Member Spotlight: Metrc

Member Spotlight: Metrc

About Metrc

 

David Urbanowicz

Metrc, Metrc.com

David Urbanowicz is Vice President of External Affairs and Business Development for Metrc, which provides cannabis regulatory systems for 20 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

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Tell us about your company

Metrc (pronounced “Metric”) is the leading provider of track-and-trace technology, which helps states regulate cannabis industry operations. We started in the early 1990s, initially looking at the ways technology could help extend the life and utility of fresh food, with the goal of helping to eliminate food waste.

The technology that was developed during those efforts came into use when the state of Colorado was getting ready to launch its legal cannabis industry and approached us for help developing a regulatory system to ensure the security and safety of the marketplace. We spent two years working with Colorado to create a system to track a variety of information that is transparent and can be easily accessed by state regulators. We’ve since expanded to 20 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

 

What role does your company play in the cannabis industry? We are ultimately a regulatory system providing real-time information to state governments about their cannabis industries. For each state in which we operate, we have a centralized database of every single plant and product in the legal marketplace, as well as all the information related to it such as where it came from, where it’s going, who handled it along the way, results from independent testing labs, and other information critical to a well-regulated marketplace, including information on where it was ultimately sold and for how much.

Every business throughout the supply chain reports into the same database – the one we provide – and regulators can see that information in real time and act on it immediately, if necessary. Our goal is to help both regulators and businesses keep the market safe and secure, because seed-to-sale traceability helps ensure product and consumer safety.

David Urbanowicz, Metrc

David Urbanowicz is Vice President of External Affairs and Business Development for Metrc, which provides cannabis regulatory systems for 20 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

What sort of information does Metrc track?

To be as useful as possible, the information we track has to be very granular: what seeds are used, how they grow, when a plant gets cut, etc. In the event of an issue, this allows the system to pinpoint the affected products that need to be pulled from the market, rather than issue a major blanket recall.

 

The system also has safeguards built in, so if a product fails tests at any step of the process, it cannot continue moving through the supply chain until the issue is addressed. So, businesses are in essence automatically compliant because the system won’t let them act on something if there is an issue.

 

Another huge focus for partner states that Metrc helps with is tax collection. Because the system tracks all sale information, state departments of revenue can look directly at that data and reconcile it with a business’ tax receipts.

 

What excites you about the cannabis industry?

Solving complex problems like this is exciting for a brand-new industry, with a huge learning curve. The cannabis industry is at the forefront of supply chain transparency, in large part because of systems like ours. Most industries – even other highly regulated ones – don’t have this level of real-time data and tracking, so it’s an innovative system with potential implications for other markets as well.

Connect with David and Metrc!

 

6/1/2022 Statement from the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois

6/1/2022 Statement from the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois

STATEMENT FROM THE CANNABIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS

June 1, 2022

The Illinois Cannabis Business Association welcomes the action by a Cook County judge lifting the legal hold on issuing cannabis dispensary licenses to 185 social equity applicants. While we are pleased with this development, we are disappointed in the decision of the administration to hold these conditional licenses until further guidance is given in the federal residency case, as each delay continues to harm those waiting to enter the industry.

The applicants have put their careers and livelihood on hold in anticipation of these awards, including taking on daunting financial risks to pursue a promise made by the state when the cannabis equity legislation was passed in 2019.

The state must do more to implement policies that provide greater ownership opportunities for minority cannabis entrepreneurs, including set-aside licenses, innovative incubation and co-location programs, and legislation that addresses the challenges for diverse businesses.

The court’s action, and the state’s swift follow up, are both necessary to address ongoing inequities in the licensing process as well as to answer the growing demand for safe recreational cannabis products from consumers across Illinois.

This will allow our industry to become, as anticipated when the law passed, an evolving, growing, thriving industry, instead of the stop and go process that has hindered its true potential.

We are heartened by the court’s action and look forward to celebrating the arrival of these new businesses into the Illinois market.

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