Five cannabis companies are among the 250 best-led companies in America, according to a recent analysis by Inc. magazine.
The Inc. Best Led Companies list for 2021 was based on 14 measurements for mid-market companies ranging in revenue from $50 million to $2 billion. Unlike the Inc. 5000, which focuses solely on private companies, the best-led list includes private and public enterprises. The companies were assessed in four categories: performance and value creation; market penetration and customer engagement; talent; and leadership team.
Among the five cannabis companies, Cresco Labs led the way at No. 74. Also making the list were Curaleaf (139), 4Front Ventures (193), Charlotte’s Web (207) and Ayr Wellness (244). No. 1 on the list was Snowflake, the Montana-based data technology company that generated nearly $600 million in revenue in 2020.
Cresco, led by CEO and co-founder Charlie Bachtell, recently opened its 41st cannabis retail store under its Sunnyside brand, a 10,000-square-foot mega-dispensary in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, a short distance from the Cubs’ iconic baseball stadium. According to the company’s latest financial filings, Cresco Labs generated $215.5 million in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 2.6% quarter-over-quarter and 40.6% year-over-year. The company projected its revenue for Q4 to be between $235 million and $245 million, which would put the publicly traded entity over $835 million in revenue for 2021.
“During the (third) quarter, we replenished our balance sheet with non-dilutive capital, we closed a transformative acquisition in Massachusetts creating our third top three market share in a billion-dollar market, we announced several new deals to drive market depth, and we made massive improvements in bottom-line profitability as infrastructure investments began to bear fruit,” Bachtell told investors. “We are very proud of the record performance during a challenging quarter and continue to find that our differentiated strategy, localized for each individual state market, positions us to out-compete in both the current environment and long term.”
— Garrett Rudolph