MJBiz on Friday inducted the newest member to its Hall of Fame and honored three companies during the Best of MJBiz Awards ceremony at The Hub section of the exhibit floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Nancy Whiteman, founder of Boulder, Colorado-based infused edibles manufacturer Wana Brands, is the third member of the MJBiz Hall of Fame, an honor introduced at MJBizCon 2019 and revived this year during MJBizCon Week.
“I have to laugh because I’m considered to be one of the really old-timers in the industry with 14 years,” she said while accepting the award.
Whiteman made one of the most successful exits in the history of the regulated cannabis industry.
In 2021, Canada’s Canopy Grown Corp. purchased an option to acquire Whiteman’s privately held company; the deal closed in May 2024.
After announcing her retirement this April, Whiteman wrote a guest column for MJBizDaily in which she detailed some of the lessons learned during her tenure, which preceded Colorado becoming the first state in the nation to launch an adult-use marijuana market.
“Thank you so much to MJBiz – you have been so kind and generous to me and to Wana over the years, and it’s greatly appreciated.”
A media and events company, MJBiz introduced the Hall of Fame in 2019, when it inducted Wanda James, founder and CEO of multistate marijuana retail franchise Simply Pure, and Steve DeAngelo, founder of California-based cannabis operator Harborside Dispensary.
The awards were shelved in 2020, when MJBizCon was held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Hall of Fame returned this year during MJBizCon Week.
Best of MJBiz Awards
Denver-based cannabis accessories company LuvBuds accepted the award for Most Unique Booth.
LuvBuds founder and CEO Brett Harris said LuvBuds has 2,000 active SKUs and serves 20%-30% of cannabis retailers in the U.S.
“Our goal is to help our partners in retail increase their average transaction,” he said when accepting the Best of MJBiz award.
The company’s award-winning booth theme was based on LuvBuds University, named after the company’s new, free budtender-training program.
Bellevue, Washington-based Green Rebates won the award for Most Engaging Onsite Activation for The Million Dollar Challenge, a group of classic arcade games featuring a money booth.
At the start of MJBizCon week, Green Rebates said it was “giving away $1 million in cash, prizes and rebates.”
Green Rebates Director of Operations Matt Price accepted the award, telling MJBizCon attendees, “We’re looking forward to a huge 2025 giving rebates and cash back in the pockets of all growers across the nation and to keep the industry strong.”
International packaging company Chubby Gorilla won the Top Innovative Product Showcase award with its 60-milliliter Aviator Shot Bottle.
“Chubby Gorilla is proud to be an innovator in the cannabis industry for over five years,” the company told MJBizDaily, adding that the “Aviator Shot bottle is engineered to support the liquid cannabis, vitamin and supplement markets.”
“Our brand of purpose-built packaging has always put the consumer first. … As Chubby Gorilla approaches our 10 year mark we look forward to the future of the industry.”
Emilie Lewis, Lena Erauda, Kate Lavin, Kevin Huhn and Omar Sacirbey contributed to this report.
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