4Front Introduces Initial Brightleaf (formerly Cannex) Brands to Massachusetts

The introduction of Marmas and Pebbles branded edibles to the Massachusetts market marks the initial implementation of Cannex’s operational capabilities in a new market (outside Washington State)

Adult-use approval at two Massachusetts facilities anticipated imminently

VANCOUVER, B.C., and PHOENIX, Ariz., October 21, 2019 – 4Front Ventures Corp. (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) (“4Front” or the “Company”) announces that, following the closing of its merger with Cannex on July 31, the company has moved quickly to take Cannex’s battle-tested operating capabilities, now part of 4Front’s production and manufacturing division Brightleaf, and apply them to the Massachusetts market.

“To say I am proud of my team is an understatement,” said Leo Gontmakher, 4Front COO. “Taking advantage of our pre-merger planning work, we formally took over 4Front’s production and processing operations in August. By late September, we had introduced Marmas and Pebbles, two of our most successful edibles brands, to the Massachusetts’ medical cannabis market. Most importantly to me, we successfully replicated the low-cost production methods we developed in Washington.

“In addition, we started the first fully supervised harvest based on our improvements to our Worcester, Mass., facility—the processes and genetics are proving to be robust for yield and the initial quality looks great. There is much more work to do, but to see the team coming together and the tangible operational progress gives me confidence in our capabilities to execute on our plans to bring our efficient production of consistent, quality products to new markets.”

“We are executing against a simple strategy: bringing highly efficient and battle-tested operating capabilities to nascent markets,” said Josh Rosen, CEO of 4Front. “In this case, Leo and team were able to quickly implement these capabilities in a new market to achieve stellar initial results.”

Regarding adult-use approval for its facilities in Massachusetts, Rosen said, “We are appreciatively entering what appears to be the ‘final final’ stages of obtaining adult-use permission in our Massachusetts facilities in Georgetown and Worcester. If matters proceed as anticipated, we will be selling into the adult-use market in a matter of weeks, not months.”

About 4Front Ventures Corp.
4Front is a cannabis company designed for long-term success and built upon battle-tested operating capabilities at scale, experienced and committed leadership, a strategic asset base, and a commitment to being a magnet for talent. From plant genetics to the cannabis retail experience, 4Front’s team applies expertise across the value chain. 4Front has invested heavily to assemble a comprehensive collection of management skills and hands-on operating expertise to capitalize on the unique growth opportunity being afforded by the increased legalization of cannabis. For more information, visit 4Front’s website.

Investor Contact
Andrew Thut, Chief Investment Officer
IR@4frontventures.com
602-633-3067

Media Contact
Anne Donohoe / Nick Opich
KCSA Strategic Communications
adonohoe@kcsa.com / nopich@kcsa.com
212-896-1265 / 212-896-1206

This news release was prepared by management of 4Front Ventures, which takes full responsibility for its contents. The Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in 4Front Ventures’ periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as “will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should,” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to future developments and the business and operations of 4Front Ventures, developments with respect to legislative developments in the United States and the proposed trading dated of the resulting issuer.

Although 4Front Ventures has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under U.S. federal laws; change in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management’s expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 4Front Ventures disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and 4Front Ventures does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

The post 4Front Introduces Initial Brightleaf (formerly Cannex) Brands to Massachusetts appeared first on 4Front.

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4Front Hires Chief Human Performance Officer to Drive Leadership and Employee Development

Alicia Mandel brings 30+ years of experience in developing scalable talent-development programs for organizations such as American Express, University of Phoenix, and the U.S. Olympic Committee

VANCOUVER, B.C., and PHOENIX, Ariz., October 15, 2019 – 4Front Ventures Corp. (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) (“4Front” or the “Company”) has hired Alicia Mandel as 4Front’s first Chief Human Performance Officer. Her addition to the team furthers 4Front’s commitment to developing high-caliber talent and attracting the best people from within and outside the cannabis industry.

“I’m very excited about welcoming Alicia into the 4Front family,” 4Front CEO Josh Rosen said. “I know executives who have gone through her leadership development program and, after reaching out to her, it quickly became clear we have a shared belief in what developing great talent means. 4Front will benefit immensely from her innovative thinking on what effective leadership looks like and her experience building scalable talent infrastructure for organizations such as Citi and the U.S. Olympic Committee.”

Ms. Mandel comes to 4Front with three decades of corporate training and employee engagement experience. She has held positions at American Express, Apollo Education Group/University of Phoenix, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Citi, among others. As a consultant, she’s also worked with companies such as Oracle, Adobe, Nike, and Microsoft, on executive coaching, team development, and helping align a company’s people strategy with its business strategy.

“While my consulting business was growing strong, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build an industry-leading executive and employee development program at a company that’s blazing a trail in a brand new industry,” Ms. Mandel said. “I look forward to developing 4Front’s leadership capacity and helping build a strong and deep bench of talent, as well as driving an intentional culture that will create an environment where people can succeed as they propel the organization towards its business objectives.”

Alicia Mandel’s Bio
Ms. Mandel spent the first 17 years of her career in New York City working for two large financial organizations and learning “the right way and the wrong way to do things,” she says. She began her career at what was then Citibank, becoming one of the first employees in the bank’s new corporate training department. As Citi’s Manager of Learning and Development, she helped develop the bank’s training capabilities to support talent development across its global footprint. Following Citi, she spent 10 years at American Express in a variety of HR roles across business functions, eventually earning the title of Director of Employee Engagement. Later, the U.S. Olympic Committee hired her to build “Olympic University,” which was an internal and external learning and leadership development program designed to build leadership skills across the committee and all of the sports’ national governing bodies. Having successfully developed that program, she was asked to join the USOC full-time as its Acting Chief Human Resources Officer. She also has experience working for a high-growth startup, spending three years building a scalable talent infrastructure for Asurion, which grew from 500 employees to 5,000 while she was there. More recently, Ms. Mandel served as Chief Learning Officer for Apollo Education Group, the for-profit education company most well-known for the University of Phoenix. She’s also a successful business owner, having co-founded Medius Advisory Group in 2016 to provide corporate clients with leadership training and team development services. Her clients have included Adobe, Microsoft, Nike, and Oracle. Ms. Mandel lives in Phoenix.

Alicia Mandel, 4Front’s Chief Human Performance Officer

About 4Front Ventures Corp.
4Front is a cannabis company designed for long-term success and built upon battle-tested operating capabilities at scale, experienced and committed leadership, a strategic asset base, and a commitment to being a magnet for talent. From plant genetics to the cannabis retail experience, 4Front’s team applies expertise across the value chain. 4Front has invested heavily to assemble a comprehensive collection of management skills and hands-on operating expertise to capitalize on the unique growth opportunity being afforded by the increased legalization of cannabis. For more information, visit 4Front’s website.

Investor Contact
Andrew Thut, Chief Investment Officer
IR@4frontventures.com
602-633-3067

Media Contact
Anne Donohoe / Nick Opich
KCSA Strategic Communications
adonohoe@kcsa.com / nopich@kcsa.com
212-896-1265 / 212-896-

This news release was prepared by management of 4Front Ventures, which takes full responsibility for its contents. The Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in 4Front Ventures’ periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as “will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should,” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to future developments and the business and operations of 4Front Ventures, developments with respect to legislative developments in the United States and the proposed trading dated of the resulting issuer.

Although 4Front Ventures has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under U.S. federal laws; change in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management’s expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 4Front Ventures disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and 4Front Ventures does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

The post 4Front Hires Chief Human Performance Officer to Drive Leadership and Employee Development appeared first on 4Front.

from 4Front https://ift.tt/2Bd5Ffl

4Front Announces Upcoming Conference Participation

Company to participate in Canaccord’s U.S. Cannabis Symposium, NCIA California Cannabis Business Conference, Arcview Investor Forum, IC3, and the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in October

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and PHOENIX, October 2, 2019 — 4Front Ventures Corp. (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) (“4Front” or the “Company“) today announced that a number of its executives, including President Kris Krane and Chief Investment Officer Andrew Thut, will attend several industry events during the month of October.

Company executives will participate in the following events:

Canaccord’s U.S. Cannabis Symposium
On Oct. 3, Mr. Thut will give a company presentation at 3:10 p.m. ET at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto. You can view the company’s presentation here.

Arcview Investor Forum
On Oct. 3, Mr. Krane will participate in one-on-one meetings at Convene’s One Liberty Plaza location in New York City.

NCIA California Cannabis Business Conference
On Oct. 9, Josh Krane, Senior Director of Business Development in California, will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif.

Institutional Capital & Cannabis Conference
On Oct. 21, Mr. Thut will participate in a panel on M&A trends in the cannabis industry at 11:15 a.m. ET at Convene’s 117 West 46th St. location in New York City.

Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference
On Oct. 22-23, Mr. Thut and Mr. Krane will give a company presentation and participate in one-on-one meetings at the Palmer House in Chicago.

About 4Front Ventures Corp.
4Front is a cannabis company designed for long-term success and built upon battle-tested operating capabilities at scale, experienced and committed leadership, a strategic asset base, and a commitment to being a magnet for talent. From plant genetics to the cannabis retail experience, 4Front’s team applies expertise across the value chain. 4Front has invested heavily to assemble a comprehensive collection of management skills and hands-on operating expertise to capitalize on the unique growth opportunity being afforded by the increased legalization of cannabis. For more information, visit 4Front’s website.  

Investor Contact
Andrew Thut, Chief Investment Officer 
IR@4frontventures.com
602-633-3067

Media Contact
Anne Donohoe / Nick Opich
KCSA Strategic Communications 
adonohoe@kcsa.com / nopich@kcsa.com 
212-896-1265 / 212-896-1206

This news release was prepared by management of 4Front Ventures, which takes full responsibility for its contents. The Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in 4Front Ventures’ periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as “will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should,” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to future developments and the business and operations of 4Front Ventures, developments with respect to legislative developments in the United States and the proposed trading dated of the resulting issuer.

Although 4Front Ventures has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under U.S. federal laws; change in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management’s expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 4Front Ventures disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and 4Front Ventures does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

The post 4Front Announces Upcoming Conference Participation appeared first on 4Front.

from 4Front https://ift.tt/2ovWOCe

Drowning In Parenting Advice? Here’s Some Advice For That

At my baby’s six-month appointment a few months back, I got a one-pager from the pediatrician titled “Starting Solid Foods.”

“It is critical that the baby develop a taste for rice cereal at the beginning, to offset the loss of iron from formula or breast milk,” it reads.

Sounds serious. Then come the all caps: “THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF FEEDING GIVE RICE CEREAL ONLY.” That is followed by advice to introduce pureed vegetables before fruits so the baby doesn’t develop a sweet tooth.

I obediently went out and bought some sand-textured baby cereal. (Organic, of course.)

“Oh no, we’re not doing that.” My spouse pointed me to a parenting book we had on the shelf.

“There’s no need for cereals alone; they are bland and bulky and their iron benefits are overstated,” it reads. “The idea that you should introduce vegetables before fruits to avoid creating a sweet tooth is just an unfounded myth. A carrot has virtually the same amount of sugar as an apple.”

Welcome to early parenthood’s barrage of contradictory advice. It tends to be detailed, with convincing internal logic. “Studies” are often invoked. And the stakes feel so high — like, if I do this wrong, will my baby be malnourished or end up a picky eater or not succeed in life somehow?

Enter Brown University economics professor Emily Oster and her new book, Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth to Preschool. It’s the follow-up to her first book, Expecting Better, a deep look at the data behind pregnancy advice, which has a bit of a cult following. (I am in this cult.)

In her new book, Oster ticks through big and small parenting dilemmas. She uses her training as an economist to look at the relevant research for each of them and to assess how much stock we should put in the findings.

“What I do in the book is actually try to comb through these studies and figure out which of them are giving us the best information,” Oster says. “So then you can make these choices having the best information, not just the first thing that comes up when you Google it at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

OK, so what about my solid-food dilemma? Yea or nay on rice cereal? Veggies first?

“It turns out there isn’t any evidence to suggest that is a particularly important way to introduce foods or not,” she says.

The answer to this one: You do you. Keep the food mushy, and don’t stress about it too much.

This wasn’t my only point of confusion that this book cleared up, even though I’m nearly four years into parenthood. Here are a few of my personal takeaways.

• Nipple confusion is not a thing — you don’t need to wait three weeks after birth to give a pacifier or bottle. (This makes me feel better about giving my firstborn a pacifier on day two.)
• Baby milestones have a wide normal range, so don’t obsess. (Still vaguely worried that by nine months my baby should be clapping.)
• Breastfeeding does not help mom lose weight. (Crushed.)

A lot of the other takeaways are kind of nuanced. They don’t give you a clear-cut answer, so much as information to help you make your own decision. One reason for that is designing a good study of the risks and benefits of a parenting decision is really hard.

Take, for example, Chapter 4: “Breast Is Best? Breast Is Better? Breast Is About the Same?” Oster provides a path through the maze of conflicting advice by sifting out the convincing studies from the questionable ones.

“Most of the studies on this are done by comparing the kids whose moms breastfeed to the kids whose moms don’t,” Oster says. “The issue with that is that the kind of moms who breastfeed are different than the moms who don’t, on average. So, in the U.S. in particular, moms who breastfeed tend to be better educated, higher income, more likely to be married.”

(It’s unclear why that demographic breastfeeds more, Oster says, but the timing for the trend is connected to the public health push away from formula that began in the 1970s.)

Now, let’s say you want to find out the impact of breastfeeding — and not of these demographic differences — on things like IQ and obesity.

“When we narrow in on some studies that are better — like, for example, studies that compare siblings, where one sibling is breastfed and one sibling is not — those studies do not show the same kinds of impacts on long-term things like obesity or IQ,” Oster says.

For the record, she found that there are some health benefits to breastfeeding, but they’re more limited than the hype. If it works for you and your family, Oster concludes, great; if not, formula is a good option.

So, even if you’ve made a decision about how to introduce solids and whether to breastfeed or bottle-feed, there are so many other ones to make! What about baby nap schedules, how to potty train or the financial impact of choosing a nanny versus day care versus staying at home?

As an economist, Oster advocates for taking some of the angst out of it.

When making a parenting decision, she says, “Step one is to kind of really figure out what the best evidence says about the choice.” Look for randomized studies and big sample sizes.

“But then there’s a really important second step, which is to combine that with what is going to work for your family,” she says.

For instance, when she first brought her baby daughter home, she knew the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that your baby sleep in your room, ideally for the whole first year, as part of its safe infant sleeping environment guidance.

“My husband did one day with our older daughter, and he was like, ‘I can’t believe it’s making those noises.’ He just couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t sleep,” she says. Room sharing for a full year was just not workable for her family.

With Cribsheet, Oster is trying to make parents less confused, more confident in their choices and less judgmental of other parents who make different choices. Reading the book makes that feel surprisingly achievable. Laying out the research really strips these decisions of their drama, and you end up wondering why it all felt so overwhelming in the first place.

When the time came to break out the solid foods with my baby, we did mashed sweet potato. A few months into it, emboldened by Oster’s book, we’ve gotten adventurous: This weekend at our Seder, baby even had a bit of brisket smushed up with horseradish.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

from MindShift http://bit.ly/2GDXfB9

Bravetart’s Levain-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve got something BIG for you today. Big, beautiful, and swimming in chocolate morsels. I had to make these cookies as soon as possible after seeing Bravetart (Stella Parks) post about them on instagram. She’s basically a genius at all things baking and often creates copycat recipes of classic sweets. And this chocolate chip cookie is a New York City classic … if you’ve ever been to Levain Bakery in the Big Apple, then you know what I am talking about. Monstrous, majestic and served warm and melty. Like a cushion of chocolatey goodness.

Here’s the link to get Bravetart’s Super-Thick Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (a la Levain Bakery) posted over on Serious Eats.

And here’s a link to her book, Iconic America Desserts if you want to learn how to make Homemade Oreos, Twinkies or Nutter Butters like these for instance.

The rest of this post is basically just photos showing you how glorious these cookies are. Visit the links above for her detailed instructions and a video, too.

Full disclosure. These cookies do have walnuts in them, which I usually don’t like in my cookies, but that’s how Levain makes them, so that’s what she did, and me too. And really, you don’t notice them that much with all the chocolate morsels that make it into every bite of cookie … so I’m okay with that.

And when I say all the morsels. I mean it. These cookies have fifteen. 15. One Five. ounces of chocolate chips in them.

Stella recommends a mix of morsels. I used, Ghiradelli bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolate chips along with some Guittard 66% cacao baking wafers. Those are the really big ones in the pic above.

Look at that!

And feast your eyes on this. Once you mix up your dough, weigh out about 6 oz for each cookie.

Can you say tennis ball?!

With cookies that big, you’ll end up with eight great big balls of dough. Which is plenty. Trust!

Once your dough is prepared, wrap it up securely and refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to bake, sprinkle a little salt on the tops and arrange four cookies at a time on a baking sheet to allow room for spreading. You can also bake as you want to enjoy them over the following couple of days. Because you will want to eat these warm for full effect. Just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge.

What?!?!?! I’m in love.

Here’s the inside of one of the cookies. Look at that center! These baked for 22 minutes and were absolutely perfect. They immediately made me think of eating a Levain cookie on the sidewalk in NYC. And I already want to make them again.

And here’s the inside of another cookie. The next time I make these, I’m going to try them without walnuts to see if I miss them and for two minutes less in the oven. You know just to get them a tad more under cooked like I like.

Okay, one more view to enjoy! So good.

from bakerella.com http://bit.ly/2USiKXH

Easy Blueberry Crisp

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