Just the good ol ’ boys , Never meaning no harm , Beats all you ever saw , Been in trouble with the law , since the day they were born”
Feature of Month
A Lucky Hand Dealt for the Community
When All the Cards Aligned for C4
Editorial by Clayton Stallings
“
Just the good ol ’ boys , Never meaning no harm , Beats all you ever saw , Been in trouble with the law , since the day they were born”
This familiar “ Dukes of Hazards ” early 80s TV show theme song by Waylon Jennings plays in my head every time I see the familiar faces of Tyler Klein , Founder and CEO of C4 , and Brandon Green , President of C4 Pharms ( Carroll County Cannabis Company ). Although it ’ s unclear about their trouble with the law early in life , Klein and Green were definitely “ good ol ’ boys ” as old high school running buddies going to the same parties , riding 4-wheelers , and blossoming into successful entrepreneurs after growing up in the small Carrolton community in which they now grow cannabis .
Their paths led in different directions after those early days , but their relationship only continued to strengthen after leaving their community and graduating college . Klein used his construction degree from Warrensburg to work for the family construction company , later starting his own based out of KC called K & K Construction . Working with organizations like Cardinal Health , a pharmaceutical-based company , many of their contracts were for constructing clean room facilities , which include similar requirements used in the construction methods of cannabis facilities . Eventually , this led his company to cross over to cannabis construction contracts in other legal states . Klein was not only gaining much-needed experience pre-legalization in Missouri but was also forming relationships and industry knowledge that would help lay the foundation for C4 .
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As luck would have it , Green would go on to become the director of sales for Gemaco Playing Cards , gaining 15 years of experience in a highly regulated compliance industry . At the time , he probably wasn ’ t aware how valuable that experience of sales and compliance would come into play down the road .
Brandon and Sherrie working on C4 ’ s first grow in 2020 .
With legalization in Missouri on the horizon , Klein wanted Green to join the pursuit for licenses in their hometown and had already been meeting with local municipalities , including Carroll County Presiding Commissioner Stan Falke , who knew them both growing up . I interviewed Falke to chat about the economic impact they have had on the community ( which I will mention later ), and he admittedly says , “ C4 is a huge success story that he loves to tell — one of homegrown lads bringing their expertise back .” Despite Falke ’ s opinion about cannabis , he took his role in serving the community ’ s 2 / 3 vote for MMJ seriously . That public servant attitude fostered and economically evolved the community where they all grew up .
As all the cards aligned for C4 , it not only won three cultivation licenses and one MIP in Klein and Green ’ s hometown , but it would have done so even without the extra points awarded on license applications for choosing economically challenged locations . With Klein and Green ’ s past experience and local municipalities ’ support , it was also the first licensed “ indoor ” cultivator to make it to the Missouri cannabis market .
“ When you ’ re trying to be first to market , the municipalities working with you are clutch . We had all these obstacles that we could eliminate out of the gate just because of where we are at ,” said Green .
In other larger cities like KC or St . Louis , there is tons of red tape , multiple departments to go through , and frequently a large waiting line for each one . “ Here , you have a small group of people in charge who quickly review your plans , give you the permit , and you start building . It ’ s a very simple process because , at the time , there were not a lot of new builds or much of any new construction projects happening , so there wasn ’ t a big backlog of people waiting on permits or plan reviews . The municipalities were happy to see us creating a whole bunch of money coming back to the city , like water , gas , and jobs for the communities , so residents now have the