When the market for adult-use marijuana launches this year, business owners will face some challenges and limitations that other business owners don’t face, like where to bank and how to advertise. But they also face some of the same challenges like finding qualified workers and working with local regulations.

Doors open at 7:30 a.m. with coffee and networking until 8:00 a.m. when program begins. Program ends at 9 a.m.

The Michael Klahr and Holocaust and Human Rights Center is at 46 University Drive, Augusta. Parking on-site is free.

About the moderator:

Jessica Lowell covers business and economic development and general news in the Gardiner area. A University of Maine graduate, she has worked for newspapers in New Hampshire, upstate New York and Wyoming, where she has won awards for investigative and explanatory journalism. She’s a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

On the panel:

Erik Gundersen is the director of the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services. At the Office of Marijuana Policy, Erik oversees a newly-created agency of state government responsible for all aspects of licensing, regulation, and oversight of Maine’s medical use of marijuana and adult use marijuana programs. Prior to joining the Mills Administration, Erik served as a policy advisor to Speaker Sara Gideon, where he served as her chief liaison to the Legislature’s Marijuana Legalization Implementation Committee.

Dennis Wheelock is a broker with Magnusson Balfour Commercial & Business Brokers. Dennis joined the sales team in 2012 and during restructuring when Magnusson Balfour moved over to Keller Williams Realty, Dennis and two others headed up the leadership team. He graduated from Bentley College with a B.S. in Accountancy, and has worked as a financial analyst and licensed Residential Appraiser.

Gene Ardito has held the role of President and CEO of cPort Credit Union since 2004. He is a graduate of Providence College and spent his career working in corporate finance positions at Central Maine Power, UNUM and as a Senior Relationship Manage within Fleet Bank’s Corporate Banking Group. Gene has served on boards of the UNUM Foundation, Diocese of Portland, and Community Financial Literacy.

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