BENNINGTON — The Cannabis Retailers Association of Vermont (CRAV) is reorganizing its leadership structure just a little over one year since the legalization of retail cannabis within the state.
The association recently parted ways with Executive Director Todd Bailey “on good terms,” according to Colleen McQuade, chair of CRAV’s Board of Directors.
“I don’t want to frame it any other way, Todd’s a good dude,” McQuade said. “But we just felt that separating from that relationship is a good direction for CRAV. As a board we came together and decided we wanted it to be more grassroots.”
The association, established in March of 2023, does not intend to fill the executive director position in the foreseeable future, McQuade said. Instead, the CRAV board will expand the number of seats on its board from seven to nine.
“We realized we (as board members) could do more,” McQuade said. “We’re all pretty talented. We all have a little bit more time now that we’re more settled in our businesses – we’re all about a year in now, or at least getting close.”
“One of the reasons CRAV exists is to build community between all of the retailers, so that’s what we’re going to do,” McQuade later added. “And it made more sense to be led by a group of retailers.”
McQuade reiterated that the parting from Bailey was amicable, and said the CRAV appreciated what Bailey gave them during his time with them.
“He did bring a lot. He helped us get organized, he helped form the board – he was around before we even had a board,” McQuade said. “He helped with the website and a lot of foundational things and got us up and running as an organization. He worked really hard for us and he was dedicated to it … I think we all benefited from his involvement, without a doubt.”
“I think it was just time to keep moving forward,” she added. “Time to bring it back to us as a group of retailers and for us to get more involved in the process.”
Asked if she felt like more might fall on her shoulders now, McQuade said that may be the case, but she welcomes it.
“I feel like some things have fallen to me, but I also feel like these were my responsibilities from the beginning. I don’t mind the extra bit of workload,” she said. “I like organizing things and planning things, so it works.”
“The rest of the board is so amazing … it’s nice when you have people that call you and say, ‘Hey, what can I take off your plate?’ and that’s the kind of team I’m on right now,” she continued.
The shift to a more board-centric operation will also mean the creation of committees within the board that deliberate separately and report their findings back to the board as a whole.
Among the new committees will be a legislative committee – to continue their work with the Cannabis Control Board and Montpelier as a voice for cannabis reform, an onboarding/ new member committee – to streamline the process of joining CRAV and becoming a retailer in general, and an events committee.
McQuade clarified that anyone in CRAV can attend the committee meetings, but the legislative committee would be “keeping that calendar and staying on top of it”
The onboarding committee speaks to the spirit of community that McQuade and CRAV have wanted to create since the beginning.
“We want to make sure that they’re welcome as people, as retailers within the state, just reaching out to them and sharing some of the resources we have,” she said. “In terms of things like insurance or banking, there are different things we can do to save you money through the organization.”
The events committee will be heading up projects like Cannabis Cup, which is coming to Vermont June 15 (location to be determined). The Cannabis Cup will be a celebration and award ceremony for retailers voted on by the customers at retail locations across the state using QR codes.