Canna Connect Show

Recorded live at Canna Connect’s Cannabis & Community gathering in Duluth, Episode 57 brings together Caleb Dunlap of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Tim Gordon of Gordon Cannabis Group, and Spencer Ploessl of Canna Connect for a Minnesota Market Update grounded in community, sovereignty, and the future of cannabis in the state. Caleb opens by welcoming the room to Fond du Lac homelands and sharing why Native nations are not simply participants in cannabis, but foundationa...

Brian Bartley came into Minnesota cannabis with plans to build Green Lane Express as a vertically integrated microbusiness in Brooklyn Park. Then financing became the problem. Brian joins Stephen Eigenmann to share his experience pursuing a loan intended to support Minnesota cannabis microbusinesses. He walks through the timeline, the months he says he spent providing documentation and waiting for his application to move forward, and how those delays affected his original plans. They also dis...

Minnesota's cannabis market is moving from licensing into something bigger: building businesses, creating jobs, investing in communities, and figuring out what support operators actually need. Jess Jackson, Director of Community and Economic Development at the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management, joins Stephen Eigenmann on The Canna Connect Show to unpack what that work looks like from inside OCM. Jess shares what OCM has learned through its Social Equity Mixer series, including the findi...

What does it actually take to build a cannabis brand once the product leaves the warehouse? For this episode of The Canna Connect Show, we're reaching back to a conversation recorded in November 2025 with Tara Falk, founder of Aim and Fire. Tara has built her career around experiential and trade marketing, working across industries including tech, beauty, consumer products, beverages, and cannabis. Her work has taken her from retail activations and field teams to major events and festivals, g...

Open your window and come on in to the Canna Connect Show for a Cannabis & Community update! We are hosting a cultivation celebration, brand showcase, and market update on October 15th at Clyde Iron Works. Thank you to our sponsors: ANANG Native Cannabis CompanyCannasureComcast BusinessGreen GoodsMoxie Creative NECANNNorthStar Cultivation Supply Park State Bank SAX, LLP What RebatesListen for more information about the Official After Party hosted by ANANG a...