Lift Expo Welcomes Cannabis Investors Back

The Canadian cannabis business sector witnessed the return of a staple in the industry with the first Lift & Co. Expo held since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been 29 months since the last time the Toronto Convention Center hosted a Lift cannabis event.

Shawn Pierce, president of strategic events, meetings and incentives at MCI Group, the company overseeing the branding of Lift & Co., told the Investing News Network (INN) that setting up the event again was a challenge made especially difficult living in a world that is still enduring a global pandemic.

This Lift Expo was supposed to take place in September 2021, according to Pierce, but was delayed to wait for more widespread availability of vaccines effective against COVID-19 in Canada.

When asked about the sentiment surrounding the cannabis industry, Pierce said stock market momentum and rundowns for cannabis have led to a sector that is now more mature and thoughtful.

The last Lift Expo in Toronto took place in 2019, a time described by Pierce as a bursting point for the industry on the investment side, when investors were not seeing the returns they had expected.

“I think that that was unabashed enthusiasm that was running amok there,” Pierce said.

In its previous iteration, before a bankruptcy and reorganization, Lift & Co. was a publicly traded entity and ran a variety of businesses aside from its event-hosting duties. These included data-creation programs for the industry and budtender training programs.

Pierce told INN he wants the Lift Expo to represent a gathering space for the industry, and he is not looking to revert the company into those business operations just yet.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.