Understand the difference of traditional insurance vs cannabis insurance policies, common claim scenarios and MN State Insurance requriements, common coverage exclusions and insured responsibilites for covered claims. Learn how Product Liability, Product Recalls and inventory is insured and how you can best insure your operations for the unseen future.

How Minnesota’s cannabis law was shaped—and where it’s headed

What operators must prioritize before launch

Real insight into OCM expectations

How advocacy and policy changes actually happen

What it takes to build a sustainable, compliant brand in MN

How Minnesota’s cannabis law was shaped—and where it’s headed

What operators must prioritize before launch

Real insight into OCM expectations

How advocacy and policy changes actually happen

What it takes to build a sustainable, compliant brand in MN

As we step into 2026, it is essential for cannabis businesses to revisit their understanding of MN Employment Laws. Ensuring policies are current, from worker classifications to employee handbooks and non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, is vital. Moreover, all cannabis businesses must comply with the new MN Paid Family Leave law that went into effect on 01/01/26. Join us to stay informed on the latest updates in MN Employment Law that will significantly impact your business operations.

Supporting The Surge: The Role of Ancillary Businesses in the Rapid Expansion of Cannabis
Leveraging your ancillary partners to unlock growth and drive bottom line. Operators should be focused on cultivation and dispensing. Leave the packaging, design, and logistics to us.

his Minnesota Cannabis College (MNCC) panel session introduces essential compliance and safety practices shared across both retail and cultivation environments. Participants will explore how strong Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) habits support consistency, accountability, and regulatory readiness through proper documentation and recordkeeping. The session covers workplace hygiene, sanitation standards, and contamination-prevention methods that protect both products and consumers.

Many entrepreneurs can open a cannabis business, but few can successfully scale one. Moving from a single location to a multi-state or multi-unit operation requires a total shift in mindset and systems. Joining forces for this session are Dave Woodbeck (DOPE CFO Managing Partner) and Madison Marzario (CEO of Tumbleweed Dispensaries and Vedas Consulting), who will share the “battle-tested” blueprints for sustainable growth.

As we step into 2026, it is essential for cannabis businesses to revisit their understanding of MN Employment Laws. Ensuring policies are current, from worker classifications to employee handbooks and non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, is vital. Moreover, all cannabis businesses must comply with the new MN Paid Family Leave law that went into effect on 01/01/26. Join us to stay informed on the latest updates in MN Employment Law that will significantly impact your business operations.

As the leading Cannabis Insurance Provider, along with my MN Insurance partner, Cannasure and Lake Group Insurance will educate the newly licensed Cannabis operators on what we’ve seen & experienced from other Cannabis operators in terms of Theft/Vandalism protections, Product Liability mitigation, safe Cultivation grow rooms and many aspects of a Cannabis operator from an Insurance perspective. Come learn what we’ve seen – no need to repeat the mistakes from other states!

As the leading Cannabis Insurance Provider, along with my MN Insurance partner, Cannasure and Lake Group Insurance will educate the newly licensed Cannabis operators on what we’ve seen & experienced from other Cannabis operators in terms of Theft/Vandalism protections, Product Liability mitigation, safe Cultivation grow rooms and many aspects of a Cannabis operator from an Insurance perspective. Come learn what we’ve seen – no need to repeat the mistakes from other states!

In an industry where margins are tight and regulations are complex, mastering your numbers can be a game changer. This panel dives into how cannabis operators can leverage inventory data, financial reporting, and valuation insights to make smarter, more profitable decisions. Moderated by Mark Waller of Sax Advisory group, and featuring industry experts Stacey Udell and Betsy Morem of Sax Advisory Group alongside Aly Piscatelli of Budding Operations,

In an industry where margins are tight and regulations are complex, mastering your numbers can be a game changer. This panel dives into how cannabis operators can leverage inventory data, financial reporting, and valuation insights to make smarter, more profitable decisions. Moderated by Mark Waller of Sax Advisory group, and featuring industry experts Stacey Udell and Betsy Morem of Sax Advisory Group alongside Aly Piscatelli of Budding Operations,

Launching a cannabis business without a financial plan is a gamble. This session covers CapEx to know your required investment and OpEx to control your “burn rate”. We explore how to integrate Yield Forecasts and Sales Price into a Profit/Loss Statement. Attendees will learn to use a Cash Flow Forecast to manage liquidity and identify the breakeven point. Aligning horticulture with disciplined financial modeling is essential for project bankability and long-term stability.

This presentation distills a decade of global cannabis facility design and operational experience into practical guidance for modern producers. It covers purposeful facility design, cost drivers, climate control for uniformity, airflow, and data-driven operations, with real-world insights on dry-back monitoring and pathogen risk management to improve consistency, quality, and profitability.

Learn to make your grow, processing, and retail spaces safer and more secure using though the use of bullet resistant doors, walls, windows, saferooms, and vault areas, that do not detract from your design and décor of the facility.  Layering of defensive strategies allow customers to enter a warm and inviting space and gives your employees peace of mind while feeling more secure.

Your brand identity, logo, and website are ready to go. Now, how do you best use the time until you open? Seasoned cannabis marketing professionals will teach you effective strategies on how to grow your audience and market to potential customers before your doors open.
Learn:
–> What dispensaries and brands do to reach new customers before opening or launch
–> The role of PR, paid ads, SEO, and other tactics in reaching these customers
–> Effective ways to talk to customers pre-opening

Your brand identity, logo, and website are ready to go. Now, how do you best use the time until you open? Seasoned cannabis marketing professionals will teach you effective strategies on how to grow your audience and market to potential customers before your doors open.
Learn:
–> What dispensaries and brands do to reach new customers before opening or launch
–> The role of PR, paid ads, SEO, and other tactics in reaching these customers
–> Effective ways to talk to customers pre-opening

Living soil systems offer potential benefits for cannabis production, but scaling them introduces real challenges. This seminar explores the practical constraints of soil-based systems in commercial facilities, including fertility management, consistency, and risk. Attendees will learn what holds up in production, what commonly fails, and how to evaluate outcomes beyond theory.

Marketing a counter‑cultural business isn’t just challenging — it demands courage, clarity, and a strategy more intentional than what unrestricted brands rely on. When platforms regulate, restrict, or outright ban your ability to advertise, you don’t get the luxury of wasteful experimentation. You have to market with heart. With honesty. With precision. Let’s discuss how to build a digital presence strong enough to grow without relying on traditional channels.

Calling all cannabis operators! Join us for a pivotal session that delves into the intricacies of audits and examinations, offering valuable perspectives on their distinct purposes, scopes, and methodologies. Discover how audits can serve as an essential tool to equip you for regulatory compliance checks by establishing robust internal controls, implementing effective risk management practices, and maintaining meticulous documentation procedures.

The cannabis industry is evolving rapidly, with new regulations, tax challenges, and market dynamics reshaping how businesses operate. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of the current regulatory updates, tax compliance challenges, and strategies to structure your company for scalability and future growth. Gain actionable insights to strengthen your financial foundation and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.

As an emerging cannabis market matures beyond initial licensing euphoria, savvy investors are discovering compelling opportunities amid cannabis facility failures and consolidation. This presentation examines distressed cannabis license acquisitions, equipment liquidations, and strategic positioning as over-optimistic operators face margin compression. Discuss how to identify undervalued operations, navigate typical transfer approvals, and capitalize on cash strapped businesses.

To address cannabis odors, many jurisdictions defer to operators to identify and implement appropriate odor control technologies, yet few comparative evaluations exist. Drawing on six years of field testing, this session takes environmental conditions, maintenance requirements, cost-effectiveness, and public perception into consideration, offering a practical framework for decision makers to better match control technologies to specific operational scenarios.

To address cannabis odors, many jurisdictions defer to operators to identify and implement appropriate odor control technologies, yet few comparative evaluations exist. Drawing on six years of field testing, this session takes environmental conditions, maintenance requirements, cost-effectiveness, and public perception into consideration, offering a practical framework for decision makers to better match control technologies to specific operational scenarios.

Launching a cannabis dispensary is exciting—but the tech you choose can make or break success. This session is for entrepreneurs 1–3 months from opening in Minnesota who want a reliable, compliant, and scalable tech stack from day one. Learn what tools you need, why they matter, realistic costs, how to evaluate vendors, and what fine print to watch for to ensure compliance, efficiency, and a seamless customer experience.

Accounting might not be everyone’s passion, but it’s the language of business. In this session, we’ll turn complex concepts into practical “ah-ha!” moments. Learn the basics, then dive into cost accounting—why it’s vital for cannabis businesses and how it helps you understand costs, boost profitability, and position your company for a smarter, more advantageous tax outcome.

Accounting might not be everyone’s passion, but it’s the language of business. In this session, we’ll turn complex concepts into practical “ah-ha!” moments. Learn the basics, then dive into cost accounting—why it’s vital for cannabis businesses and how it helps you understand costs, boost profitability, and position your company for a smarter, more advantageous tax outcome.

As the cannabis industry expands, cities must balance economic growth while minimizing community impacts. Drawing on our experience consulting with municipalities on development of their cannabis odor ordinances, we highlight performance-based standards, robust odor abatement plans, clear compliance guidelines, and staff training. We share strategies like zoning, adaptive permitting, and operational best practices to support sustainable industry growth.

Stabilizing your facility workforce, tools/resources to create a thriving workforce, planning on the unknown production surges, transformational onboarding verses transactional, combatting turnover, creating a culture of excellence in the cannabis and hemp space, training your key employees to support growth within the facility.

Learn how to market your dispensary like the country’s biggest retailers. This session breaks down five proven strategies Fortune 100 brands use to drive growth: like data-driven decisions, consistent customer experiences, and unified brand presence, and demonstrates how dispensaries can apply them. Whether you’re a single-store operator or scaling up, walk away with actionable insights to power smarter marketing.

Explore how financial inclusion can drive sustainable growth in the cannabis industry. Erica El Hilali shares strategies for becoming more bankable, navigating compliance, and building strong financial foundations to help cannabis businesses thrive in a complex regulatory landscape. Attendees will gain insights into the current landscape of cannabis banking and regulatory hurdles, what banks look for in cannabis clients and how to improve transparency, compliance, and operational readiness.

Take a deep dive into why stable & exotic genetics are so important!  What is tissue culture and how can I take advantage of it. This will educate & teach growers how to achieve frosty & flavorful buds time after time!  Understand what to look for when choosing the genetics that you will be cultivating under your BRAND.  This session is designed for growers, entrepreneurs, investors, and advocates looking to understand how advancements in genetics and cultivation techniques can shape the future of their brand in the cannabis industry.  Once it’s out there, you can’t take it back!  The cream always rises to the top! 

n this seminar, Jennifer will go.over key considerations in designing efficient and easy-to-use indoor cultivation operations. She will describe how to proportion the plant rooms, how to ensure the inclusion and proper sizing of all critical spaces and functions, estimated costs for major equipment categories, and options for those with significant budgetary limitations.

As Minnesota’s cannabis market takes shape, licensed businesses are facing new compliance requirements that demand thoughtful, proactive planning. This session will walk you through the physical security standards that cannabis operators must meet—and how to implement and maintain them effectively.

Topics include essential physical security measures like surveillance, access control, and intrusion detection as well as how AI-powered tools and smart technology can support long-term compliance.

Although license winners are still being decided, the work on your brand and marketing starts now. In this workshop, cannabis marketing and branding experts guide you through the proper timeline for creating a brand, building an audience, and growing your network. This winning formula will help those who wish to enter the cannabis industry plan and budget for what’s needed for effective and meaningful brand development.

2026 marks a pivotal year for Minnesota’s cannabis entrepreneurs, operators, and investors. The state’s adult-use market has finally launched, opening new opportunities for business. Leading cannabis attorney Jason Tarasek will share insights on regulatory changes, licensing, compliance, and zoning, and the unique opportunities for private-sector businesses to partner with Minnesota’s Tribal Nations. Attendees will learn how to navigate the market and thrive in Minnesota’s new cannabis economy.

Compliance in the cannabis industry can be make-or-break to maintaining the value of your license and avoiding regulatory fines and delays. The fractional compliance model allows operators to use a third party to audit their operations, update their SOPs and operations materials to the code and regulations, and ensure that compliance tasks are being performed without the cost of an additional compliance officer’s salary.

Learn the fundamentals and the pitfalls to avoid in developing a premium exotic flower grow facility and operation. Learn about facility development starting with selecting the correct property, the type of facility to build, how to precisely control the environment, and setting up a perpetual rotation and cultivation program.

The session will substantially help in avoiding costly mistakes and make sure growers are on the right path to developing a successful premium flower operation.

Everything You Need to Pass Your OCM Inspection is a high-impact operational briefing built specifically for Minnesota cannabis operators who want zero surprises when regulators walk through the door. This session breaks down exactly how the Office of Cannabis Management evaluates your facility, your team, your systems, and your records so you can move from reactive compliance to inspection-ready leadership.

We demystify the inspection process by showing what inspectors are looking for, where operators most commonly fail, and how minor oversights can lead to violations, fines, or delays. Finally, we’ll talk about what comes next after doors open and when you can expect to meet the OCM again at your front door!

Effective control of your environment is essential for your plants to reach their full potential.
Water plays a pivotal role in each stage of your plants’ growth. We will look at the effect humidity control plays in your crop’s maturation. The most impeccable genetics can only take you as far as your environment will allow. Help them become everything they can be.

Technology helps retailers grow and scale. It puts dispensaries on the map and drives new business, enables budtenders to provide a smooth and memorable customer experience, and helps streamline operations to drive down costs. But with so many technologies and tools available, how do you know what you really need and how can you tell the good from the bad? Cova CEO Gary Cohen will walk you through some of the key platforms and tools that can help you to run your store and grow your business.