Marijuana Business Magazine November December 2018

NEW HlRES & PROMOTlONS By Omar Sacirbey A Hire With Fleet-Footed Expansion in Mind With a growing number of multi- state marijuana businesses emerging across the United States, it’s safe to say that the race for expansion – and dominance – is well underway. Few companies know more about winning races than Nike, which is perhaps why Curaleaf, a vertically integrated marijuana company headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, tapped a former sportswear executive as its senior vice president for retail operations. Chris Melillo , who previously worked as Nike’s senior director of stores in North America, became interested in the marijuana industry about three years ago while working in Oregon, home of the sportswear giant’s head- quarters. “My interest was piqued before I ever left Nike,” Melillo said. He’d roam from cannabis store to cannabis store, seeing what kind of products were offered, their prices, how shops were laid out and whatever else he could learn about the new industry sprouting outside his office window. He even received – and passed up – an offer to work at a cannabis-focused venture capital firm founded by contacts in his network. Fast-forward to summer 2018, when a recruiter con- tracted by Curaleaf connected with a recruiter who had worked with Melillo, who at this point was living in New York. Although Melillo hadn’t been looking into canna- bis jobs actively, Curaleaf and its recruiter succeeded in bringing him on board. “A lot of times in recruitment you’re finding passive candidates, not active candidates,” Melillo said, noting that Curaleaf uses a recruiter to fill some of its more select positions. Now that he is at Curaleaf, Melillo is confident his experience at Nike and other retail companies will give A look at some recent hiring moves in the marijuana industry & Movers SHAKERS ( ) Chris Melillo 162 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November/December 2018