Staff
Professional services company MGO has released its 2022 Cannabis 50 report. The Cannabis 50 2021 Impact Review honors the businesses, investors, advocates, and organizations that made a positive impact on the cannabis and hemp industries in 2021.
The company’s 50 honorees are organized into five core areas:
Doing Well: Entrepreneurs and organizations expanding financial, operational, and environmental horizons.
Doing Good: Nonprofits, activists, and others undoing social harms, advocating through reform, supporting sustainability, and providing equitable opportunity.
Money Talks: Investors, lobbyists, and others opening the avenues of capital fueling an emerging industry.
Knowledge is Power: Researchers, educators, and others raising awareness and sharing the benefits of cannabis.
All the Lights: Athletes, entertainers, and influencers mainstreaming cannabis culture and giving back to the community.
Green Market Report is included this year in the Money Talks section and was so stoked to be associated with such a fine group of people.
Kevin O’Connell, CEO of MGO LLP said in the report, “It has been said that change is the only constant in life. 2021 is a reminder that the quote could read “…change is the only constant in the cannabis and hemp industry.” Always on an upwards trajectory, but not without disruption. There were disappointments for some, such as federal legalization and banking reform failing to advance, and cannabis’s unchanging rank as a Schedule 1 drug. Although only one new state legalized cannabis in some form in 2021, five others transitioned from a medical-only regime to adult use, meaning approximately 44% of adults of the U.S. population are now living in jurisdictions that have legalized recreational cannabis. At the date of publication, the industry is estimated to employ more than 300,000 people in the U.S., not including secondary hires in the industries and professions that support the cannabis industry. The year also saw progress on issues of social justice and sustainability, and while the industry is to be lauded for its greater focus than most others on these topics, 2021 drove home the challenges and importance of continuing to move from word to deed. Finally, one word that could define 2021 is consolidation. The industry saw record M&A volumes, including more international activity and a transaction centered around the industry’s first FDA-approved drug. In this new year, all signs point to more of the same when it comes to consolidation in an industry where rapidly changing markets are the norm.”
