Marijuana Business Magazine - January 2017

ANC¬LLARY BUS¬NESS STRATEG¬ES T he team behind Oregon-based CannaGuard Security imple- mented a Herculean change last year. Executives decided to branch out from the compliance, armed guard and transport offerings that the company built its name on and expand into the plant-touching side of the marijuana industry. In particu- lar, CannaGuard executives launched a third-party logistics business that manages cannabis drying, trimming, Branching Out How a pioneering security company has confronted the challenges of branching out to develop a trimming, drying and distribution business by Joseph Peña storage and distribution for multiple Oregon MJ growers. It’s nearly unheard of for an ancil- lary cannabis company to undertake such a move, let alone do it success- fully. But by all accounts, it seems CannaGuard has done just that. The Cannabis Distribution Company (TCD Co.), as the new business is called, is housed along with Canna- Guard’s other companies under a new parent: OmniTek Holdings. The parent company now has approximately 180 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CannaGuard Security last year launched TCD Co., a third-party logistics business that manages cannabis drying, trimming, storage and distribution for multiple MJ growers. TCD Co. works in tandem with CannaGuard's security and compliance services, all of which are housed under OmniTek Holdings. Company executives offered these tips for ancillary businesses expanding into plant- touching operations: • Products that help your clients effectively operate in the regulated cannabis market – inventory software, for example – are harder to come by. So TCD Co. customized its own software. • Plant-touching services you plan to offer – trimming or drying, for example – should be scaled and, when possible, customized to serve the needs of individual clients. • Anti-contamination practices are critical, and an open-door policy on your operations provides clients – the MJ growers – with peace of mind. • Landing a wholesale distribution license is costly and takes considerable time. As a third-party logistics hub providing storage, distribution and trimming services, The Cannabis Distribution Company’s facility is stocked with product from large and small growers. Photo courtesy of TCD Co. 82 • Marijuana Business Magazine • January 2018