2020 WI Cannabis Expo Speaker Schedule

Sonja Hintz, RN
ConnOils® LLC

Sonja graduated from Marquette University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She has extensive clinical experience, working for 32 years in both mainstream medical and complimentary medical approach to treatment. She has lectured in both the United States and Canada on medical care for children diagnosed with autism. Currently, she works at ConnOils® LLC educating the public about the Endocannabinoid System.

Misty Poehnelt
Owner, Black River Hemp Co.

Misty has studied Holistic therapies for over 30 years. Living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, she is a passionate Holistic Health educator, with a BS in Health Promotion & Wellness from UW-Stevens Point, Practitioner of Healing Arts, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Substance Use Disorder Recovery Coach. She is the creator and owner of Black River Hemp Co., a craft cannabis company specializing in solvent free, premium organic CBD products for optimum health and wellness.

Ilke Panzer
CEO, Assurance Laboratories

Ilke is the CEO of Assurance Laboratories, which is dedicated to drug testing and medication monitoring. Her passion is innovation and successful implementation of medical breakthroughs to solve significant healthcare issues. She is the Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Technology Council, serves on the Board of Sartorius AG, a global biotech company, and is an advisor to a Healthcare Venture Fund.

Cecilia J. Hillard, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Neuroscience Research Center, Medical College of Wisconsin

Dr. Hillard is a professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Neuroscience Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her laboratory studies the pharmacology and biochemistry of cannabinoids. Her research has been funded by NIH since 1987, and she has published more than 210 peer-reviewed papers.  Dr. Hillard received the 2011 MechoulamAward and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society.

Rep. Melissa Sargent
Wisconsin State Legislature

Rep. Melissa Sargent was born and raised in Madison, Wis., and is a proud graduate of East High School and UW-Madison. She was first elected in November 2012 and is currently serving in her fourth term in the Wisconsin State Legislature. She represents the 48th Assembly District, which encompasses the east and north sides of the city of Madison and the village of Maple Bluff.

Rep. Mary Felzkowski
Wisconsin State Legislature

Rep. Mary Felzkowski has served the 35th Assembly District since 2012, was a member of the Joint Committee on Finance for two sessions and currently serves as the Assistant Majority Leader for the Assembly Republicans. Mary comes from a family of independent business owners. Her father, Edward Behling, owned and operated Tomahawk Tree Farm and Behling Insurance. Mary is the owner of C.I.S. Insurance Group.

Kris Teegardin
Former Mayor of Edgewater, Colo.

Kris is the former mayor of Edgewater, Colo., the first municipality in the United States to codify the sale of recreational cannabis. He also led efforts to deregulate the industry in the Denver metro area. He has extensive professional and policy experience in criminal justice reform, behavioral health and integrated healthcare.

Terry Polich
Lawton & Cates, s.c.

Terry is a leader in the legal community specializing in personal injury, professional negligence, business disputes and consumer law. He is the past Chair of the Wisconsin Association for Justice Program Committee and is currently a member of that organization’s Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, working to make the legal system fair and equitable to all members of our community.

Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes
State of Wisconsin

Lieutenant Governor Barnes serves as Wisconsin’s 45th lieutenant governor. Within his current role, he serves as the Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change while also serving as co-Chair of the New DEAL Climate Change Policy Group. He uses a platform of sustainability and equity to fight for solutions that invest in opportunities and fairness for everyone living in Wisconsin, regardless of zip code. During his tenure, he is becoming a recognized leader on progressive economic policies and gun violence prevention legislation.

Rep. Melissa Sargent
Wisconsin State Legislature

Rep. Melissa Sargent was born and raised in Madison, Wis., and is a proud graduate of East High School and UW-Madison. She was first elected in November 2012 and is currently serving in her fourth term in the Wisconsin State Legislature. She represents the 48th Assembly District, which encompasses the east and north sides of the city of Madison and the village of Maple Bluff.

Mark Schweiger
COO/GM, Simply Solutions Inc.

Mark has over 30 years of business experience and is COO/GM of Simply Solutions Inc., which has been extracting compounds from plants for over six years. Doing business as American Extractions, the company has developed a proprietary extraction process and specializes on hemp processing—from raw biomass to finished CBD products.

Anthony Perrine
Owner, Lou Perrine's Gas and Groceries (Kenosha)
National Association of Convenience Stores

Anthony is a small business owner and entrepreneur. He has owned a trucking company, salon and spa, and currently owns and operates Lou Perrine's Gas and Groceries in Kenosha, Wis. He is active politically with the National Association of Convenience Stores and is currently working with a team to lead the charge of legal marijuana in the state of Wisconsin. Anthony’s passion is in retail, brand building, and public speaking. 

Colin Plant
Owner, Canni Hemp Company

Colin Plant, owner of Canni Hemp Company, a consumer wellness brand and retailer. Managing both brick and mortar as well as e-commerce channels, Colin and his team specialize in experiential marketing and event planning within the cannabis space. Colin’s background includes over 15 years in the financial technology industry as well as 18 years as a part of Milwaukee’s music scene. Colin’s deep rooted passion and personal journey with cannabis inspired Canni and continues to drive its focus.

Nickolas Robb
Founder and CEO, Hempshire

Nick has been specializing in the cannabis market for over a decade and jumped into the commercial cannabis market opening his 25,000 sq. ft. indoor full scale grow facility in 2013. Nick spent over five years creating specialized grow facilities, creating a vertically integrated platform from seed-to-sale along with opening two state dispensaries in Arizona. Nick now lives in Wisconsin and assists farmers as well as state representatives understand the industry. Hempshire specializes in the extraction of hemp biomass to THC-free remediation and white label production.

Jamie Campbell
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Midwest Hemp Council

Through tireless effort, Jamie has successfully lobbied for Indiana’s hemp legislation while founding the Indiana Hemp Industries Association. As Executive Director and Co-Founder of Midwest Hemp Council, Jamie continues to support all efforts to remove unnecessary industry barriers with a focus on an even playing field for the Midwest region. Jamie was named "100 People to Know in Hemp" by The Hemp Connoisseur Magazine.

Michael Peters
Founder and CEO, Full Spectrum Insurance

Michael Peters is founder and CEO of Full Spectrum Insurance. Prior to starting Full Spectrum to help cannabis and hemp entrepreneurs thrive, Michael spent nearly a decade ensuring medical professionals earned the prestigious insurance designations of CPCU and RPLU. He is a nationally licensed Property and Casualty insurance broker and a cannabis insurance nerd.

Danny Plyler
Co-founder and Partner, Chronic Nomad Cannabis Company

Danny Plyler has been a cannabis activist for over 30 years. Danny worked tirelessly with cannabis activist Gatewood Galbraith and helped usher in the changes we see today in Kentucky regarding industrial hemp and the decriminalization of cannabis. He has been farming for 20 years and has taught sustainable agriculture to at risk children in underprivileged communities. Danny is a co-founder and partner of Chronic Nomad Cannabis Company.  

Scott Edson
Owner, Midwestern Hemp Seed
President of Grow Operations, High Hoe Hemp

Midwestern Hemp Seed is owned and operated by Scott Edson. Scott is a 4th generation farmer who grew up on a large corn and soybean farm in northeastern Iowa. He is also the President of Grow Operations for High Hoe Hemp, specializing in hemp production for flower and biomass located in Wauconda, Ill.

Michelle M. Haslam
Executive Management, First Federal Bank of Wisconsin (Waukesha)

Michelle has over 30 years of banking experience in a wide variety of roles. In her current executive role as Sr. Vice President of Operations, she oversees IT/Cybersecurity, Facilities Management, Deposit Support, Customer Support, and Consumer Banking. She has a passion for banking with the Wisconsin hemp industry, having dedicated significant time and resources to research, development and networking with the hemp industry.

Kia Mikesh
CEO/Partner, Adams Independent Testing
VP, North Dakota Grain Inspection
Project Manager, AdamsNet
Appointee, U.S. Dept. of Ag. Grain Inspection Advisory Committee

Kia is the current CEO/partner of Adams Independent Testing and Vice President of North Dakota Grain Inspection. Along with her commitment to NDGI/Adams Independent Testing, she is the project manager for AdamsNet, a company that develops software programs for grain inspection. She was appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grain Inspection Advisory Committee, where she helps better programs and services under the U.S. Grain Standards Act.

Scott Colville
Jim Colville Crop Insurance

Scott has been with Jim Colville Crop Insurance since 2005. He graduated from Northwood University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a major in banking and finance. He went on to spent 15 years in the banking industry as a manager and officer. He also has 13 years of experience as a real estate appraiser where he started his own appraisal company.

Mark Fashian
Founder and President, Biodiesel Analytical Solutions
Founder and President, Cannabis Analytical Solutions
Founder and President, H Labs, LLC

Mark Fashian is a graduate of Akron University and now resides in Delaware, Ohio. Mark went on to become the president and founder of Biodiesel Analytical Solutions in 2006 and is responsible for over $8M in complete laboratory sales in only two years. Mark is also the president and founder of Cannabis Analytical Solutions (2017) and H Labs, LLC (2019.) H Labs provides hemp analytical testing for a nationwide network of laboratories.

Bill Fuchs
President, Logical Green Solutions LLC
President, Total Team Construction LLC

Bill is the president and visionary of Logical Green Solutions LLC (LGS) and Total Team Construction LLC (TTC). After the 2018 Farm Bill was passed and hemp was officially deemed by government and DEA to be legal, LGS and TTC pivoted to the hemp market, specializing in indoor grows. LGS’ unique business model helps clients minimize risk, maximize profits and lights your way to success from seed to sales.

Shelby Ellison, PhD
Faculty Associate, UW-Madison Department of Horticulture

Shelby is a Faculty Associate in the Department of Horticulture at UW-Madison. She completed her PhD in Genetics at the UC-Davis. Her research interests include plant breeding and genetics. She is currently working with a multidisciplinary team of scientists and extension educators to create a foundation of best practices for hemp in Wisconsin. She oversees CBD variety trialing, cannabinoid testing, and teaches the course, “The Science of Hemp,” at UW-Madison.

Griffin Lynch
Co-owner and CTO, WI Hemp Scientific

Griffin Lynch is the co-owner and chief technology officer of WI Hemp Scientific. He graduated from UW-Madison with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry which he leveraged into founding WI Hemp Scientific. WHS is a leader in the state’s CBD landscape focusing on in-house CBD-Hemp extraction, custom product formulations, and HPLC cannabinoid potency testing.

Dylan Bruce
Co-owner, Circadian Organics

Dylan Bruce grew up on a CSA farm in Wisconsin’s Driftless region. After working his way through the food system—literally farm to table—and attending Occidental College in Los Angeles, Dylan was drawn back to Wisconsin by promises of good food, tangible seasons, and friendly neighbors. He works at UW–Madison researching vegetable production and co-owns and operates Circadian Organics, where he grows fresh market vegetables, seed and hemp.

Paul Mitchell
Professor, UW-Madison Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Director, Renk Agribusiness Institute

Dr. Paul Mitchell is a professor in UW-Madison’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He’s also an Extension State Specialist in Cropping Systems and Environmental Management and Director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute. He has been on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin since 2004 where he runs an active research, teaching and outreach program focused broadly on agriculture.