Webinar: Cannabis ESOPs – The Industry Game Changer

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In AAFCPAs’ recent webinar “Cannabis ESOPs: Why an ESOP is an Industry Game Changer”, David McManus, CPA, CGMA, Tax Partner & Cannabis Practice Leader and Joshua England, LLM, Esq., Partner & Tax Attorney along with Hannah King, Partner, Dentons, Mark Loyd, Partner and Co-lead of national tax practice at Dentons, and Darren Gleeman, Managing Partner, MBO Ventures discussed Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and how they can help those in the cannabis industry enhance employee loyalty, reduce their tax obligation, raise capital, plan for eventual succession, and prioritize a strong company culture.

During the webinar, panelists provided a fast-paced overview on the value and benefits of ESOPs within the cannabis industry—which may sound too good to be true! Lack of awareness in the industry seems to be holding operators back.

Here’s what we covered.

  • Employee Stock Ownership Plans: The basics!
  • How the ESOP structure eliminates taxes including 280E and capital gains.
  • How an ESOP structure can help operators notably boost cash flow to reinvest in growth.
  • How to use an ESOP to attract top talent and improve morale and employee retention by giving workers an ownership interest in the company.
  • How to leverage advisors to ensure you remain secure from a compliance and regulatory perspective.
  • How the ESOP structure allows shareholders to “take a second bite of the apple” in later sale events.

Webinar OnDemand

Meet the Panelists

Josh England

Joshua England, LLM, Esq., Partner & Tax Attorney, AAFCPAs. Josh works extensively within the cannabis space including advising on entity structure and maximizing IRC sec 280E compliance.

Hannah King Photo

Hannah King, Partner, Dentons. Hannah is a cannabis lawyer and leading authority in the highly regulated and complicated cannabis industry.   

Darren-Gleeman-MBO-Manaing-Partner

Darren Gleeman, Managing Partner, MBO Ventures. Darren is an ESOP advisor, investment banker, and angel investor.   

David McManus, CPA, CGMA, Tax Partner & Cannabis Practice Leader, AAFCPAs. Dave has provided advanced financial and operational counsel to the cannabis industry since 2012.  

Mark-Loyd-Dentons

Moderated by Mark Loyd, Partner and Co-lead of the national tax practice at Dentons.

About AAFCPAs’ Cannabis Practice 

AAFCPAs has been a cannabis industry pioneer since 2012, providing tax, finance, and outsourced accounting support from a multi-disciplinary team of advisors including CPAs, CFOs, wealth advisors, estate planning and tax attorneys along with business process, data analytics, IT, and cyber security professionals. We were the first full-service CPA and consulting firm to advise Massachusetts cannabis companies and are a recognized leader in the space. AAFCPAs provides tax, audit, accounting, and consulting solutions to cannabis businesses across the United States including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. We continue to add support to new states as they come online. Learn More >>