the market in Oregon.
• John Kagia, Director of Industry Analytics, for Washington D.C.-based Frontier Financials, a company that provides cannabis data analysis and industry reporting by collecting reliable data, applying rigorous analysis, and producing actionable intelligence.

Register at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/legalized-marijuana-a-market-to-get-high-on-tickets-18338887105

We are anticipating well over 100 attendees at this event, and we look forward to seeing you there