We offer:

• Accelerator Programs and Bootcamps
• Financial and Operational Technical Assistance 
• Workforce Development
• Free Templates and Resources including Pro Bono Service Providers
• Live Expert-Led Workshops
• Networking Events
• Technical compliance licensing assistance
• Conference and industry event sponsorships

Overall Program Efficacy, Impact & ROI:

The program was designed to provide comprehensive support through a variety of educational initiatives, workshops, online courses, community building, office hours, and pro forma services and consultation. Here are the key statistics that highlight the program's achievements:

Part 1: CAURD ACCELERATOR PROGRAM

The OUR ACADEMY CAURD Accelerator Program has made significant strides to prepare CAURD licensees to successfully launch and run their cannabis businesses throughout 2023. This was Our Academy’s primary focus for the calendar year.

• Offering a significant ROI to NY State, OA’s contract has easily created over $1.5 million of value for CAURD licensees (breakdown included below).
• OA estimates more than 60 predatory deals have been avoided for CAURD licensees as a direct result of the Office Hours and Pro Forma support services, with many more likely avoided as a result of the education workshop content on the subject.
• Of the currently open CAURD retailers in NY, over 34 have engaged with or received technical assistance from OA via the program.

Core Contract Services Summary:

Live Expert-Led Workshops:

• 60 educational sessions delivered, comprising 12 pre-recorded courses, 34 live workshops,  and 12 vendor demos. In total, this was 20 sessions more than the contract originally outlined.
• A total of 70 hours of teaching time was delivered.
• Average participation of 89 attendees in live workshops.
• Positive student feedback expressing appreciation for the learning opportunities, valuable information, and presenter expertise.
• To remain in compliance with NY State’s undue influence regulations, all workshop leaders were volunteers, with the exception of those taught by OA staff and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), who were preapproved and background checked by OCM prior to contract approval.

Online Courses:

• Courses designed to supplement live workshops, with 169 out of the max 300 licensees completing enrollment for the online course platform. This represents a  56.3% student activation rate for the LMS course content/replays.
• 92.3% of LMS survey respondents said they were “extremely likely to recommend this program to their colleagues or fellow business owners” with a 10/10 score, and 7.7% of respondents provided a 9/10 score.

Office Hours:

• Over 600 touchpoints (over 500 hours) recorded between Subject Matter Experts (“SMEs”) and program participants, providing invaluable 1-on-1 guidance.
• Have engaged with 75% of licenses who have access to this service.
• Multiple touchpoints per participating licensee, ensuring personalized and tailored support.

Pro Forma Services & Consultation:

• 100% of eligible requests for free pro formas have been fulfilled or are in progress and expected to be completed within the next 10 days
• We have made rapid processing time improvements during the second cohort, with an average wait time of less than 1 week following submission of required documents by the licensee.
• Personalized 60-90 minute walkthroughs of pro formas, enabling clarifications, updates, and scenario testing.
• In many cases, multiple follow up sessions have been booked to run different scenarios, add clarity, and tailor pro formas to specific investor deals offered to licensees.
• On average, each licensee who has received pro forma support has had 2.5 hours of one-on-one consultations with our pro forma experts.
• This service offering has helped several licensees avoid predatory investment offers and many more confidently negotiate deal terms with investors, proving to be an extremely impactful and value-add facet of the accelerator program.

SOP Templates for Opening & Operating a Dispensary:

• OA’s SMEs prepared an open source library of standard operating procedures (SOPs) specifically for New York retail operators to support their opening process and operational success.
• These SOPs have been made available for free, as an alternative to other service providers in the state who are charging as high as $30,000 for similar documents.
• Each SOP includes a brief video with an OA SME explaining how to use the document effectively, and where they should consider customizing the SOP based on the licensees store and business characteristics.

Live NY Kickoff Event (March 2023):

• 150 attendees, including CAURD licensees, regulators, government leaders and industry experts.
• 6 seminars with Q&A sessions presented live, and recorded for future online workshops.

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Part 2: ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS & IMPACT

OA Activities Outside of the NY CAURD Accelerator Program with NYS Office of Cannabis Management:

Live NY Kickoff Event:

Prior to signing of it's state contract to run the NY CAURD Accelerator Program, Our Academy produced an event at Soho Works in New York to provide a full day of free seminars for CAURD licensees. This event was very well attended by CAURD licensees, OCM staff, and other industry leaders such as Chris Alexander, Tremaine Wright, and Mary Pryor. The 6 live workshops gave licensees an introduction to Our Academy and the type of educational content we offer. The kickoff event was the first time this many NY retail licensees had gathered as a full group. Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive and many licensees reported that the event was refreshing, informative and fun relative to other past industry events. Attendees were able to interact via Q&A sessions with industry experts and during open networking session over lunch and after the seminars. 

This event’s success has encouraged Our Academy to plan more live events in the future, to help strengthen the CAURD community as a whole and encourage collaborative business practices among interest-aligned entrepreneurs.

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The Limitless Dreams of New York Licensees:

In Spring 2023, Honeysuckle Media partnered with the nonprofit cannabis accelerator Our Academy 501(c)(3) to document the diversity of the current CAURD licensees, whom Our Academy is contracted by New York State to accelerate. Photographed on the famous Shakespeare Avenue Stairway in The Bronx, a landmark featured in the 2019 film Joker, 25 CAURD license holders gathered to celebrate their achievement. Dressed in styles reminiscent of the 1990s, an homage to the golden anniversary of hip hop because the musical genre’s history is interwoven with the plant’s, those in the group represent the vast array of participants in New York’s legal cannabis space. They are filmmakers, designers, restranteaurs, poets, activists, parents, community leaders.

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MJ Unpacked New York Conference (April 2023):

In April 2023, OUR ACADEMY provided support to New York cannabis entrepreneurs at the MJ Unpacked conference, aiming to boost their visibility and opportunities. 

We sponsored ten brand showcases, investing $35,000 to showcase their innovation. Our team offered pre-event assistance, helping entrepreneurs refine their pitches and displays. Additionally, we provided 125 conference passes to active CAURD licensees and co-founders, valued at $16,000, ensuring inclusive participation. 

To facilitate networking, we hosted a meet & greet event connecting our sponsored entrepreneurs with potential investors in the NY market.

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MJ Unpacked Detroit Conference (October 2023):

In October 2023, OUR ACADEMY provided support to social equity cannabis entrepreneurs at the MJ Unpacked Detroit conference, aiming to boost their visibility and opportunities. 

We sponsored seven brand showcases, investing $35,000 to showcase their innovation. Our team offered pre-event assistance, helping entrepreneurs refine their pitches and displays. 

To facilitate networking, we hosted a meet & greet event at the conference connecting our sponsored entrepreneurs with potential investors.

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Live Budtender Training Bootcamps:

• OA conducted Live, on-site Budtender Training Workshops with cannabis educator, Justino Rodriguez, to help CAURD licensees train their budtenders. 
• In total, OA has trained 80 budtenders.
• A 38% increase in average basket sizes was tracked by dispensary owners between OA-trained budtenders versus non-OA-trained budtenders.
• These OA-trained budtenders have had a 96.25% retention rate as of Feb 2024. 
• OA plans to use video content captured from these live trainings to create online budtender training courses in the future, subject to securing necessary funding.

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AU Retail License Application Clinic:

• Due to the Fiore injunction, OA ran a license application clinic in partnership with CB Counsel, Wana Brands Foundation, and the Bronx Brooklyn Tech Incubator to support CAURD licensees who at the time wished to submit Adult Use retail license applications. This workshop was not within the scope of OA’s contract with NY State, but was supported by volunteers and OA donors.
• This clinic ran for 14 days over a one month period to coincide with the 30-day 

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Entity Change Support:

• During the contract, there was no defined process for licensees to change the entity they originally applied under. This created many issues for licensees who has applied under their existing business entities, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, or under their personal names - each of which could carry significant consequences. 
• OA staff spearheaded discussions with the Licensing Department of OCM to develop a detailed plan of action for how these entity changes could be made while following all legal and regulatory requirements.
• OA staff provided 1:1 support to assist over 40 licensees through the multiple steps necessary to change their licensed entity.
• This service was not in within the scope of OA’s contract with NY State.

KISS MY GRASS Documentary:

• Our Academy helped produce a documentary featuring women of color in the cannabis industry in partnership with fellow executive producers, Nancy Whiteman, Colin Kaepernick, Rosario Dawson, Mary Pryor, Luke Anderson, and Justin Benoliel.
• The film is nearing completion and will have a sneak preview at the SXSW festival in March, 2024.

OUR ACADEMY’S CAURD ACCELERATOR is an education program for New York CAURD Licensees that aims to help business owners launch their locations successfully. The program is made up of these parts:

• Live Expert-Led Workshops: These are live sessions conducted twice weekly, covering the essential core competencies for opening and running a NY Cannabis dispensary. The workshops offer comprehensive guidance and insights from industry experts.
• Online Courses: Replays of the workshops are made available as online courses with additional resources and exercises. These courses allow participants to review and reinforce the workshop content at their own pace.
• Office Hours: Participants have the opportunity to join 1:1 or group calls with experts, offering them a platform to have their specific questions and concerns addressed.
• Pro Forma Services & Consultation: Business owners receive complimentary preparation of pro formas, along with personalized 1:1 support and consultation to understand and optimize their use.
• Live NY Kickoff Event (March 2023): Our Academy launched the accelerator program with a live event at Soho Works in Brooklyn. This event was attended by over 150 people, the majority of which were CAURD licensees. This event had 6 live seminar-style workshops and was recorded for online learning content.  
• MJ Unpacked: The program provided sponsorship for the conference and offered free passes and support to licensees attending the conference.
• Community Space: The program provides a dedicated Slack channel where students can engage in discussions, share insights, and seek help from peers and program administrators.

In addition, OA provided support to NY CAURD Retailers that was out of the scope of our contract with NY State. There support services included:

• Live Budtender Training Bootcamps.
• 1-month AU License Application Clinic
• Entity Change Support for Cannabis Licensees

Program Performance 

Estimated Program ROI

OA’s state contract has easily created over $1.5 million of value for CAURD licensees, returning a significant ROI to the investment by NY State. This is calculated as follows:

• OA has provided over $500,000 worth of financial models, consulting support and term sheet reviews for free to NY CAURD licensees over the last 10 months (market rate for a comparable financial model is $10,000).
• OA’s subject matter experts (SMEs) have provided CAURD licensees over 500 hours of 1:1 consultation for fundraising, marketing, finance, compliance, and general business support, a value of over $200,000 at their market billable rates.
• OA ran 60 live educational workshops for 300 CAURD licensees, a value of $750,000 when valuing the course at $2,500 per student. 
• OA provided 10 brand floor showcases and 125 conference passes for MJ Unpacked’s NY event to CAURD licensees, a total value of $51,000.
• OA’s open source SOP templates for NY retailers will save CAURD licensees tens of thousands of dollars from having to engage compliance professionals to prepare the same documents.

Over and above the tangible value described above, as a direct result of the program, NY CAURD licensees have a far more substantial toolbox of resources to open locations and successfully operate them, and have formed a strong community of peers who can support one another through the establishment of this new industry.

Program Participant Feedback Survey Summary

The survey conducted among participants of the OUR ACADEMY 2023 education program yielded overwhelmingly positive feedback and valuable insights. Here are the key findings from the survey:

Program Impact:

• Participants expressed an extremely high likelihood of recommending the program to colleagues or fellow business owners, indicating a strong satisfaction level.
• The program was praised for its ability to cater to both seasoned professionals and new business owners, providing valuable insights and guidance for launching a cannabis dispensary in New York.
• Elements such as the twice-weekly live workshops, online courses, and office hours with academy experts were highly valued and seen as crucial for moving forward in the cannabis industry.

Personalized Support:

• The availability of one-on-one office hours with Our Academy experts was particularly appreciated and highly utilized, as it allowed participants to seek tailored advice and support.
• Pro forma preparation and consulting services were seen as essential for understanding financial projections and making informed decisions for business planning.

Progress Toward Launch:

• The majority of participants reported meaningful progress in their journey toward opening their cannabis stores, attributing their success to the knowledge and resources provided by the program.

Community Engagement:

• Participants emphasized the sense of community and camaraderie fostered by the program, which helped them feel supported and connected with other cannabis entrepreneurs.

Suggestions for Improvement:

• There were requests for expanding the pool of academy mentors and extending the program permanently to continue providing guidance to CAURD licensees beyond the program's conclusion.

Quotes From the Participants:

Our Academy is a network of like minded Professionals looking to shape the future buisness leaders of the Cannabis Industry. They are here to help us grow and succeed with tool, knowledge and visual to drive our success further. Here you will find The Dream Team of Mentors well versed in their fields pertaining to Cannabis Regulations, Compliance, Taxation & the MRTA. All State Driven Executive Leadership Building Mentorship Program. Geared toward our Success. Thank You Our Academy!”

— Leslie Rodriguez

“Your group's commitment to lending a helping hand has not only alleviated immediate challenges but has also inspired unity and camaraderie among our community members. The kindness and empathy demonstrated by each member of your organization have forged a bond that transcends any boundaries of age, race, or background, fostering a sense of belonging and togetherness that is truly commendable. The level of professionalism and efficiency exhibited by your group has been exceptional. Every endeavor undertaken by your team was executed with meticulous planning and a genuine desire to make a positive difference. Your ability to organize events and initiatives seamlessly reflects the tremendous dedication and hard work put in by each member, making it evident that your passion lies in empowering and uplifting others. Moreover, your group's emphasis on sustainability and long-term solutions has been instrumental in nurturing a more self-reliant community. The various educational workshops and skill-building sessions have empowered individuals to take charge of their lives and become self-sufficient, paving the way for a brighter future for everyone involved. It is with profound admiration that I extend my heartfelt thanks to your group for the profound impact you have made on our community. Your generosity has brought hope to those who were disheartened, joy to those in despair, and warmth to those who felt alone. Your group has set an exemplary standard for philanthropy, and I am certain that your efforts will continue to resonate with our community for generations to come. I hope every person from your group read this and I just want to say thank you again from the bottom of my heart!”

— Chris Kuilan

"This Academy caters to seasoned professionals and brand new business owners alike. As a person who's owned several small businesses, I've found this Academy to be especially helpful in understanding the nuances of opening a retail store specifically in NY. Items like, how to approach a Community Board, and what the TPI restrictions are, are just two items that this academy addresses that make it usable for people like me. However, for new business owners, this Academy provides a crash course on things like: business structure, raising capital, branding/marketing, etc that are invaluable to a small business owner with less experience."

— Jim Makoso

"I don’t know where I would be without their guidance. The office hours with Ms. Jessica Strange and Kim are extremely helpful and productive, and so professional. The weekly live workshops are essential for moving forward. Ms. Hillary and Ash are on point and guide the workshops very well. Ms. Hillary highlights the best points of the conversations and gives needed clarity and supportive facts and links. Ms. Jessica Strange helped me build my LLC, kept me from making mistakes, goes to bat for us with the OCM, and will help me navigate the post-selection application. I cannot express how valuable her kind assistance and patience with all of us."

— Hector Echeverri

Pro Forma Preparation & Consulting was like having a secret weapon in my pocket. It's all about making smart financial projections for my business or project based on past data and assumptions. With that kinda info, I could plan ahead, see where I might hit some bumps, and make informed decisions to keep my venture on track. Twice Weekly Live Workshops. Those were a game-changer! I gotta admit, staying in the loop with the latest trends and best practices in my field was crucial for my future success. Getting to learn from industry experts and other pros in those live sessions were priceless! Especially it being twice a week. So I had plenty of chances to soak in all that knowledge and even network with others in the same boat as me. Office Hours with Our Academy Experts. These sessions were like having a personal tutor at my disposal. If I ever had a tough time grasping a concept or needed some extra help, I could schedule one-on-one time with the experts. They were super approachable and tailored their advice to my specific needs. It made me feel supported!

— Victor Rodriguez

"Devan was extremely helpful and really had an understanding of what we needed to move forward with our next steps. The Pro Forma was extremely helpful because it gave me an idea of the target we need to hit in order to break even or have the business make sense. Also the office hours helped me layout what I needed help with at the current moment."

— Coss Marte

"Teachers are experienced in cannabis and are able to guide us with the tools necessary for launch. Courses are informative and the guests they invite are very helpful as well. I feel like I’m back in school and learning new skills and new information with the courses, and live weekly workshops. They give us confidence and information we can use as standards for the industry so we are not walking into this business blindly."

— Jamie Donato-rivera

"Our Academy is an extremely resourceful program and was paramount in my process. The whole team is knowledgeable, patient, helpful, transparent, and experienced. Twice Weekly Live Workshops were a game-changer!"

— Keith D’alessio

"Through education and mentorship, the program OA leads provides a foundation to launch and operate a successful regulated cannabis biz. This is one of the more difficult parts of business planning and requires finance and accounting skills that most people don't have readily available. It has helped prepare us to raise capital and perform the financial planning required to efficiently operate our store."

— Naiomy Guerrero and Akele Parnell

"The program has been extremely helpful in every angle. Devan helped me understand what a pro forma is. Thank you all for being so helpful, and continue to do good work helping people like me."

— Penny Monge

Devan Devan Devan! The humble rockstar! This amazing brilliant man saved us in making decisions with certain investors that were super predatory and gave us better information to make us confident to stand up for ourselves!

— Anonymous

"The training resources have been excellent. The information presented is timely and relevant to my experience as I build out my dispensary. Also, their staff and speakers have been readily available for additional questions I have had along the way. I feel much more knowledgeable and confident as I speak with potential investors and landlords about my dispensary."

— Warren Ovalle

Performance Summaries by Program Aspect

Live Expert-Led Workshops

During the project, a comprehensive set of educational sessions was delivered, totaling 60 live sessions. These sessions were divided into different categories, with 12 being pre-recorded courses, 34 conducted as live workshops through Zoom, and 12 being vendor demos. In total, these sessions accumulated 70 hours of teaching time.

An analysis of participation rates revealed that the workshops had an average participation of 89 attendees.

Student Feedback

Students were asked to provide feedback on the live workshops. What follows is a summary of the themes noticed:

• Appreciation for Learning Opportunities
  • One student expressed gratitude for the important questions and forum, indicating that they are learning a lot each week.
  • Another was excited to rewatch a previous class, highlighting their interest in continuous learning.
• Positive Feedback on Information and Service
  • One student appreciated the workshop for being very informative.
  • Another praised the team's responsiveness and the valuable information provided, expressing gratitude for the pro forma services.
• Praise for Specific Content and Resources
  • One student praised the workshop as the best business book he's read in a long time. He also expressed gratitude for the pro forma document shared during the workshop.
  • Another acknowledged the valuable insights from the workshop, particularly emphasizing the importance of messaging, vision, mission, and brand awareness in their business promotion.
• Appreciation for the Present
  • One student expressed gratitude and admiration for the presenter, recognizing their expertise and skills.
  • Another gave a brief but positive comment on the presenter's good presentation.
• Recognition of the Relevance of Pro Forma Instruction
  • One student acknowledged the importance of the pro forma instruction in their business pursuits and stated that they are catching on with the provided guidance.

Overall, the attendees seem pleased with the workshop, the valuable information shared, and the presenter's expertise. The positive feedback indicates that the workshop is effectively providing relevant and informative content to the participants, contributing to their learning and business development.

Online Courses

The online courses offered in our program have been designed to provide valuable learning experiences to our members. These courses consist of workshop recordings that have been divided into easily digestible lessons, supplemented by relevant resources, quizzes, and worksheets. Additionally, to cover foundational retail business skills and knowledge comprehensively, we have incorporated some pre-recorded courses focused on Retail Math & KPIs.

Engagement Metrics

The engagement of our program members with the online courses has been a matter of interest and concern. As of now, the student activation rate (i.e. the number of licensees with access to the content who enrolled in the LMS platform) stands at 53%. We recognize that the online courses are largely for those who missed the live workshops, and we didn’t expect participation in these courses to be as high as the live workshops (which feature valuable interactivity via Q&A sessions with the presenters and an active chat channel).

Those who do start the online courses show a commendable level of dedication. On average, they progress through about 74.8% of the course content, with a noteworthy 66.8% of students starting courses achieving a 100% completion rate. This indicates that once engaged, our members tend to persevere and commit to completing the majority of the course material. Many students will access the courses to revisit a specific section or concept in the workshop that they may have missed or wanted clarity on, which artificially lowers the completion rate (these students would have viewed the content live already, and did not need to rewatch the full course).

Course Satisfaction & Student Feedback

The following aspects are particularly well-liked by our students:

• Informative Content: The courses provide valuable and relevant information to the learners, enhancing their knowledge and skills.
• Engaging Instructors: The instructors' teaching style and interaction with students have been appreciated, contributing to a positive learning environment.
• Mentorship Opportunities: The chance to engage with instructors for mentorship has been highly valued, providing additional support and guidance to the learners.
• Transparent Communication: The courses' communication approach is clear and transparent, ensuring that learners are well-informed throughout their learning journey.
• Tangible Progress: Students have reported positive results and progress in their learning, boosting their confidence and motivation.
• Industry Awareness: The courses have successfully increased learners' awareness of their respective industries, allowing them to stay informed about the latest developments.

Areas for Improvement

While the overall satisfaction is positive, there are some areas where improvements can be made:

• Learning Preferences: One learner expressed a preference for in-person learning over online courses. While online learning offers flexibility, we should consider ways to accommodate various learning preferences.

Course Testimonials

Positive feedback from our learners serves as a testament to the value and impact of the online courses. One such testimonial reads:

"Incredible support from OA professionals continues to be a guiding light moving forward towards launch." — Hector Echeverry

Office Hours

Our Office Hours program has been a crucial component of our commitment to providing comprehensive support to New York cannabis entrepreneurs. Through this initiative, we offer services provided by a diverse group of subject matter experts (“SMEs”) covering various essential areas such as finance, marketing, compliance, business plans, program support, and operations.

Extensive Engagement with SMEs:

Over the first 11 months of the program, our SMEs have been actively engaged with licensees, providing invaluable guidance and assistance. In this period, we recorded over 600 touch points between SMEs and program participants.

Meaningful Impact on Licensees:

Our SMEs have been particularly effective in reaching out to new licensees, demonstrating their dedication to nurturing a thriving cannabis industry in New York. Among the total 175 licensees with access to this service, OA SMEs engaged with over 150 licensees, indicating a commendable engagement rate of 86%.

Multiple Touchpoints for Enhanced Support:

We have strived to provide personalized and in-depth support to each participating licensee. On average, licensees who actively engaged with the Office Hours program experienced three or more unique touchpoints with our SMEs. This demonstrates the depth of support and guidance offered to entrepreneurs, allowing them to access expert advice tailored to their specific needs.

Challenges in Measuring Engagement Rates:

It is important to note that measuring precise engagement rates poses challenges due to the ongoing and perpetual release of licenses. As some licensees joined the program from its inception, while others joined at later stages, the engagement rates may fluctuate accordingly. Despite this challenge, we remain committed to delivering consistent support and guidance to all program participants throughout their journey as cannabis entrepreneurs.

Subject Matter Expert Observations & Recommendations

• Varying Levels of Preparedness: The experts have observed that licensees exhibit widely different ranges of understanding, capabilities, financial capacity, and business experience. Many licensees seem unprepared for the challenges that lie ahead, especially in securing locations and raising capital, which are identified as the main hurdles to overcome.
• Educational Tailoring: Due to varying preparedness levels, the educational content has been tailored towards more remedial subjects, focusing on basic entrepreneurial education rather than technical training. The experts have adapted to address the needs of a cohort that is primarily focused on getting stores open rather than operating them. To ensure the program reaches entrepreneurs in all the various levels of preparedness, more advanced licensees have been supported more so via office hours and pro forma consulting rather than the course content which they were less likely to participate in to begin with.
• Need for Additional Support: It is clear to the experts that additional support will be needed to assist licensees once their locations are open. Many concerning investment deals have been offered to licensees, particularly those relying on large management fees that can restrict their economic benefit if stores do not perform exceptionally.
• Community and Connection: Despite the challenges, positive outcomes have emerged from the program, including the creation of a community and connections among participants. This aspect is seen as an achievement for OA.

Pro Forma Services & Consultation

Our commitment to empowering CAURD licensees extends to providing comprehensive financial support through pro formas. The contract included up to 175 pro formas. The response from those who engaged with this offering has been overwhelmingly positive, underscoring the value it brings to their business planning and decision-making processes.

100% of eligible requests for pro formas have been completed to date, with more inbound requests expected in the final month of the contract. 

Overall, we have seen very high engagement with this service offering. We have also managed to steer numerous licensees away from problematic or predatory investment offers through the use of this tool and the subsequent consulting support.

OCM has also expressed gratitude for the capabilities of the pro forma tool, using it's insights to help inform internal procedures and discussions. Due to the success of this offering in New York, OA is now in numerous discussions with other regulators and policymakers about replicating this technical assistance offering in other states and municipalities. 

We recognize the importance of personalized support for each licensee during this crucial financial planning process. Therefore, each licensee who has been provided a pro forma has also undergone a 60-90 minute walkthrough of the model, wherein our finance expert explains the assumptions and outputs of the pro forma. This interactive session enables licensees to seek clarifications, request updates to specific assumptions, and test various scenarios within the tool. The support doesn't end there; many licensees have scheduled additional follow-up sessions to further update and tailor their pro formas to specific investor deal terms, as well as to test different scenarios with the assistance of our finance expert.

The success and satisfaction expressed by our CAURD licensees with the pro forma support reaffirm our commitment to providing relevant, personalized, and actionable financial assistance. As the program progresses, we remain dedicated to empowering our licensees with the tools and knowledge necessary to make informed financial decisions that will contribute to the success and growth of their cannabis ventures.

Since this service offering has been so effective at educating and crystalizing complex financial concepts for licensees, we believe it is critical that these services be expanded past 175 licensees and ideally to all CAURD licensees. The less financially literate the licensee is, the more value they are sure to gain through this exercise, and the more likely we are to thwart predatory investment deals in the process.

SOP Templates for Opening & Operating a Dispensary

OA’s SMEs prepared an open source library of standard operating procedures (SOPs) specifically for New York retail operators to support their opening process and operational success.

These SOPs have been made available for free, as an alternative to other service providers in the state who are charging as high as $30,000 for similar documents.

Each SOP includes a brief video with an OA SME explaining how to use the document effectively, and where they should consider customizing the SOP based on the licensees store and business characteristics.

Community Space

One of the key components of our educational program is the community space we established on Slack. Approximately 183 CAURD licensees have joined and actively participated in this dedicated platform, which features over 1,000 BIPOC and justice-impacted entrepreneurs across the country. 

The Slack community serves as a crucial communications channel, facilitating interactions between program administrators and participants. It effectively serves its purpose as a means for program administrators to communicate important updates, such as the scheduling of live workshops and dissemination of essential program-related information.

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Program summary

• $230,000 donation dollars allocated to funding the program
• 241 BIPOC cannabis entrepreneurs enrolled, across 14 different states, with over 39% transitioning from the legacy market.
• 59 mentees paired with a cannabis industry executive mentor
• 15 weeks of core programming, plus 4 bonus weeks for fundraising mentees
• 37 workshops (over 70 hours) led by volunteer workshop leaders from the industry
• 320 active Slack community members (including some alumni from the 20/21 Cohort)
• 30 evergreen resources for founder fundraising, marketing strategy, and sales resources co-created with OA mentors.