Welcome back to the partner spotlight! At Elevated Signals, we work with the industry’s best to bring our customers valuable insight and support to help their businesses thrive. Our partners have tried and true expertise and experience, and we’re excited to showcase their services and thought leadership through this series.
Today’s interview is all about Jennifer Caldwell Consulting Inc. (JCCI), a provider of regulatory and compliance support to licensed producers in Canada. JCCI is headed up by Jennifer Caldwell, who has a wealth of experience in the cannabis industry, having helped bring Peace Naturals online, the first medical cannabis licence in Canada. Legendary! 🙌
We sat with Jenn to ask her about her consulting practice, her perspectives on the cannabis industry and the biggest challenges facing producers in 2022.
What services does JCCI offer?
“JCCI offers regulatory, licensing, and quality support to the cannabis industry. Licence applications, amendments, sales licences, change of control, SOPs, audits, communication with Health Canada, Good Production Practices (GPP), Quality Management Systems, Quality Assurance Person (QAP) services, Preventative Control Plans (PCPs), support during Health Canada inspections, staff education and training, start-up help, and compliance with regulations.”
“I have worked in the industry since my team was granted the first new licence in Canada in 2013. I have real-world experience working in licensed facilities before I was a consultant and genuinely know the daily challenges of licence holders. I continue to work 'boots on the ground' with licence holders, and after nine years, I have worked with dozens of clients in every type of facility and had real and abundant interaction with the regulator. I am approved by Health Canada as a QAP and have security clearance.”
What type of businesses do you typically work with?
“I typically work with cannabis licence holders - cultivation, processing and research. I have worked with small micro facilities powered by one or two dedicated people and large facilities with hundreds of employees and thousands of square feet. I have done some work in retail, but the main area of my expertise focuses on Cannabis Act cultivators and processors. ”
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing cannabis producers in 2022?
“Heavy taxation, upfront payment of large regulatory fees upon licensing, banking issues, overly burdensome regulations, long wait times for amendments and addition of sales, plummeting prices and tight margins, expanding competition.”
How did you first get into the cannabis industry?
“Totally by accident. I met a man in a hockey arena while holding a Timmies in my hand...........such a Canadian story! I didn't know anything about cannabis except the negative stereotypes - “Just say no,” “This is your brain,” and “this is your brain on drugs” (I'm showing my age now 😄). When he explained what he was doing and wanted me to join the team, I was offended and got a bit cranky with him. I didn't know what I had done that made him think I would want to be a drug dealer. Thankfully he didn't give up on me and started sending me many science articles and research - eventually, I came to the conclusion that there was no way all those smarty pants scientists were wrong and I was right, so I joined his team. That man was the CEO of Peace Naturals, and we received the first new licence in Canada under the MMPR. Working in the industry in those very early days and hearing the stories and experiences of medical patients was incredibly rewarding and changed everything I thought I knew about cannabis. ”
What is your favourite thing about working in cannabis?
“That one's easy! The people. I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with the most extraordinary people - many of whom have struggled, sacrificed, trailblazed, fought, educated, and persevered. We only have an industry because of their steadfast belief in cannabis as a medicine and the right to have it legalized. ”
How Elevated Signals and JCCI work together
Jennifer is undoubtedly one of the industry's most experienced quality assurance consultants. Having JCCI as a partner allows us to refer customers looking for trusted compliance support, knowing they’re in good hands.
Elevated Signals cannabis manufacturing software helps Jennifer effectively support QA teams from anywhere in real-time. She can easily log into her customer’s ES account, customize SOPs, and access all production and batch records. Since all documents are digital, there is no time spent compiling batches, and she can review and approve batches remotely.
Elevated Signals has the functions and permissions to make remote QA work possible, with complete real-time visibility into inventory and operations within the facility.
About Elevated Signals
Elevated Signals built manufacturing software for cannabis producers tired of battling paper, spreadsheets and outdated seed-to-sale software.
We help our customers streamline data collection & aggregation by combining digital batch production records, inventory tracking & environmental data into a single customizable platform. This allows our customers significantly lower costs & make informed decisions.
Want to learn more about our cannabis software can save your business time and money? Check out our products page or book a demo today!
