Cresco Labs
Leaders in Professional Cannabis
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Chicago, IL, Cresco Labs is a medical cannabis cultivating and manufacturing company dedicated to providing consistent, quality cannabis to patients across the country. Cresco owns and operates three state-of-the-art cultivation and processing facilities in Illinois and Pennsylvania, with more in progress in Ohio and Nevada. The company’s products service patients with pharmaceutical-grade product and precision consistency in a variety of forms. Cresco leads the nation’s cannabis industry with a focus on regulatory compliance, patient safety, and satisfaction. With full access to traditional banking and insurance, $60m in equity raised and another $12m raised for real estate, Cresco is in a unique position to establish a national operation in the complex and developing cannabis industry.
Production Capabilities
Pharmaceutical-grade, appropriate cannabis.
Cresco has invested $31M+ in the construction of three state-of-the-art cannabis facilities in Illinois and one in Pennsylvania. Their Illinois facilities feature 40,000 sq.ft. cement precast structures and one 30,000 sq.ft. hybrid greenhouse structure.
Cultivation
Extraction
Manufacturing
Cresco is one of a very small group of operators to successfully obtain cultivation licenses in more than one of the modern, limited license, merit-based application state programs. These programs also require operators to control all aspects of cultivation, production, manufacturing, packaging, branding, logistics and distribution. These are skillsets and brand assets that have not historically been required of, or developed by, operators in existing programs – providing a significant first-mover advantage.
Brands and Products
A Multi-Brand approach to address variant consumer groups
Since inception, Cresco has recognized the importance of providing appropriate and approachable cannabis to customers across the country. While each market is different, customers generally fall into two groups: customers with a lifestyle and wellness routine that already incorporates cannabis, and medically-focused patients trying cannabis for the first time. Each consumer group has an interest in medical cannabis, but want the final product to look and feel different. Developing this understanding of the cannabis consumer has informed Cresco’s multi-brand approach to product development. Their suite of brands addresses a true variety of customers and their variant needs.
CRESCO
THC-focused products available in flower, pre-rolled joints, vape pens, and in multiple forms of extracts. Each product falls into one of three proprietary categories (Rise, Refresh, Rest), identified from the effects of the relevant strain’s cannabinoid profile.
REMEDI
CBD-focused and traditional pharmaceutical formed products. All Remedi products are focused on non-inhalation, medical delivery systems with low or no THC. Options include precisely dosed tinctures, capsules, salves, and transdermal patches.
MINDY’S EDIBLES
In collaboration with James Beard Award winning chef Mindy Segal, Cresco Labs created the industry’s first true culinary backed edible option. Completely free of cannabis flavor, Mindy’s line is comprised of delicate chocolate brittles, hard sweets, caramels, cookies, gummies, and other sweet confections.
RESERVE
Reserve is a line of premium cannabis products. These exclusive strains are the reward of years of selective breeding, each one of them a demonstration of the cannabis plant’s highest potential. From there, masterful cultivation techniques induce the ideal expression of each cultivar, delivering a flower as exotic as it is exceptional.
Medical Advisory Board
Research and Development Initiatives
Cresco Labs maintains a high focus on the need for more valid scientific research into the therapeutic benefits and risks associated with treating patients with medical cannabis and we are driving the following initiatives.
Cresco is currently engaged in R&D with a pharmaceutical manufacturing company to develop a solvent-less cannabinoid extraction process which will create water-soluble, 100% CBD or THC based compounds that increase the bioavailability of the ingested cannabinoid. The complexes’ stability and increased water-solubility simplifies its formulation into medical products for potential oral, inhaled, intravenous and even transcutaneous drug delivery.
Cresco Labs is also spearheading clinical trials in collaboration with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy and the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research to formulate a Phase 1 trial related to the bioavailability of topical cannabinoid applications and the efficacy of such application for diabetic neuropathic pain.
Cresco Labs is collaborating with biopharmaceutical scientists and the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy to develop standards and methods for the accurate testing of cannabinoids and other molecular attendants contained in raw cannabis and cannabis derivative products. Such efforts will result in the most developed, thorough and accurate analytical methodologies developed related to cannabis to date.
Cresco Labs is completing experimental trials with senior faculty at the University of Illinois School of Agriculture using two naturally occurring compounds, applied to the root zone of cannabis plants with the goal of increasing potency and disease resistance. Data from the experiments will be statistically analyzed to determine any significant effect resulting from the compound addition with the intent of publication.
Founders and Leadership Team
Charles Bachtell
CEO
Charles Bachtell – CEO Charles Bachtell is the CEO of Cresco Labs, LLC. Bachtell is an attorney and brings with him deep legal expertise in both corporate governance and complex regulatory compliance. Bachtell lead the efforts for Cresco to the win seven licenses that it currently holds and continues to work to ensure that Cresco remains an industry leader. Bachtell is a founding member of the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association and the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois. Prior to Cresco Labs, Bachtell served for eight years as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Guaranteed Rate. Bachtell has established himself as one of the industry’s foremost authorities on regulatory affairs and compliance in one of the nation’s most heavily regulated industries.
Joe Caltabiano
President
Joe Caltabiano is the current President of Cresco Labs, LLC. Caltabiano brings more than a decade of finance experience as one of the top mortgage professionals in the country. He is also a leukemia survivor who is committed to supporting organizations and efforts that help patients in their fight against cancer. Caltabiano has significant expertise working in the highly regulated mortgage industry. He has closed more than $2 billion in loan volume over the years as senior vice president at one of the nation’s largest mortgage banks and received numerous awards for mortgage production, client experience and community involvement.
Robert Sampson
CoFounder
Prior to forming Cresco Labs, Robert Sampson had more than 20 years of operating experience in large business, including 12 years in the heavily regulated mortgage industry, having served as Chief Operating Officer at Guaranteed Rate, the nation’s seventh largest retail mortgage bank. As the former COO of Cresco Labs, Sampson oversaw the construction of two 40,000 sqft cement precast structures and one 30,000 sqft hybrid greenhouse structure and was responsible for all facility operations and systems. Sampson is currently the CEO of Bemortgage based in Chicago.
Dominic Sergi
Director of Strategic Dev
Dominic Sergi is a highly successful real estate, business and financial expert who devotes much of his free time raising funds to help patients fighting leukemia and lymphoma. As president and chief executive officer of a Chicago-based investment real estate company, Sergi draws on his strategic and business acumen to deliver on the company’s long-term vision and provide asset budgeting forecasts, which have exceeded $120 million in value. Sergi’s many other responsibilities as leader of a growing firm include oversight of all operations and personnel management. Sergi is active in a number of community and charitable organizations and is passionate about giving back to the community.
Brian McCormack
CoFounder
Brian McCormack, one of Illinois’ most innovative and successful business entrepreneurs, brings a creative, progressive approach to business, finance and manufacturing at Cresco Labs as he seeks to position the company at the forefront of medical cannabis cultivation in Illinois. McCormack is the founder and director of InnerWorkings, a print management company in Chicago that he built into a vastly successful global operation that grosses over $1 billion in annual revenue. Prior to founding InnerWorkings, McCormack founded and served as CEO of McWitt Graphic Communications. He also provided financial and manufacturing operations insight to uBid.com and EZLinks Golf Corporation as a director on the companies’ advisory boards.
Ken Amann
CFO
Ken Amann brings 20 years of financial management and consulting experience as the Chief Financial Officer of Cresco Labs. Ken has an outstanding record of building enterprise value at rapid growth-oriented companies. Prior to joining Cresco Labs, Amann spent two years as the Chief Financial Officer for nSource, a BPO and consulting practice located in Chicago. Prior to that, he was the Chief Financial Officer for eight years at Williams Lea, a $2+ billion dollar global BPO business based in London. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society.
Zach Marburger
CIO
Zach Marburger is the Chief Information Officer for Cresco Labs and has over eight years experience in automated technologies and systems. In recent years Marburger created Whaxy, the fastest growing medical cannabis resource and compliant online ordering platform in the industry. He recently sold the technology platform to MassRoots, one of the largest technology companies serving the cannabis industry. Previously, he founded an anti-piracy software company with 4,000 copyright holders under management, acquired in 2014. Marburger ensures all Cresco Lab’s systems and information storage are compliant, forward-thinking, and enterprise grade.
David Ellis
COO
David Ellis is the current Executive Vice President of Operations for Cresco Labs. Ellis brings a decade of executive level operations experience across several industries to the Cresco Labs team. Most recently, Ellis founded and served as the President and CEO of Greens & Gills, a 10,000 square foot, controlled environment, hydroponic and aquaponic farm on the South Side of Chicago. Through operational best practices and proprietary software, Ellis was able to build one of the only profitable urban farming businesses in the country.