Cresco Labs Named U.S. Cannabis Industry Game Changer

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Cresco Labs (CSE:CL)(OTC: CRLBF) (“Cresco” or “the Company”), one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States, announced today that it won the U.S. Cannabis Company Game Changer Award at the inaugural MJBizDaily Awards in Las Vegas which recognizes excellence and impact in the cannabis industry. The MJBizDaily editorial staff and a panel of industry judges selected Cresco Labs as the winner for the company that demonstrated true innovation, pushed boundaries, expanded its business, influenced public policy and rulemaking at all levels, all while showing strong business performance. Other Nominees included GTI, Acreage and LivWell.

In addition, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) honored Charlie Bachtell as the year’s top industry leader, visionary, and contributor with a 2019 Captains of the Industry Award. The award recognizes the individual that has had the largest impact on the cannabis/hemp industry in the prior year and established themselves as a “leader among leaders.” Previous honorees for this prestigious award include Richard Carleton, the CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange, and John Lord, CEO of LivWell and a Founding member of the Cannabis Trade Federation.

“It is a great honor to be recognized as this year’s break-through cannabis company in the United States, and it is deeply humbling to be honored by ATACH for my efforts to make a difference in the industry,” said Charlie Bachtell. “We were one of the first cannabis companies in the U.S. to compete and successfully win licenses in the most strategic markets nationally and rapidly generate scale. Today, we remain squarely focused on our objective of building the most important cannabis company in the U.S. We will achieve this objective by responsibly and rapidly expanding our market presence, remaining committed to our mission to normalize and professionalize cannabis, and by being a catalyst for positive change in the communities within which we operate.”

Cresco Labs has generated significant operational and financial growth over the past year. Cresco launched its Sunnyside* retail brand to provide consumers with a consistent experience nationwide, and through acquisitions, dispensary openings and cultivation expansions, significantly expanded its presence in key states, including Nevada, Arizona, New York, Michigan and Massachusetts. To meet growth in demand in Cresco’s home state of Illinois, and to prepare for the state’s transition to adult-use on January 1, 2020, the Company recently expanded its Lincoln facility, creating the state’s largest cultivation facility at 224,000 square feet, and strategically grew its retail footprint, recently winning the lottery for two adult-use dispensaries in the central district of Chicago. The Company also announced its intention to significantly expand its presence in the California market, through the proposed acquisition of CannaRoyalty Corp. d/b/a Origin House.

Over the past year, the Company has also collaborated with policy and rule-makers at all levels to shape the future of cannabis. Through Charlie’s appointment to the Cannabis Legalization Subcommittee of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s transition team, he worked closely with civic, judicial and social justice leaders on the committee to guide Illinois in passing legislation for adult-use cannabis legalization. Cresco also established the cannabis industry’s first comprehensive national social equity and education initiative—the SEED initiative—which aims to promote inclusion, equality and community engagement and help qualifying candidates who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs gain entrance into Illinois’ cannabis industry. Cresco’s business incubator program has focused on providing and supporting the fundraising needed to build and start operations for licensed cultivators and dispensaries. Cresco Labs Named U.S. Cannabis Industry Game Changer.

About Cresco Labs:

Cresco Labs is one of the largest vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis operators in the United States. Cresco is built to become the most important company in the cannabis industry by combining the most strategic geographic footprint with one of the leading distribution platforms in North America. Employing a consumer-packaged goods (“CPG”) approach to cannabis, Cresco’s house of brands is designed to meet the needs of all consumer segments and includes some of the most recognized and trusted national brands including Cresco, Remedi and Mindy’s, a line of edibles created by James Beard Award-winning chef Mindy Segal. Sunnyside*, Cresco’s national dispensary brand, is a wellness-focused retailer designed to build trust, education and convenience for both existing and new cannabis consumers. Recognizing that the cannabis industry is poised to become one of the leading job creators in the country, Cresco has launched the industry’s first national comprehensive Social Equity and Educational Development (SEED) initiative designed to ensure that all members of society have the skills, knowledge and opportunity to work in and own businesses in the cannabis industry. Learn more about Cresco Labs at www.crescolabs.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, ‘may,’ ‘will,’ ‘should,’ ‘could,’ ‘would,’ ‘expects,’ ‘plans,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘believes,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘projects,’ ‘predicts,’ ‘potential’ or ‘continue’ or the negative of those forms or other comparable terms. The Company’s forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those risks discussed under “Risk Factors” in the company’s CSE Listing Statement filed with SEDAR; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Because of these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements. No assurances are given as to the future trading price or trading volumes of Cresco’s shares, nor as to the Company’s financial performance in future financial periods. The Company does not intend to update any of these factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the Company’s forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, any future event or otherwise. Except as otherwise indicated, this press release speaks as of the date hereof. The distribution of this press release does not imply that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company after the date hereof or create any duty or commitment to update or supplement any information provided in this press release or otherwise.