Management
Robert Frichtel
CEO
Robert Frichtel served as a managing partner of IBC Capital Group, a commercial real estate and finance company, from 2002 to June of 2013. Since 2010 Mr. Frichtel has consulted for numerous clients throughout the nation that are engaged in the medical marijuana business and has written articles for Bloomberg news regarding the cannabis industry. Between 1999 and 2001, Mr. Frichtel was the president and Chief Operating Officer of EOS Group, a division of Health Net, a NYSE listed healthcare company. Mr. Frichtel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University.
Joe Hodas
COO
Prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer of General Cannabis Corp., Mr. Hodas served as Principal of his consulting firm, CXjoe, LLC, where he assisted multiple early stage start-up companies in a shared executive role ranging from business development to operations and marketing. From January, 2014 until December 2017, Mr. Hodas was Chief Marketing Officer at Dixie Brands, Inc., where he was responsible for the overall brand development and national expansion of three brands including Dixie Elixirs and Edibles, Therabis and Aceso. Before joining Dixie Brands, Inc., Mr. Hodas served as Executive Vice President of Channels for Colorado marketing and advertising agency Vladimir Jones from December 2008 to January 2014. In that role, he managed a team of about 20 employees focused on all areas of paid, owned and earned media, while also helping grow the company’s overall revenue. In addition, over the past decade, Mr. Hodas has served in various leadership roles for well-regarded brands such as Smashburger, Quiznos and Frontier Airlines. Joe earned a Master of Sciences in Public Relations and Marketing from the University of Denver. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin.
Brian Andrews
CFO
Prior to his appointment as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Andrews served as the Company’s Vice President of Finance since January 2017. From August 2013 to January 2017, Mr. Andrews worked for NOW CFO, LLC, where he provided accounting and finance consulting services to numerous public and private companies, including General Cannabis Corp from September 2015 through January 2017. While at NOW CFO, Mr. Andrews was responsible for his clients’ SEC filings, implementing management reporting, due diligence and process improvements. From November 2011 to July 2013, Mr. Andrews served as corporate controller for Mesa Labs, Inc., a public medical device company, where he was responsible for SEC filings, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, management reporting, acquisition due diligence and integration, and oversight of all accounting functions. Mr. Andrews also has fifteen years of experience as an auditor, most recently with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC as a director in their audit practice, serving both public and private companies. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in the state of Colorado and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a minor in Finance from the University of Kansas.
Shelly Whitson
Chief Administrative Officer
Shelly Whitson, prior to her appointment to Chief Administrative Officer, served as the Chief Accounting Officer to General Cannabis Corporation. Prior to joining the company, Shelly served as controller for Rocky Mountain Disposables, a small packaging firm in Denver, Colorado from June 2009 to March 2014, where she managed the firm’s financial operations. From July 2007 to June 2009, Ms. Whitson was employed as a staff accountant for Peterson Scharf, CPAs, a Certified public accounting firm, where she maintained the financial records and prepared tax returns for many small to medium sized corporations and partnerships. In addition to her accounting background, she previously held a real estate broker’s license in both Colorado and Nevada where she sold both commercial and residential real estate. Ms. Whitson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Montana State University. Ms. Whitson is currently pursuing her Executive MBA degree at the University of Denver.
Rich Cardinal
Managing Director - Next Big Crop Consulting
During his experience in Colorado’s medical marijuana system, Rich oversaw the construction and operations of multiple commercial cultivation facilities. He managed the construction and operations of Boulder Kind Care’s warehouse grows from 2009 – 2012. In the process, he developed cultivation techniques specific for large scale commercial warehouse grows. In 2012, Rich took over the retro-fitting of a 42,000 square foot greenhouse, the largest legal cannabis cultivation facility in the country at the time. Under his control, that greenhouse produced over a ton of high-grade medical marijuana in 2013. He formed Next Big Crop Consulting in 2013 to help clients by lending his expertise in cultivation design, construction and operations.
Hunter Garth
Managing Director - Iron Protection Group Security
Hunter Garth joined the Marine Corps at the age of 19, and was leading teams in operations by the time he was 21. In fact his 21st birthday was spent leading a team in eastern Africa. He then came home and was sent to many different schools to build leadership qualities and operational skills. In 2011 he was sent to Helmand, Afghanistan and directly engaged in combat operations for 8 months. Participating in over 175 combat missions as a Designated Marksman for an Assault Platoon, these 8 months would prove the turning point for him. He was Honorably Discharged from the Marines in 2012 and two days later went to work in the corporate world at Merrill Lynch. Unhappy with his move, he decided to seek self driven success. He then moved to Colorado in order to start his own company, within 1 year he successfully started a protection firm and was nationally recognized through training programs and speaking engagements.
Bryan DeHaven
Managing Director - Chiefton Supply Co
Bryan is an award winning professional graphic designer originally from the great state of Texas. For the last 15 years he has lent his expertise to action sport companies, apparel brands, and cannabis corporations. Owning his own snowboard shop for over 10 years gives Bryan a unique perspective on the retail aspects of the legal cannabis landscape. As the original designer of Chiefton Supply Company he helped conceptualize and launch the brand in 2015 with Jacob Kulchin. He is a two-time guest on the Cannabist show and his branding, design work, and merchandising is extensive in the cannabis industry. Bryan holds a bachelor’s degree from the Art Institute of Colorado.