| Colorado Badged Network (CBN) | |
| Type: | Networking organization |
| Founded Date: | 2015[1] |
| Founder: | Joe Webb, Phil Maccarone, Hayley Witherell[2] |
| Area Served: | Colorado |
| Focus: | Connecting the Colorado cannabis industry[3] |
| Num Members: | 6100+ |
The Colorado Badged Network (CBN) is a Colorado business that focuses on connecting the Colorado cannabis industry.[4] At one point, it was the largest Colorado cannabis industry organization, with over 6100 members as of November 2018,[5] and journalist Spencer J. Ward claimed that could have been the largest network of licensed cannabis professionals in the world at its peak.[6]
On Colorado Badged Network, members find jobs, employees, legal advice, compliance updates, industry events, and friends.[2] [6] It's been called the "water cooler of the industry",[6] [2] and the goal is to keep it accessible to everyone with a Colorado Department of Revenue Occupational License,[2] which is known as a "badge" in Colorado.[6]
The group was first created as Colorado Badged Jobs in 2015,[5] in order for Webb to find employees to work in his cannabis grow warehouse.[6] He quickly brought in co-founders Maccarone and Witherell to help.[6] The organization grew steadily for its first year, and it became used for more purposes than just job-searching, such as removing cannabis smell for clothing, what are the best trimming shears, how to best budtend, announcing new products, and venting about Metrc.[6]
In early 2017, the three co-founders decided to rename the group to Colorado Badged Network to better reflect its new identity. This has been a volunteer position for them through 2018, without any financial compensation; they're cannabis industry members themselves.[6]
In June 2018, the group had over 5000 members.[6] By November 2018, the Colorado Badged Network grew to more than 6100 members.[5]
CBN is very active, being described as "robust". As of June 2018, there were about 40 posts per day.[6]
Representatives from Mary’s Medicinals, Bronnor Corporation, the Cannabis Connoisseurs’ Coalition Committee have expressed that they find high value in the group.[6]
Some badge-holders have refused to join the group due to "privacy concerns", because the co-founders verify unique badge numbers. The State of Colorado keeps a database of every occupational license holder, which is searchable by both name and badge number. Witherell has made a statement about these privacy concerns, clarifying, "We only verify publicly accessible information to grant access to the network."[6]