It's been a fantastic month plus since our last blog and we are happy to bring you our latest update on whats been going on with the Illinois Hemp Growers Association and hemp in Illinois.
At the end of March, I left town for Colorado and dove head first into the industry's largest expo for its 6th year. NOCO was a blast and I have a ton of pictures, some of which I managed to work into the next slideshow presentation I did back home in Illinois. It was such a pleasure to experience first hand that there are so many people out there around the country that love and support hemp as much as we do! I'd like to give a shout out to Key To Life for giving me a tour of their operation while I was in town, also Evo Hemp bars are delicious.
On April 10th, I did a presentation at the Ogle County Hemp Summit on hemp industry dynamics and Illinois' licensing process. The event was hosted at Barnacopia, which is an amazing space filled with old tractors and other agricultural relics and collectors items.
We had a small but influential crowd in attendance, including industry stakeholders, bankers, and economic development professionals from the area. We left the event feeling very positive and with a bunch more business cards and opportunities to explore. Check out my hemp industry dynamics and licensing slideshow and don't forget to click the links inside.
On May 4th, Rachel did a presentation on building with hemp for the Illinois Hemp Growers Summit. The IHGA co-hosted this event along with the Chicago Cannabis Company. It was an impressive sold-out event at the Quarry Event Center on the South Side of Chicago.
Seeing such a unique group of farmers, entrepreneurs and people from the local community all come together to learn about hemp was an inspiration. A big thank you goes out to Tom Gliszewski from the Chicago Cannabis Company for putting in a ton of work to make this event truly memorable and professionally executed. Look for this event to come around again next year! Here's Rachel's building with hemp slideshow for you to explore. We also have the follow up email for the event and it's loaded with helpful links. Enjoy!
On May 6th, Rachel was invited to be on Chicago Tonight on WTTW channel 11 which is Chicago's PBS Station. She did an admirable job answering questions and presenting hemp based materials - considering it was her first time live on prime time TV!
It's an honor to be sharing this momentous occasion with all of you. Watch the video, read the article and let us know what you think on our forum or in the comments below.
On May 7th, I was invited to speak on the Midwest Hemp Council podcast. Jason Dozier extended the invitation. I was glad to step up and support the IHGA to be interviewed as a guest for the first time in my official role as Chief of Operations for the company.
Rachel knocked it out of the park the day before on TV, so this podcast business felt like a breeze compared to what she went through! I had a great conversation with Jason introducing our company, talking about Illinois and our upcoming events. Check out the recording when you get a chance, I listened to it and I'm proud to say I did not put my foot in my mouth at any point.
Coming up on May 17th, Rachel will be speaking to the Illinois AgriWomen for the Illinois Agri-Women Hemp Forum. She will be talking about what hemp can do for our homes, soil, nutrition, and our lives.
Also in the works, we have been approved for our cultivators license and have procured our seed. More info on the project will be coming in a few weeks so stay tuned.