Leo Gontmakher

Leo Gontmakher had long been fascinated with cannabis and studied Washington’s burgeoning industry as it evolved into the modern, adult-use market operating today.

“I’ve always had a passion and appreciation for the plant and what it can do to help people’s lives, both medically and recreationally,” he says.

Gontmakher was a co-founder of Northwest Cannabis Solutions, one of the largest and most successful producers in Washington. After Cannex acquired NWCS, Gontmakher served as chief operating officer of the parent company, which merged with 4Front Ventures in 2019. He was promoted to CEO of 4Front Ventures in 2020 and helped lead the company into the modern era of corporate cannabis.

Today, 4Front Ventures has operations in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington, including six Mission dispensaries across the country.

“As our company is composed of a large number of employees who have a multitude of differing responsibilities, I knew a top-down, one-size-fits-all solution was never going to work,” he says. “We achieved success by constantly rolling up our sleeves and working with each of our departments, taking action on the feedback they gave us — and this remains an ongoing process. Being listened to and seeing your ideas manifest is really important to a happy workplace, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to create by fostering this kind of open, responsive culture so far.”

Gontmakher says 4Front Ventures is now preparing to make a huge splash in California with the grand opening of its new 170,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce.

“Growing our California business around our state-of-the-art infrastructure is something I’m personally very excited to see come to life,” Gontmakher says.