CANNAINVESTOR Magazine U.S. Publicly-Traded Companies November 2017 | Page 230

Q&A

CIM: Unlike some other LPs, Beleave has front and centre on its website a section dedicated to “environmental commitment”. Typically, one associates a premium cost with going “green”; however, one gets the sense that over the long run that not only is going “green” good for the environment but also for your shareholders. Would that be a fair statement and if so can you briefly elaborate?

BLEVF: We do our best to offset our carbon footprint. Our main facility is located next to a large scale commercial solar farm. We don’t receive any commercial benefit from the arrangement but it is the case at the moment that 100% of the energy generated by the solar farm is used by Beleave. While that doesn’t translate into financial savings for our production costs it makes us responsible members of our local community. It is certainly a contributing factor to the amazing relationship we have with the economic development department of the City of Hamilton and our community in general. It helps us attract talent, allows for easier negotiations within the city and strengthens our position on being an environmentally sustainable company that consumers want to do business with. There are some people, myself included, that are willing to pay more to be socially and environmentally responsible. It also allows our patients and future customers to know that we are in this for the long haul and not at the cost of the air they breathe. The general trend today for all consumer products is turning towards high quality artisanal products that are grown responsibly. People are generally more appreciative of socially and environmentally responsible companies than they used to be.

CCIM: One of my most basic tenets for investing that I have stated several times is to invest in the team. Our readers can learn more about the team at BE from your website as well as content appearing elsewhere in this month’s issue of our magazine (Canada and USA editions – each with a slightly different level of content) – however, right here and now, what makes the team at Beleave stand out?

BE: We have a vast array of professionals with a proven track record of success from some of Canada’s largest corporations. The team members are strategically placed into areas of the business where they will thrive. Some notable members on our team include Chris Murphy, a director of one of Canada’s largest grocery distributors, Star Produce. Andrew Steane is a global director at SAP. Andrew Wnek was a Senior Vice President at Canadian Tire, and controller at Hudson’s Bay Company, more relevant and more recently he was the CFO of Heart and Stroke Foundation, MS Society, and currently the CFO of Canadian Cancer Society. Paul Evanov owns the largest independent operator of radio stations in Canada. The list goes on and on and I’ll let you do some research on where they fit into our future ambitions.

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Q: CannaInvestor Magazine (CIM)

Louis Kyron, CPA, CGA

A: Roger Ferreira PhD., former CEO

Beleave, Inc. (BE)